Cisco

Great company with a strong brand and reputation, on the edge of technology innovation (although not so much any more).

Awesome in terms of flexibility and work/life balance, with telecommuting (paid home internet) as a viable and recommended work option. In addition, there's an excellent benefits package, including a generous 401k, healthcare plan, sponsored education, etc., and many more perks.

Great colleagues and an international atmosphere. I personally adore John Chambers, its president, for his personality and energy, which enables him to transmit a very good vibe and motivation to his employees.

Possibility of being hired as a foreigner (at least back in 2000!), which was a great opportunity for engineers who wanted to live a "Silicon Valley experience" and gain solid experience to bring back home. However, be aware that such a deep technological experience may be regarded at many non-technical places as a freaky/geeky thing.

Possibilities to relocate with Cisco itself, even back to your home country if applicable, which is a great deal. But be prepared for a loooooooong negotiation and bureaucracy.

And the best: the location (headquarters). I adore the Bay Area, San Francisco, and California. Living there, surrounded by smart, well-educated people passionate about nature, has changed my life.

Even though I loved working for Cisco, I can now see many drawbacks that made me think I was lucky to leave.

The main one being the lack of career advancement opportunities. Because Cisco grew very fast during the bubble, all the senior/management positions are currently overfilled, from middle manager to CEO. Additionally, internal moves are difficult, and they are mostly available only between same areas. I feel there is a solid wall between departments (almost impossible to escape from engineering to, say, marketing, finance, operations).

Another bad point is the lack of recognition for your hard work, often a barely $500 bonus paycheck that doesn't even pay for the extra work hours (which are, anyways, rather up to you). But because of all that, Cisco is NOT a fast-paced workplace.

Yet another bad thing, at least in my experience, is the bad middle management. During my engineering experience, managers were great engineers who were promoted at some point. However, good engineering skills often go with a lack of management skills, and I saw that too frequently. They were often poor at managing efficiently, mentoring junior members, dealing with conflicts, etc., and played dirty politics too frequently. Of course, they don't necessarily receive formal management training to alleviate that.

Finally, the size and bureaucracy associated with it can be frustrating at some times, or can be good at others (it provides a kind of anonymity).

In sum, even if Cisco is a great place to work, consider it more of a slow-paced atmosphere ideal to retire (kind of a "public workers" place, with all my respects to the public workers) rather than a fast-paced technology start-up to launch your career.

My advice to management: "Wake up!". I feel Cisco is living off fruits planted a decade ago, and without more innovation and business redefinition, they risk stagnating.