Pros: Good work-life balance. Pleasant working environment. Surrounded by smart people.

Cons: Constantly "reorganizing" the internal structure. Once a year, you have to worry about getting laid off. Not because you or your group is underperforming, but because of higher-ups' mismanagement. Also, the manager-to-engineer ratio is too damn high.

Pros: You get tremendous information out there inside Cisco Systems about processes, technology, and ideas. You can only benefit because of this wealth of knowledge. The overall compensation and benefits is one of the best in the industry. Cisco is one place where there are all sorts of career opportunities on offer, and they actually encourage you to move around and increase the breadth of your experience and skills. There are mechanisms in place to immediately reward employees for any kind of outstanding performance, so even as a big company, that keeps [you] motivated and devoted in solving the problems at hand during crisis situations.

Cons: They make the same mistake as every other large company: they tie performance and career development feedback with monetary benefits. This naturally results in performance feedback being influenced by the amount of money available to any team in that year's budget. There is too much middle-level management who have gone there just because they stuck with the company, and not necessarily because of leadership skills, and that shows up in how they lead. Cisco has this notorious habit of not bringing in middle-level management from outside. They should at least balance internal promotions with bringing fresh leadership from outside.

Pros: A great company that helps you develop your skills and add value to the talent pool.

Cons: Bring back the free goodies at the break rooms.