This post was written by Cisco Intern, Mara Fowler who has since gone back to school (we miss you, Mara!) but we still loved her journey and wanted to share with our awesome Cisconian community!

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Why did you choose Cisco? One simple question, posed by our fearless leaders during intern orientation, and suddenly I was frozen. Not because I didn't have answers, rather, it's hard to summarize all of those reasons into one concise, Instagram-worthy statement.

Not wanting to be held to just a caption, I took to writing my thoughts out instead. This is why#IChoseCisco -and I think you should too!

Philanthropy

I was six or seven the first time my mom took me to volunteer, and I'll never forget it. I loved being able to give back, and the feeling of incredible joy I experienced when helping others was something that has never left me. So when I began researching for companies to intern for, I only applied to ones that were serious about their commitment to social responsibility (CSR).

Cisco is committed to CSR on a multitude of fronts, many of which are highlighted in its Never Better campaign.  In Africa for example, Cisco is using "connected conservation" to save rhinos from poaching, while other CSR initiatives include environmental sustainability, providing emergency networks after natural disasters, and bringing medical care to remote areas via technology. With so many great initiatives in motion, there's never been a better time to use theInternet of Everythingto pay it forward!

See what I did there?

Corporate Culture

You rarely hear anything negative about working for Cisco.  In fact, it's continuously listed as one of the best places to work from multiple resources!  Why?  There're several reasons behind this, but the main one is flexibility.  You can work where it makes sense for you, in some offices, there are super cool "creativity zones" (which -fun fact -is where I'm writing this post from!), and you can even change jobs/departments within Cisco to gain further experience and grow your skills.

This relaxed work environment leads to happy employees and an open-minded corporate culture.  And there's really no better way to take a break than recharging in the napping pods (yes, that's a thing).

Experience

The experience you get at Cisco is tough to beat.  Because Cisco sets itself apart from other companies, there are several aspects of the internship program that are unique as well.  Instead of fetching coffee, I'm fortunate enough that Cisco structures its internship program to encourage interns to contribute our ideas and share our insights -almost on day one.

At Cisco I'm a Corporate Marketing and Communications intern and I work on the Cisco Live team. I get to help incorporate Cisco's collaboration tool, Spark into several programs, and I was even able to spend a week in Las Vegas for Cisco Live in July! I've had the opportunity to network with the experts via "lunches with leaders" (yay free food!) and work with the stellar pros on my team.

I am living proof that this internship is so much more than just your average internship, you are part of the process here at Cisco!

It's the Future

One of the best parts about being in tech is that the industry is constantly changing.  The fast-paced atmosphere at Cisco makes the work challenging and exciting.  Even though we don't know what new ideas and advancements tomorrow will bring, we know that we will be a part of the team that will make it happen.

Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?  We're ready.  Are you?

Join us! Apply now.