I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco in Oct 2017
Interview
The whole interview process took around 4 to 5 weeks and the number of interviews was 3. The first one was a phone interview with an internal recruiter and it was basically a discussion about my background, future plans etc. The interview took around half an hour. The second interview was with the hiring manager, took 45 minutes and Cisco WebEX was used. The questions were mostly focused on my previous working experience. Additionally, there were a number of questions on how to solve customer issues the best way possible and so on. The third one was a technical interview again with WebEX and took an hour. We spend 40 minutes only with technical questions and the rest was more about how to solve complex issues, how can you handle an angry customer etc. For the technical interview you need to be prepared. Knowledge of Cisco products and CCNA/CCNP is a plus.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is the OSI model. Describe the OSI model and provide examples of the protocols exist in each layer.
Layer 2: How does layer 2 work. What is the trunk protocol. Why do you need Vlans. Explain what is the spanning tree protocol and why it is used. How the root bridge is elected and what are the BPDUs.
Layer 3: Why do you need routing protocols. What routing protocols do you know. Explain how the RIP protocol works. Explain how OSPF works. Why you cannot use OSPF to route traffic over the internet. Explain the BGP protocol.
General questions: Tell us a difficult case you have worked on and how did you solve it. Why do you want to work for Cisco.
Well hiring process is pretty straight forward , HR reaches out and lays out the job description , salary and then give you assessment questions that are reviewed by hiring manager who then interviews you , second interview is with you future colleagues and that’s it .
**Issue - no scope for negotiation or no opportunity to get considered in a senior support role . Salary offered is not competitive
I applied through university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Cisco (Bengaluru) in Aug 2022
Interview
it was three rounds (Tr, Mr, HR). they mainly focused on networks, and anyone coding language. One with good knowledge in coding and computer science topics can easily crack the interviews
I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco (Chicago, IL) in Feb 2022
Interview
The first call was with a recruiter who gave me a quick rundown on the company and role. A follow-up interview was scheduled a week later with the hiring manager but the manager didn’t show. I contacted the recruiter and they said there was a mixup, another call was scheduled a week later. The call with the manager was mostly behavioral based questions and listed 1.5 hours. A follow-up interview was schedule for a week later with Tier 2 and Tier 3 support to ask technical questions. That call last just over an hour. A third interview was scheduled two weeks later with two Tier 1 agents to do more technical questions and that call lasted an hour. All of the calls went really well. I never heard back from the recruiter after that interview and my email/calls were ignored. Outside of the whole process taking over a month I’d have to say it was pleasant. I wish I had more information about why they never contacted me again.
Interview questions [5]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you encountered a difficult situation and how you handled it.