Cisco

Cisco is a prestigious company that is recognized globally as a leader in networking technologies. You will very seldom, if ever, have to describe what they do as a company to a stranger.

It's a good stepping stone into younger, faster-paced tech companies.

It's a very good place to learn how NOT to interact with others, manage people, and approach problems. A great learning experience.

Lack of knowledge in the software domain – scrambling to find a way to brand themselves as a software shop while not putting measures in place to motivate the best software engineers to work there.

Very close-minded to new ideas from the younger workforce. This is probably due in part to the significantly older generation that dominates the workforce currently. I got the impression that older employees who hadn't established themselves at the VP/SVP/C-Suite/Director/Principal level were put off by younger engineers.

Not a hard-working workforce as a whole. If you want to put in your 40 hours per week or less, have a life outside of work, and not learn a ton of skills, this is probably a great place to work. If you want to pull 80+ hours per week, learn about cutting-edge technologies, and "outside of the box" problem-solving methods, stay away.

Very much a "think inside of the box" and don't question the process environment. You are there to take orders and not address problems if you see them with the current structure.

The management's philosophy on employees is to hire "specialists" in one particular field, work them to the bone, and then not advocate for them when they want to explore or learn other areas of the business.

No free food, and the food available is horrid. Many interns were put off by the food that was available, not to mention that the company did not pay for the meals.

Extremely unorganized! I had a total of 4 projects canceled due to politics, and I was not told they were canceled until I made the effort to ask management – not conducive to teaching new talent.

Hire better software engineers. Fire the incompetent people who are not willing to listen to new ideas. Fire the people not willing to work more than 40 hours per week. Hire a consulting firm that will teach you how to pull Gen Y and Gen Z into the workforce or face the hit to your reputation.

Take organization more seriously. Fancy video conferencing can't mask a significant lack of communication.