Cisco

A relaxed work environment and a pleasant atmosphere.

Good work-life balance.

Competitive salary and numerous benefits (lots of vacation days, quarterly team-building budget, ESPP).

You will be using Java, Python, C/C++, Git, Maven, Jenkins, Linux, Jetbrains IDEs, Github Copilot, and MacBooks.

You will get a free subscription to Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learn, and more.

Most people are average and not ambitious.

An old, large, and cumbersome product (ISE).

Lots of spaghetti code.

Very little development. Most of the work involves maintaining tests and fixing bugs (the product is poorly written).

No one knows the system well enough in depth, and when changes are made to one flow, it's not always possible to predict how other flows will be affected.

The managers are focused on trivial matters rather than the main issues. For example, they concentrate on test code coverage instead of its quality. As a result, many tests cover the code without actually checking anything.

Old architecture. No micro-services and no cloud.

The ratio between maintenance and development should be 80:20 in favor of development. If you let the development department work only on tests and bugs, the best among them will find better opportunities elsewhere, and you'll be left with those who have no choice but to stay.

Invest in hiring quality people.

Don't skip HR interviews. Interpersonal skills are just as important as a candidate's professional level.

Code coverage and static analysis don't help prevent bugs. Spend more time on code reviews and quality tests (those that find issues, not just pass over them).