Cisco Backend Engineer interview questions and process

Updated 2 Oct 2026 · 14 sources

Hiring Pulse: where Cisco candidates are right now

Dated status reports from public Reddit threads and anonymous PortLume reports, updated Oct 15. Not official Cisco data.

4 status reports in the last 7 days
Not enough data yet: median from final interview to a decision shows at 5+ people (1 so far)
Latest movement: 1 offer, 2 final rounds reported since Oct 11

Latest Cisco hiring reports

Oct 14: Applied Oct 12 (r/leetcode)
Oct 14: Final round Oct 14 (r/Btechtards)
Oct 12: Offer Oct 12 (r/Btechtards)
Oct 11: Final round Sep 30 (r/developersIndia)
Oct 4: Offer Oct 4 (r/csMajors)

Candidates rate the Cisco Backend Engineer interview Medium-Hard: Reports show medium-to-hard DSA (DP, greedy) plus heavy Computer Networks fundamentals, and a backend senior loop of two onsite rounds covering CS and web fundamentals. Reports describe 4 rounds, from Online Assessment (DSA + SQL/MCQ) to HR/Managerial round, with about 2-4 weeks from first call to offer.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Estimated salary: 17-25 LPA for new-grad/FTE backend roles per Cisco Ideathon report; intern stipend ~98k/month
Skills asked about: Computer Networks (routing, subnetting, subnet masks), Data Structures and Algorithms (DP, greedy), SQL and data warehousing (joins, indexing, tuning)

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Cisco Backend Engineer interview rounds

Online Assessment (DSA + SQL/MCQ): OA with 1-3 medium-hard coding problems (DP, greedy) plus SQL and core-subject MCQs; Python/JavaScript allowed in some reports.
Technical Round 1 - CS/Networks fundamentals + coding
Technical Round 2 - backend/system and coding
HR/Managerial round

Questions reported in Cisco Backend Engineer interviews

Explain how routers work and how subnetting and subnet masks are used.
Solve a problem-solving/coding task on a shared Codepair link.
Medium DSA question alongside a medium SQL question in the online assessment.

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Cisco Backend Engineer interview: quick answers

How many rounds are in the Cisco Backend Engineer interview?

Public reports describe 4 rounds for the Cisco Backend Engineer interview: (1) Online Assessment, (2) Technical Round 1 - CS/Networks fundamentals + coding, (3) Technical Round 2 - backend/system and coding, (4) HR/Managerial round. Round 1: OA with 1-3 medium-hard coding problems (DP, greedy) plus SQL and core-subject MCQs; Python/JavaScript allowed in some reports.

Is the Cisco interview difficult?

Public reports put the Cisco Backend Engineer interview at Medium-Hard difficulty. Reports show medium-to-hard DSA (DP, greedy) plus heavy Computer Networks fundamentals, and a backend senior loop of two onsite rounds covering CS and web fundamentals. The process has 4 rounds, from Online Assessment to HR/Managerial round.

Does Cisco ask DSA in Backend Engineer interviews?

Yes. Rounds that involve coding: Online Assessment (DSA + SQL/MCQ), Technical Round 1 - CS/Networks fundamentals + coding, Technical Round 2 - backend/system and coding. Reports show medium-to-hard DSA (DP, greedy) plus heavy Computer Networks fundamentals, and a backend senior loop of two onsite rounds covering CS and web fundamentals.

How long does Cisco take to give results?

Time to a result for the Cisco Backend Engineer process, per public reports: 2-4 weeks. The process has 4 rounds, from Online Assessment to HR/Managerial round. Based on 14 public reports, last updated Oct 2026.

What is the Cisco Backend Engineer fresher salary?

Estimated from public salary data: 17-25 LPA for new-grad/FTE backend roles per Cisco Ideathon report; intern stipend ~98k/month. This is not an official Cisco figure, and pay varies by level, city and experience. Based on 14 public reports, last updated Oct 2026.

Sources

Based on 14 public reports: LeetCode Discuss (7), YouTube (7), last updated Oct 2026.

Compiled by Adarsh Sharma from public candidate reports. Unofficial guide: PortLume AI is not affiliated with Cisco.

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