1 year at Cisco....
so finally last month i somehow completed my one year at Cisco. I have mixed feelings about my "work experience" in the past one year. this being my first job, i dont have much to compare with,except with my friends in different companies especially in Delhi.
The journey started with a 15 day accommodation on company's expenditures in a 3 star hotel suite along with a fantastic group. I would say that would be my best days in Bangalore till date.Made a whole lot of new friends, and learnt a lot about some whom i already knew before coming here.Got the first hand experience of how disastrous it is to be in company of notorious friends when in inebriated state and little consciousness..Though i enjoyed every moment..every drunken line said..."tu to mera bhai hai...saale wo teri bhabhi hai..." and the best one..."saala aaj se daaru band".
so the job started with orientation about the company work and policies in different star hotels.The food there sucked big time...after all door ke dhol sirf suhane hi hote hai...all other seemed pretty nice all that month..but now with rare parties and offsites, i can certainly say..bakre ko halal karne se pehle khilaya pilaya jaata hai.. ;) (Yahan to khana bhi barbaad tha..). The two types of trainings we had, had minimal learning and maximum fun... The seriousness could be gauged by the fact that people were watching obscene content even while the class was on.Infact, even today when my mentor asks me about what we were taught in the trainings, he would just get a deadpan expression from me...hopeless fellow...wondering what... had i even attended a training session also!!!Then there were some other "incidents" also during that time(making me infamous among the new hires) which do not deserve space here.
the actual work started after one month of training got over and we got to know about our managers and mentors. I had a change of 3 managers in a single day before evrything was finalised. The first meeting with my manager scared me off completely.First his vry serious looks with no smiles on the face and then with all his interview type questions in introduction....please let me go, i have to play!!...i started wondering about the veracity of statements people make about their bosses.But after knowing him for an year now, I can certainly say, he would be among the best in disguising people, though the real picture would be out there in a few days(ePM results awaited!!)... To quote a friend when he first met his manager: Yaar, he is awesome, really cool...i am going to have a great time now..awesome team, awesome work and now awesome manager.... and today he would be he most cribbing person about his work and manager among the new hires..looking to change team/company at the first opportunity he gets.
even the first meeting with my mentor was daunting.he handed me over 200 pages of documents to read over the weekend about some hardware i was to work on. Over this, he told me about the hard time the new hires generally have in the first year at Cisco, even working on weekends..delineating a very gloomy image for me.the day ended with we people playing some
carrom(finally, i got to play!!) and making some noises in the otherwise silent office, me sucking at the game..my worst show at carrom!!!
So I went through some of the pages over the weekend with no idea of what i was reading when on Monday my mentor again stumped me. He asked me to go through some quizzes and stuff..and then came the diaster...my first victim..The laptop fell from my desk and the screen was damaged...and i was found running here-there looking for some solution..some escape..wtf...will i get a new laptop..was all that on my mind!!Fortunately, everything fell in place...I got a new laptop within 2 days but made a decent dent in my BU's cofers... and i was ready to select some other targets....had already been bestowed with the "compliment: "mere hath tikte nhi hai...".
Soon I was getting used to the work environment...going thru the code with mentor's help...understaning the hardware architectures...solving customer issues..sometimes eluding my mentor with the alibi that i was not in the city and sometimes really coming to office on weekends.He would scan the code in seconds and ask me if we were going right....i wud just be humming "yes" at his every call...how would i know if we are going right...i would be left in no man's land when he would ask me to execute what he had said..i just had to run back to him with the question,"What and where do we have to make the change finally???"Now it was his time to show a deadpan face...
Speaking about the work culture here, I am definitely sure, you wouldnt find one better anywhere else.complete freedom to work anywhere, to speak out any of your grudges in front of seniors.."quite informal" environment...and many others say it all. Compare this to companies my friends are in where in you are allowed maximum 1 hr for lunch and even your entries are logged...
Though the initial six months were complete cribbing for me..so much that i had even scared people coming to Bangalore..reasons including the disatrous food(cant compromise over that)...the "frugal nature" of the company...but majorly due to factors external to cisco.But with all this in stride now i completely enjoy my stay here...the best part has been the birthday bumps..i have been giving some severe kicks to people who know me even remotely...noone forgets to call me during the bumps session but now i realise that very soon my ass would be on fire...for all those will be ready to avenge those hard hits.I know how i saved myself last year...
The maximum time of a software engineer goes in checking mails and sending forwards and i am no different...i get tons of fwded mails from my friends in/out cisco...Infact, the majority of mailbox space is filled up with those fwded mails than "important" mails..over this the Outlook has a poor searching algo...!!You see people getting senti over trivial issues..screwing someone just asking links for free hindi songs(that poor chap..would never ask again anything!!)...then clamoring over ethical and piracy issues and what more...no matter if they themselves be using pirated versions...you are simply horrified over stand people can take to convert even silly banter to sensitive issues...On the lighter side you see people going gaga over any gal, even little cute or pretty they see in the office...they change their timing of work, of play(yes, now they get time for this also!!), even for drinking a cup of coffee...they make funny jokes which she wud consider silly and has to bear...they try their level best to be even a driver for them...no wonder how busy a software engineer is...!!
Anyways...it is great feeling to complete one year at job...must have done something good to be still there...the whole team is asking for a treat...but then i have someone in my team to take care of this also...
One year away from home has finally passed quite slowly and there would be lot many stories to tell about my stay here..but maybe sometime later..this post is getting too big...The work and efficiency improves sporadically(only when my manager starts threatening me..!!!) though it would still not be a surprise if you find me napping in my cube in a proper sarkari fashion with legs on the table...
I am loving it..!!!
