I mean, is it possible that no one regretted leaving Cisco?
18 replies (most recent on top)
I’ve known many people who returned to Cisco but all went off to legacy companies and decided life was easier working where they already knew where the bodies were buried.
People who went to companies with management and teams which understood new development never looked back, although quite a few found faking it until they made it quite challenging as they didn’t have the right skills and mindset when they left Cisco.
I had great jobs and built real skills with low pay and worked some Fortune 100s to build up the investment portfolio where I lost skills. I lucked out and made it to retirement but many dancing this dance weren’t so lucky. There is no yellow brick road to follow.
Most people quickly realize all publicly traded companies have a similar exploitative culture. Some companies pay more, while others have better perks.
Find a boss that appreciates you.
When I was LR'd in Aug '16, I took an FTE job a couple of hours away thinking I'd relocate my family to the new city. So glad I went first before moving the family. While I got a pay raise, it was about the same as my Cisco pay plus bonus whereas the new company didn't give out bonuses and started with 2 weeks PTO/sick time that had to be used every year before Dec 31, so everyone tried to hold on to at least a week in case they got sick in the Fall or early Winter, but then everyone wanted to take the last week of Dec off and couldn't.
The Director was a micromanager and bypassed my manager frequently. My first annual performance review was that I wasn't performing up to my title as a Senior because I was frequently doing junior level work. I told my manager in response that he wasn't performing up to his title as a manager by managing and letting the Director do twice-daily walk-bys my desk demanding that I stop what I was doing and do some junior level tasks because she couldn't find the junior guy who was supposed to do those tasks and they "had to be done right now."
Within 90 min of that performance review, a consulting agency I'd worked with contacted me stating that they knew I was looking for long-term contracts or full-time employment, but he had a short-term project role that I was perfect for working w/ a team I'd worked beside at Cisco and asked if I was interested. He-l, yes, after that review. I've been back at Cisco for 4.5 yrs and an employee again for another 3. Way happier.
Are there good jobs outside of Cisco? Sure. Are all non-Cisco jobs great? He-l, no. I'm sure I'd have found something better where my manager would appreciate the skills that I brought to the table. The sad thing is you have to sit through the interview and hope that you can see through the BS that they feed you about how great the place is to work and they're expanding when the reality is that they can't keep good workers because they're a toxic company. I'm very sure there are toxic pockets within Cisco as well, but I've been fortunate to only have been in one out of the five management teams I've been under at Cisco.
I don't know. I'm at AWS now and find accessing engineering resources much more difficult than at Cisco. Much more process and rigor. Pay is comparable, but I have more work to do here. Similar colleagues: some good, some bad. Not regretting Cisco but it isn't greener, it's just a different (stronger) culture.
I took the ER in 2020 after 21 years at Cisco. The best advice I can give to recent grad new hires is to get 5 years in and move on. I liked my time at Cisco but there are more stable companies with better processes out there.
Left after over 19 years at Cisco. Only regret is that I didn’t leave sooner.
It’s great to relax at Cisco. It’s my second job and it affords me a great work/life balance. I can find my balance here in sales while making a much deserved social impact.
not greener no way. i make good powerpoint each day. the V2mom she say my powerpoint the best and me thought leader. so I don’t know.
good post @kos - the entire thread is good.
i was LR-ed a few years back, i went into a midsized saas security product company - it was a good move - the money is similar to cisco, the level of politics and backstabbing is much, much smaller. i work with smart people (this was the case at cisco too) and the customer loves the product. cannot ask for more.
I went off from IT. Miss the haggling of resources , budget and roadmap discussions . New work is all technical and pays more . Is the grass greener ??? If you loved your technical life , yes. If you loved politics and easy money, no.
I hope to find out very soon. Come on ER/LR. Snake eyes baby.
It is greener so long as you try a different style company. If you jump to another old growth, incumbent, stodgy large corporation, you’ll be just as bored if not more. Try a mid-size, younger company in a different industry. You’ll be amazed And don’t be afraid to get engaged in your career again and work hard because it’s interesting.
The grass is smoke. I red bage got LR snd came back as blue badge for engineering. I was at nokia. No like. Bad pay and many more old peoples in optical there.
No, the grass is way green at Cisco. I left 2 years ago and I wanna come back. I miss the easy paycheck. At AWS, I have to work my azz off. Even though I make 40% more than I did at Cisco, it is not worth it.
Worth it to leave!
Can only speak for myself. Do not regret it one bit...
And find a company where you can be lucky enough to have a boss more then 3 quarters.
So some form of relationship can be build which saves your mental health in the long term.
Most people quickly realize all publicly traded companies have a similar exploitative culture. Some companies pay more, while others have better perks.
Find a boss that appreciates you.
It has been a good journey for me. LR'd about five years ago now and three jobs ago. Went back for a while as a contractor; was amazed how much it had changed in just the two years out. I tried to get back in the mindset to try to convert back; but something else came up and moved on for good.
A good friend at Cisco told me years ago; your current job reflects the current needs of your lifestyle. Cisco was great to me during the long run; was able to raise a family and saw a great return on early stock options (was fortunate to be around for the pre-RSU option cycles). The older I became, Cisco was still there. I still don't believe how I survived all the LRs from 2008 and on from there.
I just wish everyone staying there is locked in with a good nest egg of stock options and ESPP; not sure how it all pans out these days. Towards the end of my run, I was staying mostly for the LR package. I was asked to leave, and had a job lined up before my CIsco badge expired.
The grass is greener indeed, especially if you are somewhat Cisco skilled. Can you provision IOS? Can you build a Cisco VM for Collab? Can you troubleshoot basic LAN / WAN services? Do you have good sound knowledge of how Cisco products overall work, and can describe the base function and components? If so; yes the grass will be much greener - and lots of opportunities out there.
Buy the ticket, take the ride. It is worth it.