I applied through college or university. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Cisco (Bengaluru) in Aug 2018
Interview
Round 1: MCQ(No negative marking)
It is a online round which has 50 questions that had to be completed in 60 minutes. The questions consists of aptitude, C output questions, operating system concepts, networking and data structures. For aptitude if one follows RS Aggarwal that is enough. Also practice quiz from geeks from geeks some of the questions were from there.
Round 2: Technical Round
Technical round was conducted the day after the online test. They gave me a star pattern and asked me to write a code to print it. Questions from subnetting were asked. Some of the aptitude questions from time and work were asked too. They also gave me a situation to check how would I perform in some of the critical situations.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. Write a code for bubble sort.
2. What are the osi layers and explain them.
3. What are pointers.
4. A puzzle : We have two pits with capacities of 5 and 4. How will you measure 2 litres of water with these pots.
Standard panel, very simple leetcodes. reverse linked list kind of vibe s . I was literarly asked about how a linked list is structured and reversing it. there was almost no friction which I was shocked by one of the reason I did not accept
I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco (Bengaluru) in Jun 2026
Interview
The interview started well and covered backend concepts, Java, system design, and coding. I answered the questions confidently and had a positive interaction throughout.
After receiving the rejection, I spoke with HR to understand the feedback. I was informed that the interviewer believed I was looking at answers during the interview. This came as a surprise because I was not referring to any external material. I have a habit of looking away while thinking or recalling concepts, which I believe may have been misunderstood.
I wish this concern had been raised during the interview so I could have clarified it immediately. If there are concerns about a candidate’s behavior, discussing them in real time or asking for a room scan can help avoid misunderstandings.
Overall, the interview questions were fair, but I feel my evaluation was influenced by this misunderstanding rather than my technical performance.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Sort a nearly sorted array. I was asked for an optimal solution and discussed the time and space complexity.
They care about your skills, rather than your background. They have a template which they provide and you got to fill that, everyone is provided a unique number. You are instructed not to disclose any of your personal details in the due course of your interview.