The journey started with a 15 day accommodation on company's expenditures in a 3 star hotel suite along with a fantastic group. I would say that would be my best days in Bangalore till date.Made a whole lot of new friends, and learnt a lot about some whom i already knew before coming here.Got the first hand experience of how disastrous it is to be in company of notorious friends when in inebriated state and little consciousness..Though i enjoyed every moment..every drunken line said..."tu to mera bhai hai...saale wo teri bhabhi hai..." and the best one..."saala aaj se daaru band".
so the job started with orientation about the company work and policies in different star hotels.The food there sucked big time...after all door ke dhol sirf suhane hi hote hai...all other seemed pretty nice all that month..but now with rare parties and offsites, i can certainly say..bakre ko halal karne se pehle khilaya pilaya jaata hai.. ;) (Yahan to khana bhi barbaad tha..). The two types of trainings we had, had minimal learning and maximum fun... The seriousness could be gauged by the fact that people were watching obscene content even while the class was on.Infact, even today when my mentor asks me about what we were taught in the trainings, he would just get a deadpan expression from me...hopeless fellow...wondering what... had i even attended a training session also!!!Then there were some other "incidents" also during that time(making me infamous among the new hires) which do not deserve space here.
the actual work started after one month of training got over and we got to know about our managers and mentors. I had a change of 3 managers in a single day before evrything was finalised. The first meeting with my manager scared me off completely.First his vry serious looks with no smiles on the face and then with all his interview type questions in introduction....please let me go, i have to play!!...i started wondering about the veracity of statements people make about their bosses.But after knowing him for an year now, I can certainly say, he would be among the best in disguising people, though the real picture would be out there in a few days(ePM results awaited!!)... To quote a friend when he first met his manager: Yaar, he is awesome, really cool...i am going to have a great time now..awesome team, awesome work and now awesome manager.... and today he would be he most cribbing person about his work and manager among the new hires..looking to change team/company at the first opportunity he gets.
even the first meeting with my mentor was daunting.he handed me over 200 pages of documents to read over the weekend about some hardware i was to work on. Over this, he told me about the hard time the new hires generally have in the first year at Cisco, even working on weekends..delineating a very gloomy image for me.the day ended with we people playing some
carrom(finally, i got to play!!) and making some noises in the otherwise silent office, me sucking at the game..my worst show at carrom!!!
So I went through some of the pages over the weekend with no idea of what i was reading when on Monday my mentor again stumped me. He asked me to go through some quizzes and stuff..and then came the diaster...my first victim..The laptop fell from my desk and the screen was damaged...and i was found running here-there looking for some solution..some escape..wtf...will i get a new laptop..was all that on my mind!!Fortunately, everything fell in place...I got a new laptop within 2 days but made a decent dent in my BU's cofers... and i was ready to select some other targets....had already been bestowed with the "compliment: "mere hath tikte nhi hai...".
Soon I was getting used to the work environment...going thru the code with mentor's help...understaning the hardware architectures...solving customer issues..sometimes eluding my mentor with the alibi that i was not in the city and sometimes really coming to office on weekends.He would scan the code in seconds and ask me if we were going right....i wud just be humming "yes" at his every call...how would i know if we are going right...i would be left in no man's land when he would ask me to execute what he had said..i just had to run back to him with the question,"What and where do we have to make the change finally???"Now it was his time to show a deadpan face...
Speaking about the work culture here, I am definitely sure, you wouldnt find one better anywhere else.complete freedom to work anywhere, to speak out any of your grudges in front of seniors.."quite informal" environment...and many others say it all. Compare this to companies my friends are in where in you are allowed maximum 1 hr for lunch and even your entries are logged...
Though the initial six months were complete cribbing for me..so much that i had even scared people coming to Bangalore..reasons including the disatrous food(cant compromise over that)...the "frugal nature" of the company...but majorly due to factors external to cisco.But with all this in stride now i completely enjoy my stay here...the best part has been the birthday bumps..i have been giving some severe kicks to people who know me even remotely...noone forgets to call me during the bumps session but now i realise that very soon my ass would be on fire...for all those will be ready to avenge those hard hits.I know how i saved myself last year...
The maximum time of a software engineer goes in checking mails and sending forwards and i am no different...i get tons of fwded mails from my friends in/out cisco...Infact, the majority of mailbox space is filled up with those fwded mails than "important" mails..over this the Outlook has a poor searching algo...!!You see people getting senti over trivial issues..screwing someone just asking links for free hindi songs(that poor chap..would never ask again anything!!)...then clamoring over ethical and piracy issues and what more...no matter if they themselves be using pirated versions...you are simply horrified over stand people can take to convert even silly banter to sensitive issues...On the lighter side you see people going gaga over any gal, even little cute or pretty they see in the office...they change their timing of work, of play(yes, now they get time for this also!!), even for drinking a cup of coffee...they make funny jokes which she wud consider silly and has to bear...they try their level best to be even a driver for them...no wonder how busy a software engineer is...!!
Anyways...it is great feeling to complete one year at job...must have done something good to be still there...the whole team is asking for a treat...but then i have someone in my team to take care of this also...
One year away from home has finally passed quite slowly and there would be lot many stories to tell about my stay here..but maybe sometime later..this post is getting too big...The work and efficiency improves sporadically(only when my manager starts threatening me..!!!) though it would still not be a surprise if you find me napping in my cube in a proper sarkari fashion with legs on the table...
I am loving it..!!!
posted by atul lakhotia at
9:08 PM
2 Comments:
now i know, wht u did last summer...n sumone else wud also know tht
man o man!!
firstly u write epic length stories...then u ask people to review it...still tolerable....
but look at how presumptuous u are.....u dare to ask people to review and come up with comments..
nonetheless cheers to the budding jeffrey archer.. keep it up
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