I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco (Bengaluru) in Dec 2011
Interview
Got invitation of written test via employee referral. Out of around 2000 candidates, 100-150 managed to pass that barrier. Then after few days interview date got scheduled. There were 4 rounds as of total that day. From morning 9am to 8pm attended all the rounds. was asked almost all subjects of computer science. Also was asked questions about practical problems, coding. There was a lot of coding, algorithms, optimizing codes, reducing time complexity.
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
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.
The interview process was two rounds. The first round was a behavioral interview. Straightforward questions, like tell me about the most technically challenging project you have worked on. The second round was a system design interview.