The interview process was extremely chaotic. I was never even contacted by a recruiter but instead got an automated message from the hiring manager asking for an interview. The interviews themselves were fine but there was no prep or context about the job at all from the recruiter. I wasn't told the salary range or what to expect from the experience. When I finally wrote to the recruiter asking about the interview process, I was given a short reply that didn't answer my question. I was eventually given an offer for the role but even then, the recruiter sounded irritated that she had to call me. She said "I'll read you the comp numbers and if they sound good to you, I'll write up the actual offer. Otherwise it's a lot of work for me to go through." I asked if she could forward me a benefits packet or literally any information about the job or company and she sighed then said "I suppose I could email you the benefits PDF." On top of all of that, the role was changed from Senior UX Designer (which I had applied to) to Visual Designer, which isn't even the same profession! What is going on at Cisco?

I applied with Cisco twice in 2 years and I got refused without an interview. Two months after the last rejection, I was reached by their recruiter to apply. Initially I asked why should I reapply after being rejected twice, but then I applied. First interview was with the recruiter. It was a short skills / experience-based interview. Second interview with the Head of UX. I was asked to introduce myself, and it seemed I did extremely well (e.g. about who I am, what type of designer I am, why I applied at Cisco, what I can bring on the table, how others describe me, etc). It went great and we even spoke about sound/acoustics, and UX techniques I use (especially in UX quantification). Third interview was with a UX designer. There I demonstrated 1 extensive UX/research project. It seemed it went well, though the interviewing skills were average. Fourth interview was with a Lead designer. Again, I demonstrated another past project followed by Q&A. All went rather well. And the interviewing skills were good. The process was lengthy, and the company isn't quite prompt at answering in time. Also the recruitment process took 1 month longer alas the emphasis that they will conclude the process before Xmas. Over time I chased my application by late January / early February, and eventually it turned out that I was rejected. All in all, the journey felt like plenty of false positives (e.g. having an interviewer being very happy that I considered applying with Cisco).

Resume shortlist > Portfolio Review > Telephone Screen > Telephone Interviews > F2F Interviews, Portfolio Presentation, Design Assignment > HR Interview > Background Check > Offer