CISCO Internship

My Cisco Internship Interview Experience

I participated in the selection process for the 2026 Summer Internship at Cisco. The process began with an eligibility form distributed through our placement cell.

Initial Process & Online Assessment

The first step was an Online Assessment on September 3, 2024. It comprised around 40 MCQs focusing on CS fundamentals and a significant emphasis on networking concepts, given Cisco's core business. Following the MCQs, there were two coding questions: one was a DP-based problem, and the other a Graph BFS-based problem, both of medium-hard difficulty.

Role Deep Dive Session

On September 9, 2024, I attended a session that provided insights into the Software Engineer roles at Cisco, covering Application, Embedded, and Networking domains. Early-in-career employees shared their experiences with the company and the interview process.

Post-Assessment Results & Interview Selection

After the assessments, I received an update from the placement cell. Most candidates were rejected, but I was fortunate to be among the 6 selected from my campus for the next rounds.

Interview Process - Eliminatory Rounds via Webex

Round 1 (13th September 2024)

I was quite anxious and prepared early that morning by reviewing CS fundamentals, networking concepts, and my resume. The interviewer was friendly and we started with a deep dive into my resume, asking detailed questions about my projects. She also probed into CS fundamentals, Networks, and DBMS. For the coding question, I was given a problem related to Linked Lists, specifically requiring operations for deleting and reversing nodes. I solved it and clearly explained my approach, and the interviewer seemed satisfied. Towards the end, I asked questions about the role, location, stipend, and a typical day at Cisco. I was confident I would proceed, and soon received an email confirming my selection for Round 2.

Round 2 (Senior Engineer Panel)

Initially nervous, I gained confidence as the conversation progressed with the senior engineer. We discussed my favorite project (I chose one I was very confident explaining). I also answered technical questions related to that project. We then moved on to conceptual questions spanning OOPs, Networks, and DBMS. For the coding segment, I faced questions involving strings and modulo operations. I explained my approach, and the interviewer was satisfied without requiring me to code it out. There was also an aptitude-based puzzle, which I partially solved but managed to explain my reasoning. Finally, I answered some behavioral questions about teamwork and challenges. I felt confident after this round and was later informed of my selection for the final HR round.

Round 3 (HR Round)

This round was conducted by a senior HR personnel and lasted about 5 minutes. The questions were standard HR inquiries: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?", "What do you know about Cisco?", and "What are your thoughts on the offered stipend and location?". There was also a question about my father's education, which was a bit unusual. I had prepared answers for most of these and responded confidently. I was overjoyed as I believed I had cleared the final round and was the only candidate from my university to reach this stage.

Post-Interview Outcome & Reflections

I eagerly waited for two weeks for the final offer but received no updates. Upon reaching out to HR, I was informed that I had not made it through. This was my first experience with rejection despite performing well. It was disappointing, but I took it as a valuable learning experience to better prepare for future opportunities.