In this post, we examine Cisco Interview Questions, CISCO Interview Experience gfg, and CISCO Interview Process. In this essay, we will explore CISCO Interview Experience, CISCO Frequently Asked Interview Questions 2024, and provide details/guidance on how to crack the CISCO Interview.
Below we share overall Interview Experience shared by some NIT/IIT students. Before going for any Interview you need to go through the company details and some of company’s facts and figures. Here we give a brief about the company , you can visit CISCO careers page for more details.
ABOUT CISCO SYSTEM
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections–whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible–providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time. Cisco was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Since the company’s inception, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. Today, with more than 71,000 employees worldwide, this tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products and solutions in the company’s core development areas of routing and switching, as well as in advanced technologies such as home networking, IP telephony, optical networking, security, storage area networking, and wireless technology. In addition to its products, Cisco provides a broad range of service offerings, including technical support and advanced services.
EXCERPTS FROM STUDENT 1
BRANCH: Computer Science and Engineering
JOB PROFILE:Software Engineer
JOB LOCATION : Bangalore
CISCO Interview Question 2021 /CISCO Interview Experience 2021
1) Online round OF CISCO Interview
: It had some MCQ questions & 2 coding questions. Both coding questions were easy-medium, MCQ had a bit of electronics stuff.
2) First Technical Round OF CISCO Interview : It started with introductions and they (panel of 2) started asking me questions on my resume. They mostly were focused on my networking projects. One project was implementing on a congestion control algorithm in TCP. So they asked me to design a new TCP header for a situation which they gave (don’t remember the situation now). After that some more questions related to networking (network & transport layer — standard questions). They then asked me some questions on DSA — tries, BST only. It was a bit long round around 1 hr.
3) Second Technical + HR Round OF CISCO Interview: Standard questions on OOP, DBMS (design database, polymorphism etc). He then asked me some questions on routing (detailed with application — at which point which IP address is seen on the router etc.) and a basic array question. Some small HR questions, if you have too many things to do and your manager asks to do more work, how will you respond. Went for around 35-45 mins. 4) Final HR Round: Relatively very chill, simple, standard questions, wasn’t even in any room, the HR was simply taking a walk with the candidates and talking.
EXCERPTS FROM STUDENT 2
BRANCH: Computer Science and Engineering
JOB PROFILE: Network/Embedded/Application Development Engineer
JOB LOCATION : Bangalore/Pune/Chennai
CISCO Interview Question 2021 / CISCO Interview Experience 2021
First Round of CISCO INTERVIEW was Coding Round and there was some multiple choice questions on aptitude, Technical Subjects (OS, CN, CO). Coding questions were of easy-medium difficulty level. (Mainly practice string manipulation question) [ My name was not there in main shortlist, but I made it when they extended the list (keep hoping)]. ## After written, there was 3 Technical rounds and 1 HR round. After the PPT interviews started, very few people were selected from written. There was 3 profiles – 1) Engg 2) CX (customer Experience) 3) IT. I was selected for 1st profile.
## 1st Round of CISCO INTERVIEW: First thing was introduction then She thoroughly went through my Resume, saw the projects and Internship, then she moved on to subjects mentioned and asked few questions from compiler design (unexpected for me as well) operating system. Then she asked me about Blockchain as I have done projects over it. Then she asked me to write code for manipulating doubly linked list (proper code). Asked me some questions related to backtracking like N-Queen Problem and its complexity, writing code for generating all permutation of given string and like this few more questions. ( I gave all the answer confidently and calmly, keep smiling and interacting). ( A lot of people got out in 1st round only).
2nd Round of CISCO INTERVIEW: This was the main and toughest round. Interviewer was the head of the business unit himself though he was very calm and polite. He also asked about the introduction and then he quickly moved onto the coding question. Question he asked was made by himself, and require you to think at that place only, for the optimized solution. First problem was scenario based and I was have to give a most efficient data structure. I took my time, while he was doing some other work, initially I was not able to come to any solution as I was trying to use the algorithms as it is. (I told myself that this is the moment, I have to do it).
