One month in to a new year:
If you are staying, what are your next five to ten year Cisco career goals?
What make Cisco your choice as the place to pursue your goals five to ten year goals, versus pursuing opportunities elsewhere?
What do you think is the overall probability you will achieve your five to ten year goals here?
The career goal (what's left of it) is to be out enjoying life in a couple of years once stock vests. It isn't going to get any better. The place is like ODS/3COM/DEC now as far as innovation. It's like downtown bangalore as far as talent and useless software teams. MM and chuck are too ignorant to let that get through.
Long term career goal is to get LR
Yeah - you are supposed to write goals every year, but everyone below leadership just copies the goals from three tiers up the chain word for word.
You've nailed MM's V2MOM. My V2MOM is a copy of my manager's whose is a copy of his Sr Manager's whose is a copy of the portion of his Director's that applies to his responsibilities. We spend 3 months managing the V2MOM's down from MM to IC's and they're not looked at, except at the very top levels, until next year when we do it all over again.
The only reason you'd stay at Cisco is because you like the fact you don't need to do much work.
So relax, vest.
The common commentary is also "learn to play the game"
It doesn't matter what goals anyone puts in place at cisco - objectives and leadership and projects change every 3 months - even if you set goals, no leader would ever let you follow those goals to completion - so what's the point?
There is no allowance to set or follow your own goals unless you are in one of the top three or four tiers of the company. Everyone else just has to do what they are told and NEVER bring up issues.
The common commentary is "Don't rock the boat".
Yeah - you are supposed to write goals every year, but everyone below leadership just copies the goals from three tiers up the chain word for word.
It doesn't matter what your long-term plans are. Cisco LR's axe of death has other plans in store.
What industry is looking to hire applicants over 50? Politicians? News anchors?
I can't think of many sectors that value age.
My 5 to 10 years career goal is to actually change career. I'm getting closer to 50th birthday. I feel very anxious about the job security or serious career prospects in my age as a software developer. And here I'm not only thinking about taking some other role in IT, but to completely move out of the industry.
Slack off at home and bank the money.
Cisco is one of the few Fortune 500 companies that doesn't background check for DUIs. I'm stuck here.
The only goal is the vesting, and selling.