Cisco Systems Reviews in Australia

Pros

Mostly good people and conditions

Cons

Large organisation - can get lost in the crowd

Advice to Senior Management

Provide clear leadership messaging

Pros

- Leading-edge web conferencing facilities and systems
- International exposure (work in virtual teams)/ Can have easy access to international expertise
- Diversity and generally very good people to work with

Cons

- Contractors do the bulk of 'full-timers' (FTE) 'dirty work'
- Full timers not wanting to roll up their sleeves. 'Outsources' all the work they didn't want to do.
- Lots of inefficient systems and internal business processes (a simple business process can take 20 steps to complete. Operates like a government. Nobody seems to care how 'difficult' business processes are.)
- Organisational structure is soooo confused (lines of reporting are not very straightforward). Possible to work in the same country with other colleagues but no 'allegiance' to country (field) objectives.
- Lots of budget wastage. Money not going to the right departments. All 'politically distributed' instead of based on ROI.
- Lack of 'accountability' for full time employees on how they spend/invest money

Advice to Senior Management

- I would suggest John Chambers to do an episode of 'Undercover Boss' (to see what happens in the grassroots).

Pros

Cisco is still a good company, good starting salary and weekend shift loading, it gave equal opportunity for engineer to make the same amount regardless their grade.

the bonus is ok, better than those promises-but-never-see company.

Training and material is great, you will find lots of stuff to learn and grow you technical skills.

Cons

the rewarding scheme is poor, engineers are working long hours and extra miles to reach the MBO, but not getting rewarded.

the pay raise is non-existent.

very hard to get promotion.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to reward the engineers which work extra hours and miles, the salary is below the market rate almost, people use Cisco as a paid training camp and leave once they get a better offer.

no much employee loyalty if the reward is poor.

Pros

Everyone in the industry has worked at Cisco at same stage, so you may as well get it on your resume, just dont bank on having a career at Cisco. The day you sign at Cisco, start interviewing with other companies.

Cons

I worked at Cisco for 13 years in various departments and in various job roles:

The facts toaday are:

1) Zero pay increases since 2000

2) No more stock options

3) During a career, your Job description may change, but this does not mean a saray increase or promotion, rather increased responsibility for no reward.

4) All perks which made Cisco fun, (International Travel, beers in fridge, tea coffee, home internet, parking) are gone.

5) Expense claiming is a nightmare and is continually audited over the most trivial items, resulting in employees being out of pocket for months.

6) All of the talented Engineers / sales staff have left so you will be pretty much on your own, dont expect to rub shoulders in the corridors with networking guru's as they have long gone.

7) Training assuming it is approved, as there are constant expenses freezes, is conducted inhouse. Typically one person gets to go, then has to train his peers. However the guys who give the training are inexperienced and just read powerpoint slides.

8) Sales targets are strictly managed, so there are no accelerators / bonuses.

9) It is extreemely competative between staff and very political, as all try to claimb the corporate ladder in the hope of achieving a payrise...which is noexistant.

10) Moral is depressed as most staff spend their time planning an escape.

11) Innovation has been replaced by acquisition, so dont plan on being creative.

If you want to have sport with the Cisco person interviewing you, ask them how long they have been in the role and what their career prospect are like within Cisco :)

Advice to Senior Management

Get out whilst you can. The company is dying. The products no longer adrdess customer requirements are are becomming a commodity.

Pros

Access to the best technical resources and people to do your job and learn. You get the opportunity to work hard and be rewarded for your efforts but there isn't so much pressure that you can't enjoy your family life. There is so much information and training on the internal cisco web that the thought of losing access once I leave cisco is quite upsetting. Anyone interested in computer networking much aim to work for cisco system.

Cons

The HR department is a bit of a monster. I sometimes wonder if the marketing team is pitching something that is a bit fluffy and touchy feely to be appreciated by the people who actually buy and use our equipment.

Advice to Senior Management

Scientific Atlanta needs to be further integrated. The longer you put it off the harder it will be. Other than that keep up the great work!

Pros

Salary and benefits. In the past they empowered the employee to do great things, now not at all. The technology and availability of "state of the art" equipment is awesome. The labs and expertise of co-workers is also great.

Cons

It WAS the best employer to work for in the 90's but now is far too focused on profit and micro-management. Too many layers of managers managing time and metrics. Everything is far too focused on managing peoples efficiencies so most people are stifled and the atmosphere isn't like it was in the 90's. I'm not saying that they can go back, I'm just saying that the focus WAS on technology, coolness and $$. Now is is squarly just focused on maximizing profit. I left after 9 years of employment to another smaller "start up" type company.

Advice to Senior Management

Empower and trust your employees. Stop wasting your time micro-managing metrics and focus on culture and fun (with a work focus). That's how you get more from your employees. Make people "like" work.