I am interviewing for a marketing role and wondered what people thought about joining cisco at this time. What is their comp structure for a level 12? Do they pay bonuses? Since so many are leaving will it be better for those who stay? I have to wonder why they are hiring in the front door when so many are streaming out the back. Thoughts?
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I have a couple friends that got in with Cisco within the last couple years and drank the Kool-Aid. They love to brag about their bonuses to me. All I can do is think "you work for a company that sees you as a number and nothing else." A company that lays off tens of thousands a year and at the same time hiring left and right should be a red flag for anyone who is looking for something long term.
Run and run far away. The company is very unstable and there is no method to the madness of LRs. You could be a recent hire or you could be an employee who has performed well, but that doesn't mean you're safe. The bottom line is: if you're expensive, you're out. The bigger problem is that they have no idea what to do next to achieve profitability and they're throwing everything at the wall hoping that it will stick. In other words, your role may be important today but gone tomorrow. It really isn't worth the stress unless you're planning to use this place as a stepping stone to bargain for a better role elsewhere. Or if you just need a place to chill while you wait for the economy to recover. And while you're waiting, keep applying for better jobs.
Marketing is old school and needs to stop being held hostage by brand. The brand stops them from going forward all the cool new stuff and cool people don't want to work with cisco brand. I was a 12 in the marketing BU and then became an individual contributor, relegated to powerpoints. The team is very political. Politics over performance. Several of the top people don't even want to go after the SMB market. That should tell you all you need to know.
Ya. When they lay you off. Consider that four months package as your bonus.
Come on, man. It's not a bad bonus.
When a company is exiting employees and hiring at the same time, it is a toxic work environment, period. Similar to you, I interviewed for a RFT position. Went through 6 weeks of interviews. I was told I was being hired, but I had to wait about 2 weeks. The next week, they did a LR and exited about 3,000 people locally. I was called the week after with the offer, but I had to be a contractor "temporarily" until the LRs were done and they could convert me...yeah right. I received several other offers a week later and when I got the one I wanted on the Friday before the Monday I was suppose to start as a contractor, I got calls from 3 of the managers mad at me. I laughed at each and told them I interviewed for a RFT position and only took the contractor job for a paycheck. I started at my new company and have laughed since. There have been 3 reductions in staff since I would have been there. Glad I am not in the death spiral any more.
cisco vp and director level people are worst. they favor only yes master and highly unethical. rewards are whose who favor them. highly unethical. I would encourage no one to join a Titanic. Soon you will sink. best is to let Cisco die like Nortel, MCI Worldcom, Lucent. Make Huawei legal for sale in US. Cisco will be dead in a heartbeat
Not a good work environment but if need of something temp you can make a year or two work in your favor. It's not a great place to work but still looks good on resume. Cisco has cracked the digital marketing code...good experience for marketers. Im LRd and happy to be leaving marketing at Cisco but I learned a lot about content creation and digital campaigns..
If a company layoff a lot of people like IBM and HP in the past, do you think that company has bright future. The chance is not very high. The low performance engineers are cut, top performance engineer may not want to join, the existing top talents are leaving soon. Even though there is massive layoff, why Cisco is still hiring. They need to hire the right people in the fast growing area which Cisco doesn't have those talent. Why not re-train the existing employee. It is not cost effective unless you cannot hire someone who can contribute right away. That is why hiring H1B engineers and new graduate is needed. At least they are less expensive. I knew many QA got cut this time because they don't fit in the new trend which requires QA to write code. In the past, in Cisco, you are CCIE and can't write code, you can survive. But forget it this day. Cisco has bloat load of disqualified engineers up to the PE or DE level. They should be cut too because many of them carry old skill set and doesn't influence the industry much. This day Cisco PE has much less respect than the past. They are more Program Manager than technical one. Cisco is lacking Technical Leadership this day in the industry. It is more a follower than leader
@xno, really doesn’t sound like are the OP
Just looking for a place to hide out. I have skimmed enough in corporate America. I just want to make some bank. Is that possible as a non techie? Or is marketing first in the chopping block? Tell me about the environment?
If you value performance based job security, a strong vision, clear execution and an inspiring strategy, it is not the place for you. They do pay bonuses, but they are mostly politically assigned. And I am writing from within marketing...
cisco is a corporate caste system that rewards VP and above
Who cares!!!! So many people lost their jobs!! Horrible, ruthless Company!! I hate Cisco. If my kids wanted to work there, well they wouldn’t be doing that!!!!