One of my former lab-mates from the University referred me for a position at Cisco. I didn't even know what the position was, but he thought it was a perfect fit for me.

I received a call out of the blue, on a Saturday, from a person at Cisco. He asked if I had time for an interview at that moment. Unfortunately, I was traveling and asked if we could prearrange a time so that I could make myself available. He was willing to do that, but he wanted to conduct the interview within the next couple of days. So, we scheduled it for the following day.

During the interview, he first asked me about my PhD research work. That went on for about 15 minutes. I think he seemed mildly impressed. Then he moved on to a few behavioral and technical questions. The technical questions covered Algorithms and Data Structures, C/C++, OOP, and Networking. Apart from a couple of questions, I did well in the rest. The most difficulty I had was understanding the thick accent, which I believe was South East Asian, of my interviewer. However, he was really friendly.

Finally, he went through my resume and asked me several questions about my experience and background. I felt he became more interested in me after that round, as he mentioned "I have an impressive resume."

The whole interview lasted for about an hour. He concluded by asking me to contact him in about two weeks if I hadn't heard from him or Cisco. I followed up the interview by sending a thank-you email to my interviewer. He once again asked me to contact him if I didn't hear back soon.

However, even after repeated emails, and after waiting for three weeks, I have yet to hear back from him or Cisco. Overall, I had a positive impression of the interview, even though they called out of the blue and asked me to interview in a hurry. I haven't had that experience with any other company. But, not getting back to me with their decision, regardless of what it is, is really unprofessional for a company like Cisco. I don't think I would consider Cisco in the future, even though I am in the Networking field.

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