Cisco Interview Experience for Network/Embedded/Applications Developer Intern 2021

Level: EasyThere were 5 rounds.Round 1(Online Test): 60 mins, 17 questions15 MCQs related to Networking, Aptitude and Computer Science basics.2 coding questions - Both the...

Level: Easy There were 5 rounds. Round 1(Online Test): 60 mins, 17 questions 15 MCQs related to Networking, Aptitude and Computer Science basics. 2 coding questions - Both the questions were of medium level. Round 2(Technical Interview): It started with basic introduction, then there was some discussion over one of my graph-related project. Following which, he asked me to explain spanning trees, minimum spanning trees, and any one of the algorithms to find a MST. I explained Prim's algorithm in brief. Then he asked me about the sorting algorithms I am familiar with. I mentioned Selection, Bubble, Quick and Merge. He then asked me about the time complexities of each. Then I was asked 2 questions based on Arrays: Sort an array of 0s and 1s. You can find the question here: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/segregate-0s-and-1s-in-an-array-by-traversing-array-once/ Find the highest repeated character in a character array. You can find the question here: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/return-maximum-occurring-character-in-the-input-string-3/ Round 3(Managerial interview): This again started with basic introduction. Then he gave me sort of a challenge to tell him what's special about me and why I should be

hired in under 3 mins. Then we moved on to an in-depth conversation over my resume and projects and related topics. Then he asked me to explain to him all that I know about Networking, then OS, then cloud-based technologies, etc. My suggestion here is to be thorough with everything in your resume. And at-least read up basic concepts in Networking and Operating Systems. Round 4(Technical Interview): After giving my basic introduction, the graph project got picked up again. We had a little discussion over it. After that he asked me to implement graphs and trees using different DS. I initially started with an ArrayList of HashSets and then moved on to Linked Lists. Then he wanted me to try and find an efficient way to implement the follower following system in Twitter. After some discussion over it he asked me two coding questions based on Linked Lists and Bit Manipulation: Remove the references node from a Linked List, we are just given the pointer to the node that is to be deleted and no head or previous node pointer. You can find the question here: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/given-only-a-pointer-to-a-node-to-be-deleted-in-a-singly-linked-list-how-do-you-delete-it/

Return if a number is a power of 2 or not. After brute force approach, I gave its bit manipulation answer. You can find this question: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/program-to-find-whether-a-given-number-is-power-of-2/ Round 5(HR Interview): After basic introduction and resume discussion, he asked me to describe myself as a person and the qualities I like the most about myself. After this he asked me if I had any plans for Masters, or like where do I see myself in 3-5 years from now. I was all asked to answer, "Why Cisco?", etc. Then there was a discussion over which locations I preferred more for the intern.

Verdict

Hired The test took place on HackerRank. As for the interviews, a Webex space was created and the HR and recruiters were added to it as well. The meeting took place on Webex itself. I was asked to share my screen and write the code. The interviews started at around 8:30 in the morning. The results were announced the following day. Tips: My advice to all the students sitting for intern at Cisco, be thorough with your resume and all the used technologies. Basic knowledge of Networking is a must. Read the archives well and go through the questions asked previously. There is a set pattern with Cisco that is followed. Other than that, don't worry about completely solving the questions asked in interviews, they are more focussed on the approach and a can-do attitude. Good Luck!