Tales From The CSAP Floor

As we look forward to the future, how can we navigate the permanent changes the pandemic has caused, and build a successful career? For this episode, we invited guest speaker Elin Berglie, a Global Collaboration Communications Manager at Cisco. Elin enjoys building relationships and has lived in multiple countries throughout her career. With our host Enrico, they discuss adapting to a changing env...

Tune in to another episode of our podcast "Tales from the CSAP Floor", and listen to some great life advice from our guest Katherine McNamara in conversation with Emerald! Learn more about the importance of studying and self-discipline, to stay up to date in an industry that's always changing. Her riveting story of persistence and sheer will from when she hit rock bottom will have you wondering ab...

Listen as host Sabrina Laut and guest Tammy Getschel discuss how to set boundaries when working from your bedroom. Tammy is an Enablement Solutions Architect at Cisco, a CSAP Alum herself who came back to train our CSAPers. She's well known for her LinkedIn posts on tips for Working From Home based on her own experiences that pre-date the Pandemic. They talk about  what defines work life balance,...

With a hybrid working model as the new normal, this episode focuses on creating a permanent home office that allows one to be productive, in terms of creating a physical space dedicated to work, as well as creating a mental headspace. Our guest Jeff Bull has his own “At Home” series on Youtube, where he interviews people in their home office. Together, our host Enrico Giulini and Jeff will discuss...

Join us for our podcast "Tales from the CSAP Floor" with our inspiring guests Max Magney and Thomson Ngo  and our ever-cheerful host, Emerald Williamson, from the Land Down Under, Australia! Listen to them share their pearls of wisdom about sustainability, the circular economy, and how bringing your passion to work makes you more fulfilled and happier. Their stories centre around their involvement...

In this episode our host Sabrina Laut and guest Chandni Panchal discuss how to approach our own mental health and how working together can help remove the stigma of opening up about it. Chandni, a CSAP alum, is part of the UK&I Developer Advocacy team at Cisco focusing on all cool things programmability! Listen as Sabrina and Chandni talk more about achieving balance between work and personal life...

Ever wonder why you feel burnt out after a day of video meetings? In this episode, we focus on how early-in-career and facilitators can prevent virtual training burnout while ensuring the effectiveness of virtual training. Our guest Michael Harabedian has been at Cisco for 21 years and is a respected veteran trainer at CSAP (Cisco Sales Associates Program). Our host Enrico Giulini and Michael disc...

This episode touches on several topics: the power of failure, cultural adaptability and international travel. Steve Cramer, one of our legendary CSAP facilitators and CSAP alumnus, is no stranger to failure. It’s about what you do when, not if you fail. In his great story telling fashion, Steve shares too many anecdotes to list but we’ll entice you with a famous movie quote that’s mentioned in the...

Story telling is an art. No wait. It’s a science. Throw in some psychology, mix in some Harry Potter and find that common red thread behind every good story. Sen Chandaka, SE Senior Manager and CSAP Alum, is a natural storyteller, a skill he has honed through years of reading, listening and just practicing telling stories. He shows us how to successfully use storytelling in our technology world, p...

From being named Person of Impact by Cisco’s ECN (Early in Career Network) to winning an award for writing a mythical fiction book to hosting major events such as Woman of Cisco and the GVSE (Global Virtual Sales & Engineering) all hands in APJC, Jennifer Seo truly is a Cisco Rockstar. She’s fearless and seizes opportunities as they come her way. She recently graduated from the Cisco Sales Associa...

Listen to this insightful conversation between our host Cyrille and Sherman Wilkins, a 2008 CSAP alum. Sherman draws parallels between coming into CSAP during the global financial crisis and our FY20 and FY21 cohort coming in during the COVID-19 pandemic. He delves into many aspects of CSAP, his career journey, his personal life and just gives some great career advice. As usual, Cyrille brings his...

