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Cisco new grad / entry level interview: how to prep if you're just starting out

newgrad_neil · 3 replies

hey everyone, posting this as a question because i'm in the middle of prepping for a Cisco new grad SWE role and i'm kind of lost on what to prioritize. would love to hear from anyone who's done this loop recently.

what i've gathered from searching around: there's a hackerrank OA first (medium difficulty, 2 problems, 90 min) then a video interview with 1-2 coding problems then a full onsite or virtual onsite (some say 3 rounds, some say 4)

but i'm finding conflicting info on what the onsite actually covers for entry-level. some posts say there's a system design round, some say there isn't for new grads. did you get a scaled-down system design or was it all DSA? how behavioral-heavy was it?

also: is the process different if you're applying through campus recruiting vs. general applications? i applied through their Early in Career program.

i'm currently grinding leetcode mediums and doing a behavioral prep pass. is that the right focus or am i missing something?

gpa: 3.4 cs, have an internship at a regional bank and one research project but no FAANG-adjacent internship experience.

3 replies

bootcamp_bri

not Cisco specifically but i did the new grad loop at two similar networking/enterprise companies last year. for entry level they usually skip or massively simplify the system design, it's more 'design a class/data structure to solve X' not a full distributed systems round. behavioral is real and matters more than people expect at big companies like Cisco because they have structured hiring and behavioral scores count in the debrief.

backend_bekah

the OA is where a lot of people get filtered. don't underestimate it. if you're comfortable with arrays, hashmaps, BFS/DFS, and basic DP you're probably fine for the level. don't go in expecting graph theory deep cuts.

also campus recruiting vs. general applications does matter in terms of timeline. campus is often faster and there's a quota attached to it.

veteran_vance

prepping behavioral early is smart, not something to leave until the end. cisco is known for structured STAR interviews, they actually care about format. do a few mock runs out loud, not just in your head.