I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Cisco
Interview
I applied through their jobs portal. They sent me a Hackerrank link to complete the challenge in the next 48 hours. The duration was approx. 90 minutes, 1 medium, and 2 difficult programming questions.
I applied online. I interviewed at Cisco (Durham, NC) in Feb 2026
Interview
It's a 3-round interview where the first one is a recruiter, followed by technical and HR. The hiring process is slow but fair and interactive. The initial round is so basic, like just trying to know the profile and flexibility, waiting on the next ones.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why do you want to work at Cisco? What's so special about it?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Cisco (San Francisco, CA) in Mar 2024
Interview
Interviewer was nice and willing to answer questions. Was asked to introduce myself, answer a couple of behavioral questions, and asked a few resume-specific questions. A couple of SQL questions and questions about statistical concepts, pertaining to the Central Limit Theorem and p-values.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you explain the Central Limit Theorem to someone who is not familiar with statistics?
They take the interview seriously, they are nice, they consider the experience value, they consider the knowledge of it and offer courses for more knowledge and experience. Giving us helps and guidance when starting a new job.
Data Scientist applicants have rated the interview process at Cisco with 2.8 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 65% positive. To compare, the company-average is 68% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Data Scientist roles take an average of 7 days to get hired, when considering 17 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Cisco overall takes an average of 27 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Cisco as a Data Scientist according to 17 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 41%
One on one interview: 19%
Presentation: 15%
Drug test: 7%
Skills test: 7%
Group panel interview: 4%
Background check: 4%
Personality test: 4%
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