Advantages/disadvantages , please comment.
In my opinion, quite good benefits, training possibilities, known company , perhaps can learn somethings. Bad ways; the LR culture, too many layers in organization, somewhat lagging in creating high tech products.
21 replies (most recent on top)
no i would not.
1 - Cisco brand is loosing its value
2 - Cisco does not treat people fairly or honestly
I would prefer my kids go work some where they will feel good about themselves and have a fair chance to learn and be recognized for their achievements.
I felt differently years ago.
The question is backwards. Our children should be free to enter Engineering fields.
Our children do not want to work there. We sent people to the colleges and asked them to come see our company. They don't want to go. They came to the building and looked around and said no. Cisco don't look like what they envisioned. So, Cisco started the Open Workspace. Then COVID.
Most young college graduates who enter the engineering fields are now being offered "GAMING Degree options" by the colleges.
I know some of the young people who took the "GAMING Degree options".
They are STILL Unemployed, years later.
Our youth don't want to go anywhere near there.
Cisco Kid was a friend of mine
I think it needs to look at what kind of person your kid is.
I think working in Cisco is a very great opportunity for an average kid, don't you think? in considering of the average income level for the average American workers.
it is not a valid question just looking at the employer side without looking at the kid.
I don't want my child in the tech industry. As bad as it is now, it will only get more cutthroat going forward. I am swaying my children into medical, dental, health, pharmaceutical fields. Tech is changing less than every 10 years now. By the time you are in your 30s, it is past you. If you survived into your 40s in it, you are a dinosaur now. 50/60+ good luck in that over the next 2 decades. No reason to pigeon hole yourself into a dead career path after 10-15 years.
Don't ever waste 4-5 years in a tech position, JUMP. Get a project done, polish the resume, and move. There is no advantage to becoming stale in a position at CISCO. Grab all the training you can get, work on all the exciting new fun things you can. and once that goes sour, JUMP.
Always look for a job when you have a job, always ask for 20% more, remember everything in life is regotiable. Stay 2 years max. After you have jumped 8-10 times you might get the HR id–t who states "why did you change jobs so much, you do not appear to be stable?" bulls*t. The answer which will dumbfound him/her is to make more money, for new exciting projects, because a friend called and offered me a new position. Then snow them over with I am looking for a long term relationship with company XYZ where you are interviewing. Remember HR are id–ts they could pass the accounting exams in college, so they are not in finance.
With the way that Cisco abuses contract workers that would be a Big Hell No.
Yes, I would let my kids and grand kids join Cisco, the #1 company in the world. Sour grapes don't see it that way though. But that's alright.
From my own experience, there is no engineering at Cisco, at least insofar as software is concerned. All they do is patch independent solutions up into a huge bloatware, using whatever open-source software out there to integrate. They're simply integrators, as their experience. As a kid, you'll probably learn how to integrate and how to use certain software, but there's no brain-wrecking experience to be acquired.
I'd stay away from Cisco.
By the time they're old enough (don't have any now), probably not. It's okay to join out of college and get a couple years experience. Most people's first jobs aren't Incredible and you can do far worse than cisco out the gate.
Ten years ago, I was disappointed when my kid declined a Cisco offer after graduating with multiple technical degrees. Google offered a much better salary, lots of RSUs, and a substantial signing bonus. He made the right choice. He advanced quickly at Google and gained excellent skills and experience. Banked substantial savings from stock, bonuses, and a competitive salary. Left after eight years when the non-techies began to take control and Google started becoming more like Cisco.
The skills gained at Google are in very high demand enabling him to negotiate a stupendous equity package. Startup worked out very well in a short period of time. Two more years of vesting to collect the rest of his 8 figure payout before he moves on to the next startup, or retires.
If you are young, smart, skilled, and ambitious, there are tremendous opportunities right now. Cisco is not one of them. Starting a career at Cisco will stunt it for the rest of your life.
I did a lot of college recruiting for Cisco and sold the company as a good balance between small company and large company experiences. The BU structure gives the feel of a small company - and sometimes a start up feel - with the larger company providing support / help / resources not available if you were at a startup.
I also mentored many new college hires and helped them launch / grow their careers. I always emphasized the need for them to own their career and development, to take advantage of tuition reimbursement and other training paid for by Cisco.
I was also pretty honest with them that Cisco is a great place to start a career, but not always the best place to grow a career longer term. The company would rather hire from outside rather than promote from within. And one of the reason for all the layoffs is “reskilling” of the workforce. There is a culture that believes it is easier to hire skills rather than develop them within. Lay off people and hire “new blood”.
There is also a focus on training programs like PMP, DMAIC, Six Sigma and Agile that are done on a large scale more for political reasons rather than developing skills that can actually used to be a more effective employee.
Bottom line - start at Cisco and plan to move on after a few years. OR do as many do and join Cisco halfway into a career, use the skills / knowledge developed elsewhere and hopefully end your career there.
My experiences at Cisco were good, but there is always a chance of an LR, but having Cisco on a resume can look good, the benefits are awesome (insurance options, ESPP, PTO etc). If your offspring is still young enough to absorb something, get their own insurance (and off of yours) and learn something they can use elsewhere I'd certainly recommend Cisco. If there is a chance of getting into anything cloud related, I'd recommend that as well.
No. I would want my kid to work in a start up. LRs and c-appy culture aside, you learn very less in big old, companies like Cisco, IBM, HP, Oracle. Most of the cutting edge technology is being created in start ups and of course the "internet companies". I would've recommended IBM, but today's IBM isn't the IBM of the past. They're supposedly working on quantum computing, but I'm not sure if they have enough money to finance such innovation.
The technology that FAANG uses is pretty much only useful for FAANG.
By FAANG pays double and uses relevant technology.
It is still respected in industry (from the outside looking in). I know a lot of people here are complaining a lot and most comments are negative. What do you expect from a site called thelayoff lol.
But seriously if they are getting started it is a good place to have on your resume no doubt. Maybe not as ":glamorous as FAANG but hey, they are laying off too and are not perfect to work for also.
No way. They will go to FAANG. Cisco only recruits from Indian universities anyway.
Only if it is to collect a paycheck and/or understand what a toxic workplace is like.
normally No because of toxic culture
on other hand will know how not to run a company and to look for what to avoid in future. early lessons good in life. many directors son or daughter works there, talk about nepotism
The LR culture is the sticking point. If the kid is single and flexible, I think Cisco would look good on the resume (4-6 years tops). Every negative you point out is true, but I've seen teams go that extra mile for the customer and it's those relationships which provide a good example for future performance.
However, should the kid be anywhere near 50 or have a family– I wouldn't recommend they go near Cisco because of the layoff culture. I've been in other places where high performers are never touched (mgmt protects them from layoffs)– that does not exist at Cisco. It bit me, and I am not happy about it– but Cisco hasn't been my life and have other places in which I can land (some due to the performance I displayed to the customers).