I applied through college or university. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Cisco
Interview
Went to a job fair and talked with the guy designated to handle potential Software Engineer I applicants. This was a screen to make sure you weren't a complete dummy. Passed that at the career fair and was set up right then and there for an interview at my college career center. That interview was about an hour and 15 minutes long, and I was interviewed by two people. They asked lots of questions about my academic projects, team experience, and questioned me on Java vs. C. One interviewer was calm and friendly, the other interviewer was more severe and judgmental towards my answers. While he probably meant to be intimidating, his attitude was more off-putting rather than scary.
The questions ranged from how do I handle team issues to being a leader, etc. to comparing Java and C, how they're compiled, interpreted, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
It was a behavioral question and surprised me the most out of everything. If you were given only a week to do a project and you knew there was no way you were going to finish it in the time allotted, what do you do? Basically, you knew you weren't going to finish it in time, but your manager essentially doesn't understand that (not explicit).
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Cisco (Chicago, IL)
Interview
March 13th; Took a hackerrank exam, 3 easy-med leetcode DSAs. One was rotating a matrix and the other was a binary search. And the third was a basic sql. Did not hear back until July.
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.