Cisco Associate Systems Engineer CSAP interview questions

The whole process took around 2 months. I went through 4 stages. 1. Prerecorded interview This part was easy. If i remembered correctly, you are able to rerecord your answer if you messed up. More on behavioral questions. 2. WebEx Interview with a trainer I was interviewed by a trainer in the CSAP programme. He asked mostly behavioral questions and the usual "Why us" questions. Would help if you have prior knowledge of the company, what they do, products they offer, and what is telepresence (I admitted to the interviewer that I had no idea haha). 3. WebEx Technical Interview with a senior If you passed through Stage 2, you would receive a large folder of documents to prepare for Stages 3 and 4. Stage 3 is a 2 part programming test. Pretty basic python, testing you on OOD. You would need to present your solution through screen share, with the interviewer. Following that, he would ask some behavioral questions and some technical questions. He asked me questions like, what is a router/ switch, and what is cloud computing. 4. Assessment Center This took place in their Singapore Hub and took up half a day. It comprises 4 components (not in order): 1) Presentation I was given a White Paper 1 week before, to familiarize and prepare for a 10 min presentation. I presented to 2 interviewers with a whiteboard. They liked it if you use the whiteboard in the room. 2) Sales Meeting This was the most stressful part of the assessment. You have 20 mins to talk to the client (the interviewers), understand their problem and recommend solutions. 3) Technical Interview They tested me on my networking knowledge and dug deeper when I threw out technical jargon. So, don't try to be smart and talk about things you are not sure about. Your interviewers are experts and would know it if you start to babble. Just admit it if you are unsure. 4) Written Test It was pretty easy for me. You should have some knowledge about the product offerings of major tech firms (e.g. Watsons from IBM, AWS from Amazon), and programming concepts.

There are 3 steps to the process: 1. Video Interview - Had a video interview with the Field Sales Manager.This interview was pretty much getting to know you 2. Making a 2 minute video - Had to make a 2 minute video on How Cisco can drive innovation in the workplace. Really don't have much to give here. The website still says that it is in review. I highly doubt that they looked at it. 3. Assessment Center - This requires a lot of preparation. This assessment took place at the Cisco office in Toronto. You will be here with other candidates for this position (for me it was around 30 candidates) and will basically live in a room for the whole day (about 8am-5pm). The expectation is that you socialize with other candidates and also employees who are currently in the CSAP program. HR is present in the room the whole time (except when they escort you to your rooms), so I'm not sure if they notice anything (you are provided name tags, so maybe?). From what I was told there were 4 positions for January and probably another 3 or 4 for July (depends on headcount provided to them). There were 4 parts for this day (already known from the email sent around 2 weeks before the interview). Basically, the candidates are put into groups. For example: There are 32 candidates. 4 groups of 8 each take turns in the below parts and go to 8 different rooms at a time. So basically, HR escorts you to your room every time it's your turn. Feedback is given for the sales role play and the presentation. Also, some interviewers will be present via video conference. There were about 2 or 3 interviewers for every part. The 1st part was a 15 minute assessment. By far, the easiest assessment ever. They provided me with a 40 minute video which had all the info. Everyone finished it within 5 minutes. It had about 8 questions multiple choice. The 2nd part was another interview like the video interview. Depending on your resume, they will ask you technical questions. Didn't seem to be that bad really. Other candidates also said that it went well for them. The 3rd part which is a sales roleplay requires preparation. The link in the email contained the info needed. They provided some material for the case study. My case was a retailer who wanted to drive costs lower and improve customer collaborations. The key here is to ask questions. Also, you have to gain the trust of the customer. My approach was to uncover solutions as they provided their pain points. My mistake was that I didn't ask enough questions although my solutions were accepted. Don't answer questions that you do not know. They may push you in that direction. Study Cisco's product and services on their website for your research.In this step, I heard a lot of people saying that the interviewers told them that Cisco has a very high cost and what's stopping them from going to the competition. Key here is to drive enterprise value. Again the key here is to uncover all the customers needs, so ASK QUESTIONS. The next step is to show how Cisco can provide great value. How you get to the solution is more important although the solutions have to make sense.Also at the end of the role play, solidify the next steps (should be to schedule another meeting). As soon as the role play was over, I was asked what would I do differently. This can be tricky since you plan on doing what you think is right. It was a little easier for me since I did not ask enough questions, so that's what i said. Also to add, I had one customer in the room whom i was presenting to and there was another interviewer taking notes via video conference. The last part was a 10 minute presentation on The Internet of Everything (IoE), What cisco can do to drive IoE and what technology is needed. One point I did not know is that they can ask you questions at any point and you have to still use a max of 10 minutes. So I would prepare a presentation of around 7 minutes just to be safe. Mine was close to 10 minutes and I had to cut a lot because of the questions asked. This can vary. Feedback given to me was that i had to engage them more which basically means get them involved (get their opinions, ask them questions). Questions asked were what is cisco curently doing to drive IoE, is byod driving IoE HR said that offers for January will be sent next week and everyone else should here within a month. I was declined the next week. My guess is that the sales role play brought me really down and performing well in this step is very important as it will be an everyday thing with this position. I heard that all the interviewers sat back after the day was over to discuss their findings. I was not fully disappointed just because sales was not something i really wanted to go to. This job was more sales than hands on although the technical knowledge is required. FYI: there were a number of people with no technical background in networking