I applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco (Los Angeles, CA) in Nov 2016
Interview
This was one of the most disgusting interviews I've ever taken in my entire life. I gave my resume in campus career fair and was contacted to set up on campus interview with one of the engineers.
Firstly, the HR was careless to misplace my scheduled interview time, just called up a day back and told me to reschedule my interview time as one of the interviewers was not available. I agreed with it and scheduled it for the first available slot for the next day!
On the day of the interview: The interview was scheduled at 8:30am I arrived 30 minutes ahead of time and was waiting. The interviewer was late by 20 minutes and didn't even bother to apologise for the delay, never mind! Secondly, when I went to the room he didn't even have my resume and didn't even know what role I'm being interviewed for? I mean this was ridiculous that such a big company doesn't organize its interviews!!!!!
The interview started, He was least interested in my resume and always interrupted me before I answer any question. He constantly googled for questions and was continuously interrupted me whenever I made an attempt to answer! I'm not sure if he deserves to be even interviewing candidates.
He asked me a simple linked list question for which I started to code in Java, apparently didn't know java and behaved like what I'm doing was wrong. He started questions like how do you represent pointer for head node in Java, I tried to explain to him that there is no pointer concept in java it was just reference unlike c++. If he wanted anyone who knows only c++ why did you even shortlist my profile?? My work and experience is in Java coding!!
As a software engineer, I believe that language is just a way to express ideas, the more importance should be given to logic than asking if I knew only C++ or some other languages. The overall experience was very discomfort able, They don't see for any intellectual capabilities all they want is some mugged up answers from c++ and internet! May god bless cisco having such employers!! if you really want old school programming guys forget upon new grad students pls go and hire someone who knows outdated programming.
This was byfar the worst interviews that I have given, I have attended interviews of Amazon, EA and most of the best tech companies in US. I would never ever want to work in cisco in future!!
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.
They care about your skills, rather than your background. They have a template which they provide and you got to fill that, everyone is provided a unique number. You are instructed not to disclose any of your personal details in the due course of your interview.