Process
There were two interviews.
The first interview was at the school campus. There were two interviewers, and I spent 30 minutes with each.
- The first asked questions about Linux command lines.
- The second asked about programming.
The questions were meant to assess understanding, not be brain-teasers like some interviews.
The second interview was at the Cisco building. Not as many questions were asked the second time around. It was more about meeting the team, seeing the building, and having another team member confirm competency.
Questions
How to instantiate a class, use a method once, then have the class cleaned up.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 6 interview experiences for the Cisco Software Engineer I role in Canada.
Success Rate
17%
Pass Rate
Cisco's interview process for their Software Engineer I roles in Canada is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive67%
Neutral17%
Negative17%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Cisco's Software Engineer I interview process in Canada.
Cisco Work Experiences
2.0
A kind of boring experience
Software Engineer I • Former Employee
September 30, 2011
Pros: There is a game room, and the shuttles between buildings and to BART/Caltrain are nice.
Cons: There is not much work to do. It can get very boring. And there are so many meetings that most of your teammates are never free to help you.
4.0
It is a software job
Software Engineer I • Current Employee
San Jose, California, United States
April 2, 2009
Pros: Good for anyone who lives networking, C, Java, and web applications. Pays well, and benefits are okay. Work from home is especially good.
Cons: It is a software engineering job and can be very boring and tedious at times.
Java is non-algorithmic coding, and the only thing you learn is more Java. You don't really research any novel ideas and implement them; you just maintain and update old products with new features.
Features developed sometimes make you think if anyone will use them, even internally.
If you are not interested in software, this is not your heaven.
Performance is based on how many customer-found defects you resolve and the quality of your code.
2.0
Great for some, but not for all
Software Engineer I • Current Employee
San Jose, California, United States
August 18, 2014
Pros: Great work/life balance (for some, but not all).
Come in when you want, work from home, generous PTO.
Pay is nice, but not the best compared to other companies in Silicon Valley.
Cons: Annually cuts in thousands.
Some people are overworked, and some are underworked, even across the same team.
Very slow to change.
University hires get absolutely no choice as to what position they are placed in.
- 2.0A kind of boring experienceSoftware Engineer I • Former EmployeeSeptember 30, 2011Pros: There is a game room, and the shuttles between buildings and to BART/Caltrain are nice.Cons: There is not much work to do. It can get very boring. And there are so many meetings that most of your teammates are never free to help you.
- 4.0It is a software jobSoftware Engineer I • Current EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesApril 2, 2009Pros: Good for anyone who lives networking, C, Java, and web applications. Pays well, and benefits are okay. Work from home is especially good.Cons: It is a software engineering job and can be very boring and tedious at times. Java is non-algorithmic coding, and the only thing you learn is more Java. You don't really research any novel ideas and implement them; you just maintain and update old products with new features. Features developed sometimes make you think if anyone will use them, even internally. If you are not interested in software, this is not your heaven. Performance is based on how many customer-found defects you resolve and the quality of your code.
- 2.0Great for some, but not for allSoftware Engineer I • Current EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesAugust 18, 2014Pros: Great work/life balance (for some, but not all). Come in when you want, work from home, generous PTO. Pay is nice, but not the best compared to other companies in Silicon Valley.Cons: Annually cuts in thousands. Some people are overworked, and some are underworked, even across the same team. Very slow to change. University hires get absolutely no choice as to what position they are placed in.
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