AMD

There's a relaxed work environment with very flexible hours. As a co-op, they expect you to come in for the hours to get your work done, but it can be within the hours of your choosing. I went in from 7 AM to 3 PM so that I could do things outside of work, and my superiors were more than supportive of it.

They assign you a mentor who basically has an idea of what you're going to be working on and is helpful in solving the problems or knowing who would be knowledgeable in the area. The work that they have interns do is real and has an impact on the company in some form.

From my experience, managers have been very easy to go and talk to about questions that you might have and can settle things pretty quickly. Great pay from what I've been able to determine for interns in technology. Only a few other companies offer more, to my knowledge.

They provided me with money for moving down there and helped to set me up with an apartment. It's a big company, so there's lots of room to move around should you not like the area that you're working in. And Austin, TX... it's fantastic.

As anyone with knowledge of the industry knows, AMD is going through a rough time in the market after the introduction of Core 2 from Intel. This is causing them to be a little tighter monetarily, so cost savings have gone into effect. I was sharing a cube with two other co-ops, but this had more to do with too much hiring combined with their move into the new site. The new site is in the middle of nowhere, so it's a bit of a commute for those and it might be a pain for future interns, especially those without cars.

I think my biggest piece of advice for management would be to make sure that you're putting people in the jobs that they want to be doing. There were a few co-ops who were doing work that they weren't even remotely interested in, which makes doing the work boring.