Tune into this episode with Domi talking to Kathleen Schauer, an Account Manager for Microsoft. Kathleen started her career as an ASE (Associate System Engineer). After a couple of years working on the Verizon Channel team, she went on to become an IT director for a small nonprofit. Finding herself in her customers' shoes was eye opening and made abundantly clear what matters most to customers. Co...

In this episode, Fabio talks to our host Cyrille about his journey starting off as an associate and the path that led him back to CSAP as a manager. There are too many pearls of wisdom to mention so we'll leave you with this one quote: "If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough".

In this first episode of our second season, our host Marcus Isaksen talks to Neil Truncik, a CSAP alum who is passionate about mindfulness and teaches it. Neil gives sound advice on being more mindful, keeping your mind healthy and the services Cisco offers to support. Although the conversation was recorded before the outbreak, it's still very relevant, perhaps more so now with social distancing b...

The best analogy Elisabetta Seggioli (Italian ASE) and Jay Ham (Korean ASE) can give is that taking driving lessons and actually driving are two very different things! That’s how they describe transitioning from learning during the training bootcamp to doing during their on the job experience as Associate Systems Engineers. Elisabetta stresses the importance of not only creating several support ne...

On the 2nd of October 2019, Cisco was named the #1 World’s Best Workplace! Listen to Henrik Parnemann (top picture, back row, 5th from your right) and Andres Jimenez Nanhekhan (bottom picture, second from your left), CSAP alumni, talk about how they were able to make a difference and create the amazing Cisco culture we are all so proud of. From Time to Give that took them on amazing meaningful pro...

In this episode, Khal invites two of his friends and fellow CSAP’ers, Sara Ortega Jimenez (Spanish ASR) and Galal Amr (Egyptian ASR) to talk about personal brand for people that are early in career. They share their first impressions of participating in Cisco’s yearly sales meeting, called Impact, that happens in Las Vegas and give advice on how best to show up and stand out at this unique event....

In this last episode of the first season, Khal talks to Thando (ASR from South Africa) and Leonardo (ASE from Italy moving to Dubai) about lots of different things. The importance of becoming friends before colleagues comes up as well as getting to know each other even before their first day at CSAP. They reminisce about their first impressions on how well organized the first day was and how incre...

In this episode, our host, Khal, talks with Cristina (Moldovan ASR) and Titus (South African ASE) on their big move to Amsterdam. They talk about their excitement of joining CSAP, accepting and embracing this life changing decision and preparing to move to a new city. They talk about the typical challenges of moving, how Cisco and the CSAP community help and the critical success factors of thrivin...

Petr talks to Nicolas Cervigni, an ASE (Associate Systems Engineer) manager and Phuong Nguyen, an ASE to get the Engineering perspective. They talk about the ASE profile and how it isn’t limited to graduates with a strictly engineering background. It is open for anyone with a technical background who is curious and passionate about technology. They then cover some very useful tips to be successful...

In this episode, Petr Gusakov, our host, uncovers what the secret sauce is to succeeding in the Assessment Center and how to be successful as an ASR. He invites Orsi Szucs, our EMEAR Talent Lead for Global Virtual Sales and Wessel Van Roij, an ASR entering the Dutch market to have a candid conversation about it!

Host, Khal Khalaf and guests, Andrea Unanue and Sandro Fasser, take you through what it was like preparing for their Assessment Centers on their path to Cisco's Sales Associate Program. If you're interested in applying for CSAP, this is an episode you definitely don't want to miss!

Get to know our hosts for Season 1 of Tales From The CSAP Floor, Petr Gusakov and Khalid Khalaf. Entitled "Ready. Set. CSAP." Through a series of in-depth interviews with some of our Associates, Petr and Khalid shine a spotlight on what it takes to join Cisco's Sales Associate Program.

Host, Petr Gusakov sits down with Morongwa Waifo and Alexander Depypere to discuss their journey through the application process of Cisco's Sales Associate Program. Learn about how Morongwa and Alex found Cisco, and why their unique backgrounds made them ideal candidates for CSAP.