Don't even think about taking a contract position unless you want to be unemployed quickly!!!
Pros
Laid back environment, good amount of training opportunities. Good internal network, if you last for a decent amount of time and want to move around
Cons
The project I was on got terminated less than 2 months into the 18 months the contract was listed (and supposedly pre-funded) to last. The entire team was let go without notice, and Cisco (nor the agency we worked through) did not issue any notice nor severance. This is unacceptable, and a very horrible business practice that shows the management doesn't know how to plan and doesn't care about it's staff. It's understandable that contract employees ("red" badge ad Cisco calls them) are contingent, but there is no reason an 18 month project shouldn't be have guaranteed funding/payout for at least 3 months or a reasonable notice given. Many folks on the team (myself included) left permanent jobs to take what we were told was a great opportunity to join Cisco and become part of a long-term project, team, with possible conversion to full-time "blue badge" employees. I've heard numerous horror stories from other folks in my network, former employees and contractors as well as recruiters. This seems to be "business as usual" at Cisco and the cost associated with bringing in new staff and quickly getting rid of them...is very wasteful. In many other ways, I noticed the hand does not know what the foot is doing at this company, during my short time there. The team I worked with was originally a startup that Cisco acquired some years ago, they all absolutely HATED the "Cisco way of doing things", which was nearly impossible to get anything done.