The good:
If you have a family and a large mortgage payment Cisco is certainly for you. At Cisco you will enjoy great job stability and poor performance on the job will not get you fired.
If you are a student and looking for an intership, this company offers great brand recognition you can slap on your resume, as well as a great place to learn new skills.
The bad:
Cisco is known for its poor performance ranking system.
As other reviewers have noted, work hours are 3x long. In the past, this was OK as we were compensated by a generous ESP and Stock Option plan. However, now those financial benefits are greatly reduced and my colleagues and I find working overtime largely unrewarded. It's quiet normal to work very long hours for several weeks and receive ZERO, or $500 cap award if you're lucky.