I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Cisco (Bengaluru) in Jul 2019
Interview
I applied through on-campus drive. We had some MCQs based on aptitude and technical, and 2 coding questions. Anyone who solved 1 coding question was called for PI.
During my interview, he first glanced through my resume and then gave some Tree and Graph traversal questions. After that he asked me bit-magic questions. And then some OS and CN basic questions like, explain OSI model.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Breadth First Traversal of Tree.
Number of nodes at each level (which is modified Level-order traversal)
Set kth bit in a number.
Check if a number is a power of 2.
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.