Software Development Engineer (SDE) applicants have rated the interview process at Cisco with 3.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 68% positive. To compare, the company-average is 72.9% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Development Engineer (SDE) roles take an average of 17 days to get hired, when considering 40 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Cisco overall takes an average of 14 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Cisco as a Software Development Engineer (SDE) according to 40 Glassdoor interviews include:
Skills test: 21%
One on one interview: 18%
Background check: 12%
Phone interview: 12%
IQ intelligence test: 10%
Personality test: 10%
Presentation: 8%
Other: 5%
Group panel interview: 3%
Drug test: 1%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco (Chennai) in Mar 2021
Interview
there were two round in the both of the round they asked dsa question and in the hr round they asked some behavioral question. then they discussed about the projects which have mentioned in the resume .
The Cisco Systems interview process typically includes resume screening, an online assessment, technical interviews on networking, coding, and problem-solving, followed by a managerial or HR round. It evaluates technical knowledge, communication skills, and cultural fit.
I applied through university. I interviewed at Cisco (Tonk) in Feb 2026
Interview
It was okay, I had 2 rounds in the first round, they asked simple math and physics questions, and add an operation in calculator code, in the second one they asked networking and OS questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
State any physics law that you know of and give an example
Interview was quite different compared to other cisco interviews. The interviewer was extremely rude. He didn't even start with introduction. He asked some OS and Linux concepts, which I answered correctly but he was not convinced for some reason.