Carmen Shirkey Collins

New CEO Chuck Robbins issued a challenge (one of many)  when he stepped into his new role this past summer. “I want Cisco to be viewed as having the most innovative employee experience in technology or in corporate America,” says Robbins. Cisco is just getting started, but we’re ex…

“We are family! I’ve got all my sisters and me!” ~ Sister Sledge. Now that we’ve gotten a disco tune earworm in your brain, let’s talk about how two sisters, Janine and Jina Daniel, are making the Cisco family part of THEIR family. Janine is a Fresno State graduate, and even when she was still in s…

It’s no secret. I’m nuts about social media. (I lead the Cisco Careers “Life at Cisco” social media strategy.) Word gets around, so people who aren’t as nuts about social media ask me for advice. I love helping them, because when you’re passionate about something, you want others to be passionate ab…

Recently, the Life at Cisco Instagram account (follow us!) asked employees to submit photos via Instagram (and a few other methods) to show us why they chose Cisco. (See the original blog post here.) Turns out, all employees needed was a white-board, a dry-erase pen, and a chance, and they were more…

If you think running a 5K race is challenge enough, try throwing a few daunting obstacles on the course. Cisco Network Consulting Engineer Deidra Brown has faced that challenge, and has overcome it. A few years ago, Deidra wouldn’t have even considered a physical challenge. She had struggled with we…

Nicki Vereschagin just finished her second summer internship at Cisco on the Cloud Partner Marketing team. Before heading back to USC she wanted to leave some advice behind. What follows are tips on how others can learn to think on a global scale. As an intern on the Cisco Cloud Marketing team for…

If you’ve never heard about Cisco’s dCloud team, you’re about to. After this, you might think they’re Cisco’s best-kept secret, and the coolest team around. “We are using bleeding edge technology,” says Program Manager Steve Dickson (better known as dCloud Steve). “No one else is doing it like we’re…

If you had a million airline miles, where would you travel? Kyle Lovett, a security penetration tester with the Advanced Services Security Team is asking himself that very question right now. That’s because his United Airlines mile bank is overflowing, thanks to a security bug he found through a bug…

The #ILookLikeAnEngineer hashtag is the diversity sensation that’s sweeping the nations! The hashtag started as a way to break down stereotypes as to what an engineer might look like. It’s not just nerdy guys. It’s women, minorities; heck, ANYONE can be an engineer or interested in…