Since it first opened in Galway in 2007, Cisco has had a strong emphasis on supporting and hiring graduates and interns, as well as promoting STEM as a career choice among students. A world leader in networking and cybersecurity, the company can offer an exciting and rewarding career path.
"Even in our initial hiring we had a big focus on graduates and interns," said Keith Griffin, site leader at Cisco Galway. "As we were starting those interns were graduating, and they became the first employees of Cisco in Galway. There has always been that focus on early career and intern hiring."
The company hires directly from relevant third level programmes, predominantly in educational institutions in the west. It also proactively promotes careers in computer science and engineering among second level students, through schools outreach, transition year placements, and events such as the Galway Science and Technology Festival.
"There is a responsibility to go to schools and talk to students about careers, because you don't always get the numbers at graduate level," he explained. "Transition year students, when we can bring them into the building it’s valuable because you might think you know what a computer engineer will do, or someone who writes software will do. We always encourage people to see what it’s like. People want to get a good job, but it has to be fulfilling."
Though employees are now working from home, the company continues to provide internships remotely. When it comes to third level interns, Cisco works to ensure they have a meaningful experience during their time at the company.
"We like to involve them directly on the team working on real software," Mr Griffin said. "Ninety five per cent or more return to us as graduate engineers. It says a lot about our team and the focus they put on making sure the intern has a good experience in terms of understanding the job."
The company has increasingly found that community involvement and corporate social responsibility are key criteria when it comes to attracting talented graduates, and this is an area that Cisco takes very seriously. It encourages employees to work directly on initiatives that will benefit the community, with each member availing of five paid days per year to work on these projects through the Time to Give programme. During the pandemic this has been increased to 10 days, with impressive results.
The company used Webex, its flagship video conferencing software, to help people in nursing homes to safely stay in touch with family and friends. A music mode was also developed to help people use the platform for music performances and classes. It also donated devices to intensive care units around to the country to allow patients who were critically ill with Covid to communicate with loved ones.
"We’ve been working around the clock since last March, but we’ve all been driven by the knowledge that we’re helping people," Mr Griffin said.