Then I tried it in other way and luckily got a O(n) solution. He was quite neutral in his reactions. Then He asked me other problem related to finding if a given sub string exist anywhere, in a given dictionary, if yes then tell its key. He asked me to write the code in C++. Again I write the proper code by using unordered map, vectors, iterators. He asked me to optimize it for very large input, I suggested something, then asked again what else, and I again told few more smaller things. At the last he seems fine.Then few normal questions and thats it. (Key is to be calm, otherwise you will not be able to solve a new problem there)
EXCERPTS FROM STUDENT 3
BRANCH: Computer Science and Engineering
JOB PROFILE: Network/Embedded/Application Development Engineer
JOB LOCATION : Bangalore/Pune/Chennai
CISCO Interview Question 2021 / CISCO Interview Experience 2021
There were a total of 4 rounds during the entire selection process.
Round 1- Online test: This had a total of 10 MCQ questions on Aptitude, OS, DBMS, Networks, and two coding questions.
Round 2- Technical Interview: All the interview rounds took place in Cisco WebEx. In the technical round, initially, they asked questions on various topics like
basic C questions,
OS( Types of OS, Semaphores/Mutex, Interrupts, RTOS, Paging, Scheduling),
OOPs( Abstraction, Abstract vs. Interface, Real-world application of abstraction, Polymorphism, the difference between C/C++),
and CISCO Networking INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ( Explain how a website works from client to sever with respect to networking concepts, Networking layer applications, Routing mechanism, TCP vs UDP, OSI layer vs TCP/IP layer).
Also I had to write a code in any editor for these 3 coding questions: 4
a) Given two lists, check if a list a sublist of another list.
b)Reverse 2 numbers without using a temporary variable.
c) Given any string, find the maximum occurrences of a character in that string.
Round 3- Manager Round: In this round, the manager asked questions based on the projects in the resume as well as based on my internship experience. Technical, as well as some general questions based on the projects, were asked.
Round 4- HR round: This round took place for around 10 -15 mins. In this round general HR questions like Why CISCO, Why should we hire you, What’s the preferred Job location, etc. were asked.
HOW TO CRACK CISCO PLACEMENT?
Learn the Computer Science subjects like OS, Networking, and OOPs thoroughly. GFG(Cisco archives) was really helpful for me to get an idea about what kind of questions to be expected, so make sure to go through that before attempting interviews. Also, see to it that you know everything about the projects written in your resume
coding practice on HackerRank platform as I liked it most + lot of companies took coding round on hackerrank only so I was comfortable with the UI. I studied from my gate notes(OS,CN,DBMS), geeksforgeeks for all the data structure and C/C++ concepts. Practice is most important, dont just read try to write it , code it. Also practice for writing code on paper so that you remember the syntax, and to write in proper flow neatly.
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CISCO INTERNSHIP QUESTION
CISCO INTERNSHIP QUESTIONEXCERPTS FROM STUDENT 1
BRANCH: Computer Science and Engineering
JOB PROFILE: Data Analyst Intern
JOB LOCATION : Bangalore
CISCO INTERSHIP QUESSTION & PROCESS 2021
Round 1(Technical) She asked me to introduce myself and tell about me. I told her the truth that I am Machine Learning enthusiast so she can ask anything in Python, ML, DL but I know only basics of C and never worked in C++ and know Java too. Then also told her that I don’t do CP much. Then she asked me that at least I know the basics of programming and then she asked me two questions
Question 1(CISCO Coding Interview question) Given a number write a function to tell whether that number is the power of 2 or not and told to write the code in C, not in python, which I easily explained her.
Question 2(CISCO Coding Interview question) Given an array which is sorted but rotated some number of times and a number write an efficient code which will tell whether that number is part of that array or not. Since I had used binary search in my solution she also asked me to write the code of binary search in my favorite language and then she asked me questions related to complexity theory .
Question 3(CISCO Coding Interview question) write the code for Quick Sort, where I struggled sometimes but she was very helpful even she explained to me the whole concept of quicksort with an example although I know it theoretically. The time period of this round was around 25-30 minutes. Because since I had a lot of projects in ML so I myself spoke about 15 minutes, telling about projects and she also asked why this algorithm why not others and so on… then she asked me all the above question.
Round 2(Managerial) This was a little tough round for me because I told a lie in this round which was one of the biggest blunder done by me, though I was selected(God saved me). The manager saw my resume and was making some weird faces and told that his department currently not working in AI/ML/DL or fields which I mentioned in my resume and asked a tough one that why I should hire you if my department is not working in your area of interest.
He even told that it will be a waste of my time as well as their money if Cisco will hire me. I thought that this was just a question to irritate me to check my patience level or to see how I will respond in pressure situation but I am so much passionate about AI, I cannot handle a situation who speaks against AI.
