I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Cisco
Interview
I was contacted by a staffing agency about the position in CISCO, RTP. The initial round with CISCO was a webex call, but due to some issues with my internet connection, I couldn't take up the Webex and the Manager has called me on my mobile and it was 1:1 phone interview asking me to rate myself on Java and if I had any Linux experience. Asked If I have any usage of SQL and GIT. And asked about my expertise.
Got the result in 4 days, and the next round was with a panel of 7 members. 1 team member escorted to the meeting room and excused himself saying there is a priority. So it was a 6 member panel interview which went real smooth. There was no White Board coding. Asked so many questions from my resume like what was my contribution, Did I code any functionality from scratch... It was basically projecting yourself exactly the way your resume talks. This round was like a behavioral kinda as well - What challenges I faced. Finally 1 technical question was asked in Java - Difference b/w Interface and Abstract Class.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I was an ex employee of Oracle. So asked me what disadvantages I had working with Oracle DB. This was an unexpected question.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Cisco (Chicago, IL)
Interview
March 13th; Took a hackerrank exam, 3 easy-med leetcode DSAs. One was rotating a matrix and the other was a binary search. And the third was a basic sql. Did not hear back until July.
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
I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco (Bengaluru) in Jun 2026
Interview
The interview started well and covered backend concepts, Java, system design, and coding. I answered the questions confidently and had a positive interaction throughout.
After receiving the rejection, I spoke with HR to understand the feedback. I was informed that the interviewer believed I was looking at answers during the interview. This came as a surprise because I was not referring to any external material. I have a habit of looking away while thinking or recalling concepts, which I believe may have been misunderstood.
I wish this concern had been raised during the interview so I could have clarified it immediately. If there are concerns about a candidate’s behavior, discussing them in real time or asking for a room scan can help avoid misunderstandings.
Overall, the interview questions were fair, but I feel my evaluation was influenced by this misunderstanding rather than my technical performance.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Sort a nearly sorted array. I was asked for an optimal solution and discussed the time and space complexity.