I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Cisco
Interview
2 rounds of phone interviews (both audio). Both behavioral and no technical questions asked about data structures or algorithms . Seemed quite unprofessional and unprepared. They not only changed the duties of the role but didn't explain the position clearly until second interview. The first interviewer didn't even seem to realize what type of position they were looking for either. The one semblance of a technical question was very abstract/hypothethical and related more to data science than software engineering.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
If you had a large number of columns and rows in a data set how would u present this to a client or ur supervisor? (Told me to imagine values for the data set. Didn't give any specifics or labels to identify what sort of data set )
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.