So being calm at that time I counter questioned him which he was not able to give the exact answer which he wanted to give and just changed the topic and was trying to catch me in further conversation. I replied to him by countering that, as I had attended the ppt in that morning, all the spokesperson were telling that CISCO is working in the field of AI/ML/DL then why you are telling that CISCO is not working in this field and you are not interested in me. He then told me that though CISCO is working in AI/ML/DL, but his department is not working in AI.
Then again countered him that as before one year I don’t know anything about AI/ML/DL but now I know it very well and did an internship in IISC and one work from home internship also during same summer. So as there is one more year before I will join CISCO so I can learn that also. After this answer he appreciated me, but still he was not that much satisfied and asked one question that I might have given some interviews before then why CISCO but here comes the twist, before he asked me this question complete I just replied in middle that this is my first company which I had applied(which was lie) and I’m interested in CISCO then he countered me telling that this shows that you have been following for quite a long which I replied yes(a lie) then he asked me to tell the name of CEO of CISCO(Wick Robbins) which I was not able to tell. Then he told me to be careful about my answers and told me to wait for some time so further, which shows that he was satisfied with my interview. This interview was about 20-25 minutes long.
Round 3(Technical) Two interviewers were taking this round. They first asked me to introduce myself but in the meantime, the electricity went off as the weather was not good at that time, it was raining heavily. I thought this is the time where I can make an impact by telling about all my projects and other things. I spoke about 5 minutes as soon as electricity came back they start asking me a question about dsa and puzzle question.
As I mentioned that I love cricket and captained it when I was playing for the district from my school. They ask me about who is my favorite cricketer(MS Dhoni) and whether I am bowler or all-rounder or batsmen some other questions regarding cricket. Then they came to the main questions they asked me 3 questions
Questions 1 (CISCO Coding Interview question )Given a number can you write a code in your favorite language which swaps adjacent nibble(four bits consecutively). I did that but my solution was not optimized, they asked me to optimize it more. Then after thinking sometime, they told that they had already given some hint while conversation only.
Then I remind what can be the hint, actually before starting the question they asked whether I know operators or not and this was hint itself. I solved my question using ‘or’ and ‘xor’ operator which was taking the same time complexity as before but space complexity was drastically decreased. They were asking me to tell the time and space complexity of all my algorithms. They were satisfied with my solution.
Question 2(CISCO Puzzle Questions) Suppose there is a car having four new wheels and one Stepney which is having a new wheel too. So can you tell how much KM can a car run if each wheel can be for max 20,000 km? I was going in the correct direction but my calculation was a little bit wrong. They even encouraged me that I’m going in the right direction but I’m missing at one point. But I was not able to find the exact solution and as they were getting late they just asked a new question.
Question 3(CISCO Coding Interview question ) Given a string, write efficient code to count the frequency of each character in that string. I explained them method 1 but they asked me to make my algorithm more efficient which I was able to do and it was the last question.
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EXCERPTS FROM STUDENT 1
BRANCH: Computer Science and Engineering
JOB PROFILE: Data Analyst Intern
JOB LOCATION : Bangalore
CISCO INTERSHIP QUESSTION & PROCESS 2021
Written Round – Written round had general aptitude questions along with medium level GATE questions (including code snippets for output) and some puzzles. Overall this round was easy to crack.
Round 1 – Asked about my projects (completed and ongoing). Asked to code for string matching, difference between TCP ad UDP , backend processing when you enter a URL in browser, what would happen when you use https:// instead of http://, what backend processing occurs when you enter credentials in a login page.
Round 2 – Asked about my family and why would you like to join CISCO. Asked about my favourite data structure and then asked the best data structure to store 1 million records delving into further details. Asked about something that void pointer cannot do and difference between array and pointers. Then asked about all the subjects that I studied in M.Tech emphasizing more on networking subjects like wireless. Asked to code to find out whether a given linked list is circular or not and then to write all the possible test cases.
Round 3 – Again asked some coding questions. Code to find out whether a particular bit is set or not (bit manipulation question), code to remove all the nodes from a given linked list which is storing odd numbers. Asked a tricky question regarding MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit in routers). Finally asked what was the motivation behind doing all the projects. HR round – Asked about me and my family, why would you like to join CISCO. One thing that I would like to improve in myself, whether i have already improved that or not. Was also asked to introduce myself in German (i had mentioned that i completed German language diploma during my B.Tech).
