Cisco

Company culture is amazing, and I really mean it. I planned to join Cisco for a year or two max before leaving, right out of college. But the culture has made me love this place, especially in TAC, which operates at its own level in most things.

So much to learn, the amount of knowledge is insane. The regular Technical Leaders at Cisco have would be equivalent to Principal Engineers in most companies. You never stop learning; everyone and anyone you can ping, sync up, and learn from.

Salary.

One of the biggest downsides I see is the inflated salaries being offered for roles similar, if not more basic, than what we do every day in TAC.

Being a global company, the company is able to acquire talent and resources from anywhere and bring them up. This has shrunk the teams in the US, by what seems to be by design of execs, to run barely breathing teams in the US.

Once you are in TAC, you reach a certain point in your career where it doesn't seem to be career paths that go up. Most rely on you leaving for a different org and climbing up again, or zigzagging.

Lower management is just as lost as we are regarding what the executives are thinking and doing. They are being informed on the day of or the day before announcements.

Cisco has built up this great culture and talent. I just hope that this new installment of outside EVPs and SVPs doesn't ruin the culture in hopes of matching us up to other horrible places like Amazon, etc., at the cost of everything Cisco has come to represent.