I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Cisco in Oct 2017
Interview
The interview was incredibly easy (literally not a single coding question - just basic networking questions). However, I didn't have a personal relationship with anyone I spoke with whatsoever - everyone was incredibly dry and to-the-point. They offered me an absolutely pitiful salary, not up to par whatsoever with what other companies offered.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Networking questions - list the layers, what is a mac address, what is an IP address, etc. Some basic personal questions.
It's a one hour long panel interview with two to four engineers. The interview contained behavioural questions, resume walk through, python and c implementation, c trivia questions, os concepts, debugging.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Cisco in Feb 2026
Interview
Applied 1/14, prescreening with recruiter 1/29, interview with hiring manager 2/9, offer 2/13
Very easy interview and manager was super nice! Mostly was just asked about the projects on my resume with a couple problem-solving questions surrounding my projects.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you prove your product's safety to the user? (Essentially asking my testing process)
I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco (San Jose, CA)
Interview
The interview has two rounds:
Round 1 focuses on solving DSA problems within 45 minutes, testing logic, efficiency, and coding skills.
Round 2 involves resume screening and project discussion, where you explain your contributions, technical decisions, challenges faced, and overall understanding of your work.