Cisco

"Great culture and there are flexible work options. The company leverages their own video technology so remote working/flex options are very natural. I've had 2 kids while working at Cisco and found that the environment supported my desire to accelerate my career while doing it in a way that worked for my family. "

"I just started."

"Cisco preaches the importance of work-life balance, but as with most companies, you need to be able to schedule your time in a way that allows you to take advantage of relaxed time off. In meetings I've heard very inappropriate comments made by male colleagues with these comments being only brushed under the rug and moved on from."

"I've worked here for one year, there are about par # of women working here for the tech industry (23%) and lower in engineering divisions. Cisco is trying hard to change this, but the organization is so large, changes happen gradually and I don't feel like it is a priority for upper management- so large scale changes aren't on the horizon. Though management is male-dominated, I do feel like there is encouragement for women to take those roles. One big perk is the amount of flexibility Cisco has to work remotely and the widespread use of tele-presence. This makes it very easy to work from home, and juggle multiple responsibilities. Sometimes this leads to work blending into home life and an "always on" mentality. They have about average PTO and maternity leave, not fantastic but not bad. I will say that they started me as an "intern" in the bottom 5% of the industry for my role, starting me as a "training" type role (which was BS because I learned everything in 2 weeks). This lead to working 6 months at 18 an hour (no PTO, no benefits, through a contract company) before I got an hourly raise. Which is still in the bottom 25% for my role. I feel a bit screwed over by Cisco in this respect, and I know there are many others who have had this experience as "contractors" through Cisco. So- if you get in as an FTE, you'll probably be fine, but if you are in a contract role be very wary. I don't see a rapid timeline for advancing to being fully hired at Cisco and will probably leave the role in the next 6 months because of it. TL;DR: good place to work if you work as an FTE at Cisco, because of flexibility even with lower female diversity. Beware of how they take advantage of contract vendors. I think being female may have played a part in me (myself) no recognizing my own value and being taken advantage of."

"I've worked here for 14 years and is a predominantly male environment. Senior Management has been trying for years to expand the female population through a number of programs. If you're in Sales, expect to work LOTS of hours and travel. However, the work at home is a bonus and you can set your schedule on your own. Mid-level women don't seem to advance as quickly as men. Depending on your region/area, you might fall into the good old boy network. Fight hard. The maternity leave was basic though I didn't have any issues when I took it twice when I had my two children. Key is to learn how to navigate the political waters."