I applied through college or university. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco (Research Triangle Park, NC) in Jan 2013
Interview
Got contacted after campus hiring event. Had one phone interview with hiring manager. Then flew down for an on site. Had six one hour technical interviews. There were breaks for coffee and tea. Had lunch with the hiring manager
Standard panel, very simple leetcodes. reverse linked list kind of vibe s . I was literarly asked about how a linked list is structured and reversing it. there was almost no friction which I was shocked by one of the reason I did not accept
They care about your skills, rather than your background. They have a template which they provide and you got to fill that, everyone is provided a unique number. You are instructed not to disclose any of your personal details in the due course of your interview.
The interview process was two rounds. The first round was a behavioral interview. Straightforward questions, like tell me about the most technically challenging project you have worked on. The second round was a system design interview.