← Interview experiences
Got the offer

Analyst at Cisco

Difficulty
Process took
2-3 Weeks
Rounds
4
Format
Remote
Applied via
Company Website

How it went

  • Practice under time constraints- short GD slots, coding questions, and scenario discussions are all timed, practice thinking and responding under pressure, but avoid rushing, clarity > speed.

What they would tell you

  • Practice under time constraints- short GD slots, coding questions, and scenario discussions are all timed, practice thinking and responding under pressure, but avoid rushing, clarity > speed.

How to prepare

  • Prepare classical dsa problem patterns
  • Don’t bluff. If you don’t know something, explain how you’d approach it instead of guessing blindly

Their background

The whole process had four stages, and each one was eliminatory, meaning you had to clear one round to move on to the next

Round by round

  1. 1

    Group Discussion Round60 min

    The first round was conducted as spoken communication test, Around 80 participants were split into 8 groups, each with 10 members. Every candidate was given a random topic to speak on for about two minutes. I got Online Education vs Traditional Education

    At the end of this stage, about 55 candidates were shortlisted for the next round.

  2. 2

    Technical Interview60 min

    Friendly introduction and quick overview of my background, then moved into detailed project discussion, where the interviewer asked about my backend project and web application I’d worked. Once that was done, he asked few core subject questions, mainly from Operating Systems, Computer Networks, and SQL joins, to test my theoretical base. Then came the coding problems, one based on the Sliding Window technique and another using the Two-Pointer approach After the evaluations, 25 of us were selected for the next stage

  3. 3

    Managerial Round60 min

    This round was taken by a high-level manager and felt quite different from the previous technical ones The interviewer asked questions like

    • A time when you had to adapt quickly to unexpected project changes
    • How you learned a new skill or technology under pressure I answered honestly, sharing real examples from my own experiences, including how I managed shifting priorities and picked up new tools to meet deadlines By the end of this round, 12 candidates were selected for the final stage
  4. 4

    Emerging Talent Recruitment Round60 min

    Tell me about your background and interests. What does Cisco mainly focus on as a company? Why are you interested in starting your career right after graduation? Who do you think are Cisco’s biggest competitors in the market? What are your long-term career goals?

What came up

MediumRemote0 1 years

A candidate-reported account, lightly edited. Interview processes change by team and date.

Sources