Pros
You will work with some of the best and brightest. Come ready to learn - - your colleagues will be a major asset for you. Take advantage of their expertise. Cisco is very generous with work/life balance, offering much more flexibility than any other firm I've worked with. Cisco doesn't cut corners, and as a result, has stellar industry-leading products. If you work in a Sales or Marketing role, as I did, the doors will be wide open to you. Cisco has partnerships with major players in almost every industry. You will have the opportunity to network widely within your field.
Cons
The divide between red and blue badges is wider here than at many other companies. If you get stuck in a contract role, you'll face a real uphill fight to get converted. Decisions from leadership can sometimes seem draconian. I've seen entire teams dismissed at the drop of a hat. Presumably these events come as the result of a compelling business reason, but that's not ever communicated clearly throughout the ranks, contributing to an overall sense of vulnerability among staff. There are many BUs within the company that are siloed off from one another, making it difficult to streamline and share institutional knowledge. This can lead to inefficiencies and duplicated efforts. I can't honestly say that the executives' vision for the company is clearly communicated. It can be challenging to find after several months (or years) of working toward a target, that the target was moved by someone in the board room and your team wasn't informed. It can be like pulling teeth to secure budget for certain projects, while leadership will rain dollars on other departments that they happen to favor. In some cases this makes sound business sense, but in some cases it seems inscrutably arbitrary.
