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34 Interviews*

* Posted anonymously by Cisco Systems interview candidates (updated Nov 4, 2009)

Difficulty Rating [?]
“Average”
3.2
Interview Experience [?]
Positive 71%
Neutral 24%
Negative 6%

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Interviews for Top Jobs at Cisco Systems
1 - 10 of 34 Cisco Systems Interviews Sort by  

Software Engineer I at Cisco Systems
student candidate

Posted Nov 4, 2009

3.0
Average Interview
Overall Positive Experience Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2008 in San Jose, CA (took 2 days)

I got an interview on campus. Basic questions about myself and the company: "Tell me about yourself", "How do I know if you are the right person for my company?"...No technical

Then 1 month later I got an invitation including hotel and flight ticket to San Jose for 2 days.
It started with a dinner with Cisco employees.
The next days, we are divided into 3-person groups. Each group will be interview individually by 3 other engineers. They basically asked about my group projects. Gave some technical questions about Java like "What is inheritance?". The last guy will ask harder questions in C programming skill "Write a code to reverse the words in a string?" "Optimize it"

Interview Questions

Why would you fit into the company?

Other Details

I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Skills Test and a Personality Test.

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Manager at Cisco Systems

Posted Nov 1, 2009

3.0
Average Interview
Overall Neutral Experience Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Aug 2008 in San Jose, CA (took 3 days)

Had an initial phone interview with the hiring manager. Then had in-person interviews with four people and another round with two more people. They were good at providing a schedule of who I would be speaking with but seemed to have a bit of trouble scheduling everyone for one day instead of two. Overall, the interviews were average in tone, questions asked and initial impressions. I did however find it surprising that I got to my interview to be told, the hiring manager would be changing and they were not sure who the position I was interviewing for would report to or what the role would do exactly. Not sure why they had me interview for a role they were not sure they needed or really knew how to use. Overall, it was interview practice since the role really didn't seem to be a real one.

Interview Questions

Describe a project that you managed from beginning to end.

Other Details

I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

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Senior Software Engineer at Cisco Systems

Posted Oct 31, 2009

2.0
Easy Interview
Overall Neutral Experience Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Santa Clara, CA (took a day)

I see the position on the Cisco career website. Submitted my resume and fill out the forms. Got a phone interview a couple weeks later and then schedule a on-site next week. It is a technical interview and I did a lot of white-board coding. The questions are not difficult (like reverse a link list). But the manager pays a lot attention to the details. For example, how you optimize a couple statement and what variable naming scheme you use. Overall it is not a tough interview. I think I am qualified for the position but I am not the type of developer the manager is looking for.

Interview Questions

how to reverse a link list

Other Details

I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Skills Test.

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Program Manager at Cisco Systems

Posted Oct 31, 2009

2.0
Easy Interview
Overall Positive Experience Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Oct 2009 in San Jose, CA (took 2 weeks)

The initial contact came from a recruiter at a body-shop. They conducted a 30 minute phone screen, and referred me to Cisco - the position was a 6 month contract. There were several rounds of phone interviews with several manager and director level folks in the team, all 1:1. The questions were really softball "tell me about yourself" type questions. The phone interviews lasted anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. The people were all really friendly, although by the last interview I could tell they were just going through the motions, they had already selected someone else.

Interview Questions

I haven't read your resume, so why don't you tell me about yourself? (this came from all the interviewers)
Tell me about the project of which you are most proud
Tell me about your worst project, what went wrong, what did you do to recover

Other Details

I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

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Software Engineer Intern at Cisco Systems

Posted Oct 12, 2009

3.0
Average Interview
Overall Positive Experience Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Nov 2007 (took 2 weeks)

The company took all the students interviewing for intern or full-time positions out to dinner the night before interviews started, the diner was meant as a casual meet the interviewer event. The next day I interviewed with an experienced engineer, he mainly asked me behavioral questions followed by a brain teaser and a probability question.

Interview Questions

Explain a situation in which you had to work with someone who you found difficult to work with.

Other Details

The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.

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Senior Manufacturing Program Manager at Cisco Systems

Posted Oct 4, 2009

5.0
Very Difficult Interview
Overall Positive Experience Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Oct 2007 in San Jose, CA (took 2 days)

They were very intelligent and asked very good questions. The questions were very probing and required very strong responses. The questions ranged from how I delt with a situation and my understanding of business management. I was offered the job the next day.

Interview Questions

I was asked to review a part of a presentation and tell them what I the message was.

Negotiation Details

Cisco pays fair salaries so it was not an issue.

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Group/Panel Interview.

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IT Analyst at Cisco Systems

Posted Sep 15, 2009

3.0
Average Interview
Overall Positive Experience Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Sep 2009 in Raleigh, NC (took a day)

Initial interview with the hiring manager. Focused on more detailed explanation of the position, since the posting was quite vague and broad based. Once the position was explained we discussed my background, strengths, and examples of relevant accomplishments. Ideally, the manager is looking for a more technical person, so my background, MBA/marketers the past 6 years and previously a mechanical engineer, didn't ideally fit the need for a software engineer with at least some business background.

Interview Questions

What is the difference between an average product manager and an excellent one?
Why is Apple better at design than anyone else?

Other Details

I got the interview through an Employee Referral and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.

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Financial Analyst at Cisco Systems

Posted Sep 10, 2009

3.0
Average Interview
Overall Positive Experience Interviewed and No Offer

Interviewed Jul 2008 in Milpitas, CA (took 4 weeks)

I was approached by a recruiter reviewing resumes online. I was invited to sit with the hiring manager after 2 rounds of phone interviews with several recruiters. I felt as though there was a good match for the position however they must have felt differently.

Interview Questions

Why do you want to work for Cisco?

Other Details

I applied In-Person and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.

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Software Engineer IV at Cisco Systems

Posted Sep 12, 20090 of 1 people found this helpful

2.0
Easy Interview
Overall Neutral Experience Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Apr 2008 in San Jose, CA (took a day)

There was no interview, I was already working as consultant and being converted to regular employee.
I got a offer letter after background check was done. Salary was accepted without negotiation.
I had to submit my immigration papers afterwards as I was still on H1b with a EAD and almost in last stages of getting green card. I reckon getting green card was still on top of my mind which kind of prevented me from negotatiating on the salary.

Interview Questions

I was not interviewed as I was already working for several years in the same organization.

Negotiation Details

Salary negotiation is a must otherwise one could end up getting paid much lower, which could result in being several years behind other folks with similar skills or even poorer skills

Other Details

.

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Soft at Cisco Systems

Posted Sep 8, 2009

3.0
Average Interview
Overall Positive Experience Received and Accepted Offer

Interviewed Oct 2007 in San Jose, CA (took 3 weeks)

brief phone interview, followed by onsite interview with 7 members of the team including 2 managers, a tech lead and other software engineers. Received offer by phone the week after with a week time to accept/decline. The interviews were focused on technical aspects but with general questions, no specific test but generic programming/design questions on things like type of databases and multithreading.

Interview Questions

if you were to store the configuration of networks/routers in a database, what type of database would you use?

Other Details

The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Background Check.

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1 - 10 of 34 Cisco Systems Interviews
Cisco Systems Overview (CSCO)
Web
www.cisco.com
Industries
Size
5000+ Employees, $39B+ Revenue
HQ
San Jose, CA
Competitors



The difficulty rating is the average interview difficulty rating across all interview candidates.

The interview experience is the percentage of all interview candidates that said their interview experience was positive, neutral, or negative.

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