Cisco Software Engineer interview questions and process

Updated · 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

Candidates rate the Cisco Software Engineer interview Medium-Hard: Campus and off-campus SWE reports show medium-to-hard DP/greedy coding rounds plus heavy Computer Networks theory, with multiple elimination stages. Reports describe 4 rounds, from Online Assessment (Code with Cisco / DSA + MCQs) to HR Round, with about 2-5 weeks from first call to offer.

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Cisco Software Engineer interview rounds

  1. Online Assessment (Code with Cisco / DSA + MCQs): 1-hour OA with 2-3 medium-to-hard coding problems (DP, greedy) plus core-subject MCQs; individual OA can run 90 minutes with ~30 MCQs.
  2. Technical Round 1 (DSA + Computer Networks)
  3. Technical Round 2 (DSA / System Design)
  4. HR Round

Questions reported in Cisco Software Engineer interviews

  1. Design the dictionary - first approach HashMap, then Trie for autocomplete, then optimize further (interviewer expected multi-threading).
  2. Basic Computer Networks theory: how routers work, subnetting, subnet masks.
  3. Coding problem given via Codepair link after screen share (problem-solving round).
  4. OA: two DP problems and one greedy problem, medium to hard.

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Cisco Software Engineer interview: quick answers

How many rounds are in the Cisco Software Engineer interview?

Public reports describe 4 rounds for the Cisco Software Engineer interview: (1) Online Assessment, (2) Technical Round 1, (3) Technical Round 2, (4) HR Round. Round 1: 1-hour OA with 2-3 medium-to-hard coding problems (DP, greedy) plus core-subject MCQs; individual OA can run 90 minutes with ~30 MCQs.

Is the Cisco interview difficult?

Public reports put the Cisco Software Engineer interview at Medium-Hard difficulty. Campus and off-campus SWE reports show medium-to-hard DP/greedy coding rounds plus heavy Computer Networks theory, with multiple elimination stages. The process has 4 rounds, from Online Assessment to HR Round.

Does Cisco ask DSA?

Yes. Rounds that involve coding: Online Assessment (Code with Cisco / DSA + MCQs), Technical Round 1 (DSA + Computer Networks), Technical Round 2 (DSA / System Design). Deeper DSA and design; one reported question was designing a dictionary, with the interviewer pushing toward a Trie and multi-threading.

How long does Cisco take to give results?

Time to a result for the Cisco Software Engineer process, per public reports: 2-5 weeks. The process has 4 rounds, from Online Assessment to HR Round. Based on 14 public reports, last updated Sep 2026.

What is the Cisco fresher salary?

Estimated from public salary data: 17-25 LPA for intern+FTE campus offers (from LeetCode Ideathon post); 28 LPA cited in one SDE offer video. This is not an official Cisco figure, and pay varies by level, city and experience. Based on 14 public reports, last updated Sep 2026.

Sources

Based on 14 public reports: YouTube (8), LeetCode Discuss (6), last updated Sep 2026.

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

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