Cisco has out sourced it's culture and now we're out sourcing our common sense and good judgement
Pros
Large company, still recognized as good branding on your resume. Work life balance is ok. Pay is ok, but not competitive with other industry leaders. There are good people still left in the company to mentor you, but they are quickly leaving.
Cons
Cisco is in a constant Limited Restructure (Lay off) mode. When a group fails at a project the leadership moves to another group and the engineers are laid off. Way to many VPs Directors and managers. There are managers with only one or two people under them. Same with Directors and VPs. Cisco has lost its focus and the Senior Leadership team is driving the ship into the icebergs. Pay raises and promotions are only available to the managers and above. Cisco considers it an insult to give a 2% pay raise to cover cost of living, so they may give you 5% every 5 or 6 years. Recent Cisco motto is Be thankful you have a job!