Cisco

Role: SDE (Software Development Engineer)

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: January 23, 2025 (initial post), updated March 17, 2025

Interview Type: Full-Time (3+ YOE)

Result: Rejected

Difficulty: Medium

Rounds: 4 rounds (Phone Screen, Coding Round 1, Coding Round 2, Managerial Round)

Topics Asked: Resume-based deep dive (products, tech stack), SSH vs TLS, Inner join vs Outer join in databases, Transactions (ACID properties), Coding (Maximum Subarray - Leetcode Medium), Golang syntax, goroutines, unbuffered and buffered channels, mutex, waitgroups, Fibonacci program in Go using channels and goroutines, System Design.

Experience:

The candidate, with 3+ years of experience, was shortlisted for an SDE position at Cisco.

Round 1: Phone Screen (Hiring Manager): This round was a resume-based deep dive. The candidate was asked to explain products they had worked on, the tech stack used, familiarity with job requirements' tech, and an overview of the team, work culture, and product.

Round 2: Coding Round (DSA): The interview started with a discussion on the resume, projects, and tech. Theory questions included "What is the difference between SSH and TLS?", "Inner join vs Outer join in databases", and "Transactions and its uses in databases" (explaining ACID properties). The coding question asked was a LeetCode medium difficulty question, specifically "Maximum Subarray".

Round 3: Coding Round (DSA + System Design): This round focused more on Golang (as it was a Go dev role), including syntax, goroutines, unbuffered and buffered channels, mutex, and waitgroups. The candidate was asked to write a Fibonacci program in Go using channels and goroutines. More resume-based questions were also asked.

Round 4: Managerial Round: Discussions revolved around projects, tech stack, daily requirements, and role expectations. The feedback from this round was positive.

Despite positive feedback from the Hiring Manager, the candidate was not offered the job as Cisco decided to move forward with a more experienced candidate who had direct experience with the specific tech stack.