I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco (Tokio) in Mar 2018
Interview
Interview scheduling took 3 weeks to finalize. Schedule even changed after confirmation email came as interviewer schedule kept changing.
Interview was with 2 managers who seemed totally disinterested from the very beginning.
Flow of interview was all over the place and was not even asked any important questions especially in terms of experience or work related questions (have you done this before?, etc.)
Whole interview felt like they wanted to end it asap, and reluctantly asked more questions as it was "too early"
Did not pass interview as Japanese was deemed not fluent enough even though whole interview was conducted in Japanese with no communication issues. Was also told that I did not have sufficient relevant work experience despite interviewers not asking a single question on past experience.
Very unprofessional interviewers.
I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco (San Jose, CA) in Feb 2026
Interview
Very good process... in depth and met with several leaders and project team members. Good experience, and the team was reall welcoming. Highly recommend as a place to work and build a career.
Interview with Cisco was nice and human. HR was really good at their job, quite pleasant. All important informations were handed out upfront and I felt like the process will not be too long.
There are about 3 rounds with the last round being 3-4 interviews. I began with a phone screening then moved to next round, with all different. Last round were 3 behavioral with one presentation