The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
Received Online Hackerrank Assessmentdid not make it past this round. Questions are quite difficult and time is very limited maybe 45 min for 2 questions. However perhaps I’m just bad at these interviews under pressure.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Find minimum number of characters that need to be changed in a searchString to become a given resultString.
Ex. “cisoc” -> “cisco” 1 character change
It's a one hour long panel interview with two to four engineers. The interview contained behavioural questions, resume walk through, python and c implementation, c trivia questions, os concepts, debugging.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Cisco in Feb 2026
Interview
Applied 1/14, prescreening with recruiter 1/29, interview with hiring manager 2/9, offer 2/13
Very easy interview and manager was super nice! Mostly was just asked about the projects on my resume with a couple problem-solving questions surrounding my projects.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you prove your product's safety to the user? (Essentially asking my testing process)
I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco (San Jose, CA)
Interview
The interview has two rounds:
Round 1 focuses on solving DSA problems within 45 minutes, testing logic, efficiency, and coding skills.
Round 2 involves resume screening and project discussion, where you explain your contributions, technical decisions, challenges faced, and overall understanding of your work.