Cisco

Great benefits, resources, and the network. It's one of the best places to intern or do a 6-month co-op as an engineer.

Large corporation. Easy to get lost in the crowd of people with similar skills. Poor communication amongst different departments and business units.

I was hired as a Hardware Engineer intern for the "Cisco Choice Program." The uniqueness of the program is that if you do well during your internship, you will get hired back and get to interview the managers of different business units within Cisco and pick which business unit you want to work for.

Due to the bad economy and higher-ups' decisions, they decided to cut all hardware engineer positions for the Cisco Choice Program, leaving only software and MBA students.

My manager was nice enough to give me great references and willing to help me seek other career opportunities.

As for people who decided to change the Choice program, I understand that Cisco's mentality is "We never promise anything," but many interns were affected by this decision. Most likely, Cisco would lose these great talents to other companies in the valley.