The four companies I decided to research for this project are Cerner, Cisco, McAfee, and Code42. I chose these companies because I have a strong interest in cybersecurity as well as software engineering and programming, which all of these companies have a focus in. The majority of these companies are rather large scale and would also give me an opportunity for advancement throughout a career. A key bonus of several of these companies are that they are interested in moving their business into cloud based security in the future.

Cerner
Contact Information:

1. Name: Cerner
2. Address: 10200 Abilities Way, Kansas City, KS 66111
3. Link to homepage: https://www.cerner.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic-local-listings&utm_content=continuous-campus
4. Phone: (816) 221-1024
5. Contact: Laura Buller- Senior Recruiter

General Employer Information:
Cerner Corporation is a developer and supplier of health information technology services and electronic health records. They provide differing levels of hardware and software to healthcare industry customers and even go as far as to design individual and specific products based on a single client’s needs. They are a worldwide organization headquartered out of Kansas City, MO and are currently hiring positions across the globe.
My Interest:
The main driver for my interest in this company is that I feel the products I would help create would have a direct impact on potentially saving lives. This adds a level of job satisfaction that goes beyond just making a good product and having a decent salary. My research increased my desire to work for this company because of the products they make and the amount of money they put into research and development on an annual basis. The only information I discovered in my research that would weaken my desire to work for this company is some of the reviews they have received from past employees who feel they would stagnate in their positions and did not feel they were receiving career building training throughout their time with Cerner.
Questions for Success:

1. What type of annual training do you provide to your employees, so they have the potential to move up within the company over time?
2. You state that family is your top priority, are there any stories you could share of how family was placed as a priority for an employee besides having the health care facility they can workout at or having “take your child to work” functions?
3. How does your software engineering department management design function?
4. When working with a new client and creating software based off of their needs, how would my potential position integrate with that process.

 

Cisco
Contact Information:

1. Name: Cisco Systems
2. Address: 300 East Tasman Dr. San Jose, CA 95134
3. Link to homepage: https://www.cisco.com/
4. Phone: (408) 526-4000
5. Contact: The only way I can find to get an actual contact is to fully apply for a job and then their recruiting department may or may not call you.

General Employer Information:
Cisco is an IT and networking brand that develops mostly networking products such as switches and routers. It is a worldwide company that currently employs 73,711 people in 22 different countries. Cisco is headquartered out of San Francisco, which is where it gets its name because it sounds similar to “San Francisco”. Cisco saw its first bit growth during the dot-com bubble and was in a prime position to market its switches and routers to the world.
My Interest:
My interest in working for Cisco grew and weakened during my research of this company. The main drivers that grew my interest in pursuing a career with Cisco is because their fasting growing field within their company is cybersecurity, which is my major focus educationally. Also, they were voted the best workplace in 2019 by Forbes. The reasoning behind my weakening in interest is because most Cisco jobs are on the east coast, west coast, or another country. I was hopeful that there would be jobs closer to home since there is a rather large Cisco office building in Overland Park, KS, but they seem to have a different function that is not within the IT scope.
Questions for Success:

1. With cybersecurity being your fastest growing field, do you plan to open up and more physical locations to support that growth and where would they possibly be located?
2. Being that you are a major leader in networking and cybersecurity, do you feel at any point that your employees would be in mostly a remote working status?
3. What generalized plans does the company have to make sure they stay on the leading edge of cybersecurity?
4. What trainings or classes would you be able to offer to help develop my skillset as a cybersecurity analyst?

 

McAfee
Contact Information:

1. Name: McAfee
2. Address: 6220 America Center Drive, San Jose, CA 95002
3. Link to homepage: https://www.mcafee.com/en-us/index.html
4. Phone: (866) 622-3911
5. Contact: The only way I can find to get an actual contact is to fully apply for a job and then their recruiting department may or may not call you.

General Employer Information:
McAfee is mostly a cybersecurity company in that they develop security tools, such as antivirus software, for personal use and sell them directly to their customers. Though they are mostly known for their products that they sell to individuals for personal protection, they also develop security for servers and mobile devices. Past security, McAfee also develops virtual private network software and cloud-based security.
My Interest:
Overall, my interest in this company grew from learning more in depth about them. My major worries with this company before researching is that I feel individual end user based antivirus platforms are going to be a thing of the past soon. Too many operating systems are developing their own versions of antivirus platforms and incorporating them into their rollouts, which would take away the need for a company like McAfee. However, I have come to find out that though end user antivirus software is McAfee’s major platform, they are attempting to move more into the cloud security industry which is where I would like to be.
Questions for Success:

1. After being purchased by Intel, do you feel that this has changed the heart of the company in any way? Or has it just given more backing to the goals McAfee already had in place?
2. How does McAfee interact with Intel based off all fields ranging from management structure to training opportunities?
3. Does McAfee offer remote working opportunities now or possibly in the future?
4. Does the company see itself working mostly in cloud computing in the future?

 

Code42
Contact Information:

1. Name: Code42
2. Address: 100 Washington Avenue South Suite 2000, Minneapolis, MN 55401
3. Link to homepage: https://www.code42.com/go/cpg-incydr-product/?utm_content=jan21%25incydr%20pm%20product%20page&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ENT_Brand%20-%20Search&utm_term=code42&_bt=490386009801&_bk=%2Bcode42&_bm=b&_bn=g&_bg=113035602851&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1KiBBhCcARIsAPWqoSqFA7RkFYIeZWF9CEqpvB2SNQcPmsDbzN8x4yrUlkgO_U93digSxvAaAspJEALw_wcB
4. Phone: (612) 333-4242
5. Contact: The only way I can find to get an actual contact is to fully apply for a job and then their recruiting department may or may not call you.

General Employer Information:
Code42 operates within the cybersecurity industry but has a more specialized focus than most companies. They mostly focus on insider threats within the client organization. They create software as well as provide consultations on how best to mitigate data loss risk from internal sources. Code42 has 500 employees and generate approximately $46 million per year in sales.
My Interest:
After conducting further research into Code42 my interest in working for this company grew greatly. Throughout my educational experiences I have learned that some of the greatest threats to data come from those within a company. Working for an organization that specialized in data risk mitigation from within I believe is very worth while and interesting. Also, Code42 is a larger company, but not so large that I feel I would be lost in the mix. Before my research, I thought Code42 was much larger than it actually is.
Question for Success:

1. Dealing mostly with insider threats, do you find that only larger companies with many employees are willing to hire you? Or do smaller companies see benefits as well?
2. Being that your headquarters is in Minnesota, do you see any potential for remote working capabilities in the future?
3. I see that there are many job openings within the Research and Development Department for Cloud Operations, do you foresee that target area being the future for this company?
4. If I were able to obtain a position within this company, are there going to be many cloud based training opportunities to increase my knowledge in the area this company is potentially heading?

 
References
 
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Anthony, Neal St. (2021, January 25). Minneapolis-based Code42 adding employees again,    eyes stock offering within two years. Star Tribune.                                                                                       https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-based-code42-adding-employees-again-              eyes-stock-offering-within-two-years/600014862/
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McAfee. (2021). About McAfee. McAfee. https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/about.html
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