Cisco Systems Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (San Jose, CA (US)) in March 2017.

Interview

First round consisted of very standard interview questions, and meeting, via WebEx, with two members of the Community Relations team.

I would like to high-light that I felt like the interviewers didn't take the process seriously (or just didn't take me seriously as a candidate)--and I say this, because one of the interviewers had her boyfriend laying in the background during the WebEx interview. It was a bit strange, uncomfortable and, personally, I think it high-lighted a lack of professionalism. Ultimately, I didn't get the job--but after the interview experience, I knew this wasn't a team I would be interested in joining.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (San Jose, CA (US)) in July 2008.

Interview

Internal transfer, and was offered the job without any real interview

Interview Questions

Negotiation

none

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Cisco Systems in January 2015.

Interview

in my case this was extremely fast. i've interviewed in the past and the process was very slow. you have to go through at least 6-7 interviews. in previous interviews there is a panel. This position was on hold for 6 months. I applied and 2 months later i got an email from the CSE whom i've known for a long time asking me if i was still interested. i got a call from the MSE later that day. 48 hrs later i completed 7 interviews.

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Reasons for Declining

several offers on the table from various companies.

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6+ months. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (San Jose, CA (US)) in January 2012.

Interview

Several telephone technical interviews followed by several deep and intense technical and business level interviews. I was thoroughly questioned on the technologies that I was expected to be a subject matter expert for. I was also thoroughly questioned on the state of the markets and what were the most important areas of technology that I thought were going to impact organizations world wide.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (Houston, TX (US)) in March 2013.

Interview

Multiple rounds of interviews, some people talk to 8-10 people before reaching a decision. You will talk with to-be peers, management, people in other job functions. You will also talk with the management organization you will be supporting. Interesting questions but you don't talk to the sales people you will be supporting.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (San Jose, CA (US)).

Interview

Had a 7 person panel interview, followed by an interview by HR at 9:30 p.m. HR offered an excessively low salary (less than half of my previous salary), and when I informed HR of that, their response was "Well, maybe this isn't where you want to work, then."

Interview Questions

Negotiation

Cisco was very arrogant in their HR/negotiation process, and came in with very low salaries, confident that their stock options were a huge draw; wheras the stock price dropped immediately after being hired, and never recovered (for 12 years!), which made compensation extremely low, and Cisco never tried to correct that.

Application

I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Cisco Systems.

Interview

good process, full day of interviews including whiteboarding ,sales pitch, presentation. The interviewers were nice and friendly and helped guide you in the right direction for the most part. They spent a lot of time on the cases and pre-work for the interview

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through college or university. The process took 5+ weeks. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (Raleigh, NC (US)) in November 2015.

Interview

This is a very competitive program. Over 98% of applicants will be vetted by the final onsite interview. Expect to have a lot of competition, but meet some amazing people along the way. It helps immensely to have contacts within Cisco to run questions and ideas by. If you don't originally know anyone within Cisco, reach out to HR and ask if you can have a current ASE's contact information. It's extremely helpful.

There are 3 steps to get through: 30 minute behavioral interview, 2 minute video submission, onsite interview.

1) 30 min behavioral interview: This is simply a current systems engineer talking to you for 30 minutes about the job description, your resume, and your career goals. They may ask you to explain a technical aspect or two on something related to your previous experiences. Remember - this is a job that revolves around communication skills. Explain things clearly.

2) 2 minute video submission: Once again, this is where they see how you handle a technical topic. It's all about communication. Each ASE class will have a different prompt. The previous two have been: "Explain cloud computing" and "What are the technologies involved in enabling a Smart City?" There are many different approaches and there is no correct way to do it. Some people will sit in front of a board and just talk about the topic for 2 minutes, being sure to touch every aspect and having graphics interlaced in. Others will whiteboard for the 2 minutes. Some do creative shots with interesting intros and multiple locations. If you're creative in nature, show that off. If you're better at standard presentations, let that shine.

3) Full day onsite interview: Several components to this...
* Technical exam: Very easy, especially if you have any networking experience at all. They provide a video with simple topics that covers everything on the exam. Should not be hard.
* 30 minute interview: Will be with 2 or 3 current systems engineers. They'll ask you both behavioral and technical questions. Treat it like a conversation. Talk with them about your experiences and explain things clearly. If you don't know an answer to a technical question, don't BS it. Tell them you don't know and you'll get back to them. Use the whiteboard if possible - they love the whiteboard.
* 10 minute presentation: You will be talking for 10 minutes on a certain topic that they give you. Be sure to research general concepts and examples along with where Cisco technologies can come into play. This is very important to tie Cisco in somehow. Practice. Practice. Practice. Run through it with your friends, family, professors, etc. Don't make it a word for word script but definitely know what you're going to say and make sure you have your timing down. Use the whiteboard if possible. Tell a story as an intro. Make a connection with your audience. This is all about communication.
* 20 minute sales roleplay: This is the most interesting aspect of them all. I personally had no experience in doing sales. Having connections with current ASE's is a big help for this section. They will give you a fake company looking for several different improvements to their business line. You will meet with the "company's CTO" and learn about their problems and propose a solution. They will give some initial links to help the research get started but definitely do independent research on Cisco solutions. I made an agenda handout and a solutions handout, which they both liked. Be sure not to overload your handouts with info though, you don't want it to be busy. Graphics are key. Spend the first 2-3 minutes just talking and building rapport. Then begin asking questions for the next 10 minutes. Uncover their problems. The last 5 minutes should be spent talking about your high level solutions and answering their questions. Finally, get a firm date to meet again so you can put together a full solution for them.

It's a lot of stuff. But breathe, relax, you've got this. If you make it to the final round, there's a reason. Everyone I met that day seemed very qualified and had great communication skills. Stay confident. Final tip: get business cards/emails of all of your interviewers and email them a thank you after the fact.

Good luck!!!

Interview Questions

Negotiation

No negotiation but it's not needed. Very fair package and this program gives major accelerated monetary growth (look at virtual systems engineer or simply systems engineer on glassdoor).

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (Raleigh, NC (US)).

Interview

I was contacted about 2 weeks after I applied. We had a brief conversation about the job description. They then told me if I qualified then they would get back to me. About a week later I was contacted for an interview which consisted of a 10 minute presentation through their video conference platform on a selected topic. Mine was on the "Internet of Things". After I interviewed with some leads. This was all through video on the same day. Not much negotiation but sky is the limit because it is CISCO so I wouldn't worry too much.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 4 days. I interviewed at Cisco Systems (Research Triangle Park, NC (US)).

Interview

Interview process was very simple. I completed a phone screen with HR which was followed by a day-long interview onsite with a panel of managers. Many of the questions were not technical in nature but were sales situational in nature.

Interview Questions

Negotiation

No negotiation. The salary was more than fair and the benefits package was above normal for my region and field of expertise.