EXCERPTS FROM STUDENT 2
BRANCH: Computer Science and Engineering
JOB PROFILE: Data Analyst Intern
JOB LOCATION : Bangalore
CISCO INTERSHIP QUESSTION & PROCESS 2021
The selection procedure totally had 4 rounds. The first was the online round used for shortlisting and the rest 3 were interviews. 1. Round 0: Online Test a. Had 50 Questions – All MCQs b. Techincal questions were mostly from Data Structures and Algorithms, Operating Systems. 3-4 basic Computer Networks Questions – Subnetting, IPv4 Addressing. c. Rest of the questions were Aptitude Questions. Cisco is a basically a Communication Systems and Computer Networks company. So, they expect candidates to know Operating Systems and Computer Networks – was visible in the first round. I had not practiced Aptitude questions. On advantage you get if you practice aptitude questions is that you will get more time for other questions. Because Aptitude is easy, but time consuming.
2. Round 1: Interview No.1 This round was the first interview round – 30 minutes. There was 1 interviewer. The complete interview was based on my Resume. The interviewer went through my resume thoroughly and started asking questions about every line in my resume. There are 2 important things here: a. Don’t put things which you have not done. It’s OK if you have not done much. b. If you have put something in your resume, then know every detail related to it. If you have put systems programming, then he might ask anything related to it, like what a system call is? What are interrupts etc.,
3. Round 2: Interview 2 15 minutes after Interview 1, they called me for the second one. They tested my hold on Programming Languages, Computer Networks, DSA. a. I told I am confortable with C, C++. He started OOP Questions but I did not know OOP Properly. I was frank with him and said that I used C++ only for STL and did not know OOP properly.
Later, All questions were on C, Basic OOP Concepts like classes. b. There was 1 programming question – for which I had to design the solution first and write code for it on paper. I did not get the best solution in the first go. The interviewer was really encouraging and always asked if we can do better. He never discouraged that I did not get the best solution. Finally, I got it. Then I was asked to write a program for it. Wrote code for it. He cared most about my coding style, if I had done error handling properly or not. Write code means, writing fully functional readable code – including error handling.
4. Round 3 – Interview 3 After 1 hour or so, I was called for round 3. This round was a mix of hr-technical questions. a. The first question he asked was why my CGPA was less. I was frank with him and told the reasons. We were talking and I just told my friend and me were planning to write a thread library but that project never took off. He gave me a sheet and asked to design it for him. Lesson is, be careful and aware of what you tell to the interviewers.
They are really sharp and will catch you at any point and ask questions related to it. Basically, don’t lie ever. It was true that me and my friend wanted to design a thread library. While designing it, he also tested how patient I am, how well I argue to prove my point etc etc., After 1 hour, they called me in for a HR Interview.
5. Round 4: Pseudo-Interview 4 This is Pseudo round because it was only for 10 minutes. She(HR Lady) asked why I wanted to join cisco. Fortunately, I had a frank answer and told the truth. Asked if I had plans to do MS. I told NO. “I want Industry experience”. She told the Office location and my stipend and the interview came to an end. I waited for 2 hours and at 4:50pm after 2 hours of waiting, they came out and gave the final list of interns chosen.
Peace!!
What are tips for an interview with Cisco?
1. If you have put something in your resume, make sure you know everything about it. DONT LIE! If they catch you, it is mostly sure, that you will be eliminated in that round of interview itself.
2. When you see the interviewer, Give him/her a firm handshake and wish Good Morning / Afternoon something. Always smile. Even if you are nervous, hold it. You can definitely be confident!
3. Never think in a negative manner – Oh what happens if I don’t a question during the interview… . Yes. It is mostly about you getting the question. But if you don’ know, or not able to think about it at that moment, don’t panic. That is the time you should show how you manage panic situations. Every moment with the interviewer is an oppurtunity to prove something. This happened with me also. I told I don’t know what he was asking. Then he himself gave a small clue. From there, I could figure out the thing.
4. At the end of every interview, they asked if I had any questions. Read about what the company does / is doing – cutting edge etc., and talk to them for a while. Make sure you have left some kind of an impression on them. Also, make sure you ask how the interview was, any feedback, suggestions etc., They will be more than happy to give you constructive feedback. If they ask you back how you felt, again be frank. If you only think you could have done better, clearly identify those points and tell. They will probably appreciate your frankness.
