Get in, get experience - and get out - Anonymous employee Cisco Employee Review

2.0
5 Jul 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Negative overall experience. But will give credit where it's due. Pay is somewhat competitive and benefits are good if you're new to tech or bay area. But not comparable to "established" younger and newer tech companies. However, best benefit is WFH or working remotely. You might have to work out details with your team or they might not care - but you can pretty much work where-ever you want, which is a pretty sweet perk to have and makes traveling much more flexible (and affordable).

Cons

With that said, there were WAY MORE cons than pros. It's an older company and people are stuck in the past. They're trying to change and adopt younger viewpoints, but if you're young, good luck. Yes, you'll hear people put down younger peers b/c they're more "junior" or "less knowledgable" - and apparently that's okay (why?). Culture's cut-throat, very political and everyone's trying to one-up everyone else. Saving face is more important than being honest - which ironically is the only way to improve and actually impact the bottom line. This is not the place to be if you seek, speak and spit out the truth. You WILL be seen as "difficult" and your career WILL be negatively impacted. Also business moves at glacial pace and everyone spends more time talking about what they will do than actually doing it. Also zero accountability - if you're managing a project and need to see it through, you WILL be working with people who don't care and you WILL have to pick up their slack. Again, if you're young, career advancement is limited - unless you're with a good manager who "gets it". More rare than common. WFH is also great at first but gets real old, fast. You'll miss the in person time and communicating with remote co-workers will require 2x the work. Best advice? Get in, get the experience you need and then move on. Don't get stuck in the cycle.

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Pros

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Cons

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4.0
13 Mar 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I decided to wait almost a year after leaving the company before posting a review. The primary reason being is that when you decide to leave an organization it is usually because there is something there that isn't aligning with you or what you want anymore however, the grass is not always greener someplace else. This has been my experience. In fact, the appreciation I have for the company has grown so much in my time away that I would really like to return. The company truly believes on promoting within and as an employee you are encouraged to grow your career within the organization and learn new skills by taking different positions. Benefits are excellent. Cisco is the industry leader for networking and now cloud. It is sometimes easy to forget that on the daily grind but you are working for the company that everyone looks to for network and infrastructure standards. Culture within the business units managing product lines give you a lot of freedom to be innovative and creative in your approach to your role. In most cases you are given a fair amount of autonomy and control over how you do your job provided that it aligns with the strategic objectives. Benefits, 401k match, RSUs and ESPP are amazing. And while the salaries aren't the top of the industry, they are above market and pretty competitive.

Cons

Cisco can be a machine. There isn't an overt demand for all of your time (even the time outside of work) but more of a subtle, slight encouragement to always be on. If you are not careful, you will live, sleep and eat Cisco 24x7. Don't get me wrong, this is 100% a choice and if you are aware of this subtlety in the culture it is very easy to set appropriate boundaries that will be respected by the company and leadership team. If you don't like where you are in Cisco or what you are working on, give it 6 months because you will be reorg'd. While it is sometimes necessary to realign the company to meet competitive threats or market demands, reorganizing the company once a year is excessive and tends to create a distrusting environment for the rank and file which makes being a leader in the organize challenging. There is a loss of momentum and motivation that occurs a few months before and a few months after reorgs so this leaves the company being effective at delivery and execution only about 70% of the time. While Cisco attracts some bright, motivated people the truth of the matter is you are either cut out for the company and its culture or you're not. If you aren't it will be painfully obvious to you and those around you. Sadly as a leader it is hard to cut dead weight from the team and the only really accepted way is via layoffs, which is why the company reorgs once a year despite the company line about the reorgs.

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Cisco Response
10y
Thank you for such a sincere review. We appreciate your feedback and hope you are pleased to see many of our "We Are Cisco" initiatives. Indeed, it can feel like Cisco frequently changes because it is part of our innovative culture. We thank you for your time with us and wish you the best.
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