Cisco

Role: Software Engineer II

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: Applied recently (around July 2025 as per source date), got call 10 days after OA, all 3 interview rounds happened on the same day.

Interview Type: Full-Time, Experienced (2-5 Years)

Result: Offered

Difficulty: Hard

Rounds: 5 Rounds (Hackerrank Coding Round + Technical Round I + Technical Round II + Managerial Round + HR Round)

Topics Asked: Coding (sorting problem, sort binary digits, array problem), Git, Docker, Kubernetes, Python (OOPs, Multithreading, Pyc, Zip, Set), Previous experience, Bitbucket, Linux, Cloud Infrastructure, Vertical vs Horizontal scaling, Deployment of stateful application, Virtual memory, Linux commands, Company principles, goal, mission, CTC.

Experience:

The candidate applied on the Cisco official website and received an offer for the Software Engineer II role.

Hackerrank Coding Round: This online challenge consisted of 5 coding questions to be solved in 90 minutes. The candidate used Python3 and was able to solve 3 questions completely, one with 7 test cases passed, and ran out of time for the last one.

Technical Interview I (1 Hour): The interviewer introduced himself, and the candidate introduced themselves. Questions were primarily based on the candidate's CV, focusing on personal and work experience projects. Further questions covered Git, Docker, Kubernetes, and Python concepts (OOPs, Multithreading, Pyc, Zip, Set). A sorting problem was given, which the candidate solved in their editor with a shared screen.

Technical Interview II (1 Hour): A different interviewer joined. After introductions, a coding problem was sent in the chat: "sort given binary digits in Input: 0010101001101, Output: 0000000011111111". The candidate explained their approach and coded the solution. Another coding question was given, but due to time constraints, only the approach was discussed. Questions about previous experience, Git, Bitbucket, Linux, Cloud Infrastructure, and Kubernetes were also asked.

Managerial Round (1 Hour 20 mins): After a break, the Manager joined. This round involved a brief introduction about past experience, college projects, personal projects, and hackathon details from the resume. The manager then asked questions related to Cloud Infrastructure, Vertical vs Horizontal scaling, Deployment of stateful applications, Virtual memory, and Linux commands. The role details were explained, and the candidate asked questions about the role.

HR Round (20 Mins): This was a relatively easy round, covering company principles, goals, mission, and CTC discussion. The candidate advised going through the company's "ABOUT" section for this round.