5. This is an observation, might have helped me. Just before the interview rounds were about to begin, we were asked to fill in a form. Then they called for 6 candidates. I wanted to be in the first 6. The reason is, the Interviewers will be really fresh – frustration less, calm at the beginning. They will be in a pretty chill mode than after taking 15 interviews – I had read this somewhere else, I think on glassdoor This I think helped. After my first round, they called my for the second round in 15 minutes. But, the candidates whose first round was late, their second round was delayed by huge amount of time. Just an observation, could be wrong also.
HOW TO CRACK CISCO INTERSHIP ??
Cisco is a Systems and Computer Networks Company. So, Their focus was mainly on Operating Systems, Computer Networks, asked some security questions also. So, it is important to know what kind of company you are dealing with.
DSA is the most crucial part of the interview for any company. Don’t bluff in your resume, write only what you can explain to the interviewer. Interviewers are really nice and you can always ask for some doubt if the question is not clear, if you are getting stuck ask for some hint. First, always tell the brute force approach then only tell the optimized one because although your algorithm is best but the interviewer will ask to optimize it more and more.
Do not prepare for specific company give as many tests as possible you are definitely going to qualify in one of them because many companies come for the internship. Be confident in your self this will help you a lot, never tell lie to an interviewer, if don’t know a particular thing tell them the truth, they will not ask you questions regarding that.
Internships:
1. Defining your interests is important.
2. Doing CP helps.
3. Stay Calm. I was not able to clear the first rounds of all companies which came before cisco. You should not get bogged down by this. And, define your interests very clearly. Mine was very clear. I want to work on Operating Systems / Networks / Embedded Systems Dev / Computer Security. I don’t know the profiles at Microsoft, Intuit or those big companies, but cisco’s intern profile perfectly fit my interests. So, I took this test.
4. Don’t take online tests of every company that comes. That is not good. I did not want to get into a FinTech Company(Morgan Stanley etc., ). They are great companies, but they did not match with my interests. I did not enroll for any of those companies. Doesn’t matter if you can clear it or not, If it is not matching your interests, DONT take it up. I know amazing seniors who did this mistake and ended up not liking their 3 months at that company. It was their advice. And I think I worked. Don’t fall for it. There will be pressure, but this is the time you have to define yourself and stand for your interests.
If you liked the content do follow our INTERVIEW QUESTION section for more company updates .
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CISCO CODING QUESTION
Here below we give cisco coding round Questions and cisco interview round coding questions
- Snakes and Ladder Problem
- Given N jobs where every job is represented by following three elements of it.
- Start Time
- Finish Time
- Profit or Value Associated
Find the maximum profit subset of jobs such that no two jobs in the subset overlap.
-
- Given a minesweeper matrix, with all cells exposed i.e each cell will have count of all the bombs in its neighbourhood, one has just hidden away all positions of bombs and replaced them with ‘0’. You have to determine the position of all the bombs in the matrix.
Size of matrix <=50.
eg – 10112
0100
2101
1011
Something like this, now each zero position might be a potential bomb. so find all such bombs such that final matrix tallies with the bomb count.
check this LINK for ALL Questions.
- You are given a number, at a time either you can increase a number by 1 or decrease by 1 it is considered as one move find the minimum number of moves required to convert a given into a lucky number. A number is called lucky if all the digits in it are even.
- Minimum steps to reach the target by a Knight. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/minimum-steps-reach-target-knight/. We had a lengthy discussion about strategy and code. Then he asked me to write pseudo code. I was missing one optimization, but he was fine by the end, and then he inquired the second question.
- Search element in the sorted matrix. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/search-in-row-wise-and-column-wise-sorted-matrix/. I solved it with a simple while loop, and at the end, I mentioned additional optimization that could be done to achieve in log (n).
- ZigZag Tree Traversal. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/zigzag-tree-traversal/
Above are some of the Must do questions ,and after you complete this you should definetly practice GeeksforGeeks MUST DO CISCO QUESTIONS.
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FAQS OF CISCO INTERVIEW PROCESSS:
1.How do I prepare for a Cisco interview?
Ans: Focus mainly on Operating Systems, Computer Networks, asked some security questions also. DSA is the most crucial part of the interview for any company.Practice all the must do-questions from geeksforgeeks.
2.How many rounds in Cisco Interview Process?
Ans:There were a total of 4 rounds during the entire selection process.
- Round 1- Online test
- Round 2- Technical Interview
- Round 3- Manager Round
- Round 4- HR round
SUMMARY OF CISCO INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE AND QUESTION POST
We collected a list of CISCO interview questions for 2024, internship questions, and critical coding questions to assist you prepare for your next interview. Please share and comment if you found this helpful.
