A friend who worked at Cisco suggested I apply for the position.

I applied through the website.

The hiring process involved several stages:

• A phone pre-screen with the internal recruiter
• A programming exercise completed at home
• An in-person interview

Initially, the recruiter stated there was a strict time limit for the programming exercise. However, the hiring manager later informed me that no such limit existed and encouraged me to finish the exercise, which I had left incomplete due to the initial time constraints.

The recruiter was slow to respond. I reached out to the hiring manager, which prompted more action from the recruiter. The interview itself went well, and I felt I connected with the team.

Eventually, an offer was made. I inquired about a higher salary and subsequently received a cash signing bonus.

The programming exercise was about parsing pseudo-XML tags.

Whiteboard coding. Reverse a linked list.