How Cisco interviews work
Cisco's interview process for technical roles: a recruiter screen, a technical phone screen (networking fundamentals, coding, or architecture depending on the role), and a virtual on-site loop of three to five interviews covering technical depth, problem-solving, and behavioural questions. For sales roles: a recruiter screen, a presentation exercise (often a 30-minute mock customer pitch), and sales leadership interviews. For consulting roles: a case study and technical scenario alongside competency interviews. Cisco uses structured interviewing with a consistent panel scoring system, which means interviewers assess the same dimensions across all candidates.
Technical interview questions
"Explain how OSPF establishes adjacency between two routers." OSPF routers exchange Hello packets on a shared network segment. Routers become neighbours when they agree on Hello and Dead timers, area ID, authentication, and stub flag. From neighbours, they form adjacency: exchange database description (DBD) packets to summarise their LSDB (link-state database), then send LSR (link-state request) packets for any missing LSAs, receive LSU (link-state update) responses, and acknowledge with LSAck. Once databases are synchronised, the adjacency is established and the interface is in FULL state. Cisco-specific: on broadcast and NBMA networks, only the DR (Designated Router) and BDR (Backup DR) form full adjacency with all other routers — this reduces the number of adjacencies in large segments. "What is QoS and why is it important in enterprise networking?" Quality of Service policies classify and prioritise network traffic to ensure latency-sensitive applications (VoIP, video conferencing) receive adequate bandwidth and low latency even when the network is congested. DSCP marking classifies packets (EF for voice, AF for video, BE for best-effort data). Queuing and shaping mechanisms (LLQ, CBWFQ on Cisco platforms) enforce the priority during congestion.
Cisco culture and values
Cisco's purpose is to "power an inclusive future for all." The company has been recognised consistently as one of the best places to work globally, with a culture that emphasises employee wellbeing, inclusion, and community impact alongside commercial performance. Cisco has invested heavily in conscious culture initiatives and genuinely tracks employee wellbeing metrics. For candidates coming from more traditional corporate environments, Cisco's culture can feel unusually transparent and intentionally positive — this is genuine rather than superficial. Values interviews probe for genuine collaboration, customer focus, and integrity.
Cisco certifications in interviews
Cisco certifications (CCNA, CCNP, CCIE) are widely referenced in networking interviews. For roles at Cisco: having a CCNA or CCNP is a meaningful signal of foundational knowledge, but Cisco also hires candidates without certifications when they demonstrate equivalent practical knowledge. For senior technical roles, interviewers often probe beyond what any certification covers. The CCIE is the gold standard and holders are rare enough that most senior Cisco networking engineers hold one. For software-defined networking and DevNet roles, Cisco's DevNet Associate and Professional certifications are more relevant than the traditional networking track.