Pros
I have been with Cisco as a campus hire for almost 2 years now. Didn't feel like the company is fit for freshers, but good and manageable if you really want to purse in networking domain. This review is a bit biased since I have only seen Networking devices business of the company and not other businesses like Collaboration, Security, Cloud etc - Company culture is good. Not toxic or work obsessed. - Some good work in selected teams and projects (May be 5% of total teams). - Very employee friendly in terms for PTOs, WFHs, Maternity/Paternity leaves etc. - Good work life balance. - Less workload in most teams (depends on project or releases) - Code reviews usually make you a good progammer but it depends on the attitude of the reviewers. - Managers are mostly good and friendly. - Healthy food in cafeterias - Very good office environment and infrastructure. - You will have enough time to purse your hobbies or interests outside/inside work. - Good gyms and games facilities. Heard good things about other businesses under Cisco but don't have first hand knowledge of it. New projects, young technologies etc might be good.
Cons
In general, not good for people who want to grow in their career. All the points are from the eyes of a fresher. - Work is mostly sustenance of legacy code and occasional feature addition. - Less learning opportunities. - Process oriented. Very difficult to get things done. Coding is only 10% of actual process to get the code or bug in. - Most of the good work is usually done in US and is moved to India for sustenance or continuation after success. - Pay is not competitive. They try to give the minimum possible to make employee stay. - US or abroad folks see India as cheap labor market and have this attitude is few occasions. - Many senior folks stay because they can't go elsewhere to get this good treatment at this stage of their career. - Many has become used to this slow environment and don't want to change anything other than getting more money. - Managers are bit obsessed about metrics like bug count, bug incoming, customer bug count etc but not about the product as a whole since it has grown so large for its own good. - Difficult for a fresher to get up to speed and start contributing since there are no proper documentations for old code. - Mentoring may not always be a feasible/effective idea since there is lot of history/legacy reasons associated with everything. - Hike cycle has been every bad in my experience. They postpone 6 months to 1 yr to give hikes and state lame reasons. When they do give, its not up to expectations or market rates. - They hardly give any stocks to non senior folks as rewards. - Promotions are given for good performers but management considers experience as the biggest factor for grade change. Hence, it is nearly impossible to get promoted in 1 or 2 yr even if you perform exceptionally. - Company is so big, you wont get any visibility more than 2 levels in most caseses. (i am 7 or 8 levels down) - Less breadth of work to really show your talents. You will get used to the slow moving environment and loose the enthusiasm especially when you are a fresher.
