Cisco Associate Systems Engineer interview questions

This is a very competitive program. Over 98% of applicants will be vetted by the final onsite interview. Expect to have a lot of competition, but meet some amazing people along the way. It helps immensely to have contacts within Cisco to run questions and ideas by. If you don't originally know anyone within Cisco, reach out to HR and ask if you can have a current ASE's contact information. It's extremely helpful. There are 3 steps to get through: 30 minute behavioral interview, 2 minute video submission, onsite interview. 1) 30 min behavioral interview: This is simply a current systems engineer talking to you for 30 minutes about the job description, your resume, and your career goals. They may ask you to explain a technical aspect or two on something related to your previous experiences. Remember - this is a job that revolves around communication skills. Explain things clearly. 2) 2 minute video submission: Once again, this is where they see how you handle a technical topic. It's all about communication. Each ASE class will have a different prompt. The previous two have been: "Explain cloud computing" and "What are the technologies involved in enabling a Smart City?" There are many different approaches and there is no correct way to do it. Some people will sit in front of a board and just talk about the topic for 2 minutes, being sure to touch every aspect and having graphics interlaced in. Others will whiteboard for the 2 minutes. Some do creative shots with interesting intros and multiple locations. If you're creative in nature, show that off. If you're better at standard presentations, let that shine. 3) Full day onsite interview: Several components to this... * Technical exam: Very easy, especially if you have any networking experience at all. They provide a video with simple topics that covers everything on the exam. Should not be hard. * 30 minute interview: Will be with 2 or 3 current systems engineers. They'll ask you both behavioral and technical questions. Treat it like a conversation. Talk with them about your experiences and explain things clearly. If you don't know an answer to a technical question, don't BS it. Tell them you don't know and you'll get back to them. Use the whiteboard if possible - they love the whiteboard. * 10 minute presentation: You will be talking for 10 minutes on a certain topic that they give you. Be sure to research general concepts and examples along with where Cisco technologies can come into play. This is very important to tie Cisco in somehow. Practice. Practice. Practice. Run through it with your friends, family, professors, etc. Don't make it a word for word script but definitely know what you're going to say and make sure you have your timing down. Use the whiteboard if possible. Tell a story as an intro. Make a connection with your audience. This is all about communication. * 20 minute sales roleplay: This is the most interesting aspect of them all. I personally had no experience in doing sales. Having connections with current ASE's is a big help for this section. They will give you a fake company looking for several different improvements to their business line. You will meet with the "company's CTO" and learn about their problems and propose a solution. They will give some initial links to help the research get started but definitely do independent research on Cisco solutions. I made an agenda handout and a solutions handout, which they both liked. Be sure not to overload your handouts with info though, you don't want it to be busy. Graphics are key. Spend the first 2-3 minutes just talking and building rapport. Then begin asking questions for the next 10 minutes. Uncover their problems. The last 5 minutes should be spent talking about your high level solutions and answering their questions. Finally, get a firm date to meet again so you can put together a full solution for them. It's a lot of stuff. But breathe, relax, you've got this. If you make it to the final round, there's a reason. Everyone I met that day seemed very qualified and had great communication skills. Stay confident. Final tip: get business cards/emails of all of your interviewers and email them a thank you after the fact. Good luck!!!

They asked for a webcam interview at first. Fairly standard no technical questions. Then they asked for a video presentation on a topic of their choosing. Its fairly short only about 2 minutes. Then they request a full date of interview before hiring.