Growth in the firm is pretty good, but you need to take initiative. There is a much better chance of getting promoted if you are willing to relocate. In addition, the company expects you to take care of your own career growth instead of having a steady path all planned out for you. There are a lot of outside executives that are hired into the firm, so there is no gaurantee that your years will convert to seniority. However, the company tries to hire 60% internally and 40% externally.

The work can be extremely intensive but fulfilling. The learning curve is pretty steep so be prepared to "level-up" a lot in the company. Hours are flexible as long as you can get the job done.

Cisco has a very upbeat and serious culture. Dress code is usually casual if you are not meeting clients, and the work hours are flexible. However, they stress very heavily on getting the work done. The corporate culture encourages career growth and communication with management and coworkers. There are a good amount of diversity although the company has some trouble hiring and retaining African Americans and women. The people here are usually brilliant, motivated, and ambitious. They are also very friendly and helpful.

It is extremely competitive to get into Cisco. They often have 5 round interviews that focus on skill level, teamwork, flexibility and previous experiences. Questions include what was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it, your strengths/weaknesses, how did you deal with certain situations. More technical questions include how to reverse a singly linked list and logic questions.

The compensation here it good. Base salary is usually not very impressive, but healthy bonuses, great benefits sometimes including a company vehicle and a whole month of vacation in total. We also get good stock options, which makes talking about stock prices a common topic at the watercooler.