Is HireStepX free to use?

Yes. Start with 2 full AI mock interviews, complete with real-time feedback, scores, and detailed performance reports. No credit card required.

How does the AI mock interview work?

Upload your resume, pick your target company and role, and choose from 10 interview types. The AI interviewer asks role-specific questions via voice, listens to your answers, asks follow-up questions, and delivers scored feedback after each session.

What types of interviews can I practice?

10 types: Behavioral, Technical, Strategic, Case Study, Campus Placement, HR Round, Panel, Management, Salary Negotiation, and Government/PSU. Each with 3 difficulty levels and mini or full session options.

Can I practice for specific companies like TCS, Infosys, or Google?

Yes. We support 200+ target companies including Google, Amazon, TCS, Infosys, Flipkart, Razorpay, McKinsey, Deloitte, and more, each with distinct interview patterns.

How is this different from ChatGPT or practicing with friends?

ChatGPT is text-only with no voice, no scoring, no resume integration, and no progress tracking. HireStepX is a purpose-built interview simulator: voice-based, resume-personalized, with detailed analytics.

Is my interview data private and secure?

Yes. Data is encrypted via Supabase with row-level security. Recordings and transcripts are never shared with employers or third parties. Delete everything anytime from Settings.

Does HireStepX work on mobile?

Yes, on any modern browser. For the best experience during mock interviews, use a laptop or desktop with a microphone.

How much does it cost compared to a career coach?

A single coaching session typically costs ₹3,000-10,000. HireStepX is ₹9 per session or ₹39/month for 5 sessions (Sprint Pack) with full AI coaching and analytics, available 24/7.

What is the recruitment process at Cisco?

The typical Cisco recruitment process has 6 stages: Resume screen: campus drives (NIT/IIT/BITS) plus lateral hiring via LinkedIn and referrals → Online Assessment: aptitude plus 2 to 3 coding problems, 90 min → Technical Round 1: DSA coding and CS fundamentals (OS, pointers, memory) → Technical Round 2: Networking concepts or domain-specific technical depth depending on team → Technical Round 3 (senior roles): Architecture discussion or design → HR Round: compensation, location preferences, and culture fit.

What are the interview rounds at Cisco?

Cisco typically conducts 5 interview rounds: Online Assessment (90 min): Aptitude section followed by 2 to 3 coding problems, easy to medium. Some BUs include a networking MCQ section.; Technical Round 1 (45-60 min): DSA problems plus CS fundamentals such as process vs thread, virtual memory, or pointer arithmetic. Language internals are probed for C/C++ roles.; Technical Round 2 (45-60 min): Networking and infrastructure roles get TCP/IP, socket programming, or routing questions. Cloud and full-stack roles get a second DSA or system design intro.; Technical Round 3 (senior roles, 45-60 min): Higher-level architecture or distributed systems discussion. Less common at SWE-1 level.; HR Round (20-30 min): Standard behavioral and logistics discussion. Cisco values cross-functional collaboration; prepare one story about working across teams..

What framework should I use for Cisco technical interviews?

HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving framework for this type of interview: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code.

Reverse a linked list in O(1) extra space. Then explain when you'd use this in production.

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

What is the difference between a class and an object? Give an example.

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

Write a SQL query to find the second-highest salary in a department.

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

What is normalisation in databases? When would you de-normalise?

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

What's the difference between a stack and a queue? Give a real-world use case for each.

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

Given a stream of integers, design a data structure that returns the median in O(log n).

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

You have a service that's slow only on Tuesdays. Walk me through how you'd debug.

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

Here's 200 lines of payment-processing code with several intentional bugs. Find them and explain the production impact of each.

To answer this question well, HireStepX recommends the Protocol-aware problem solving approach: For networking roles: frame every design answer around layer boundaries, failure domains, and protocol trade-offs before writing any code. Ground your answer in a specific real example from your own experience.

Does Cisco India ask networking questions in SWE interviews?

Yes, for infrastructure and networking BUs: TCP/IP, OSI model, routing, and socket programming are common. Cloud and product teams focus on DSA and CS fundamentals instead.

What is the Cisco India SWE interview process end to end?

Online assessment, then 3 to 4 technical rounds covering DSA, OS/networking concepts, and a final HR or hiring manager round. No take-home typically.

What languages does Cisco prefer in coding rounds?

C, C++, and Python are the most common choices. Java is accepted. Interviewers sometimes probe language-specific memory management for C/C++ roles.

← All companies·Cisco·Technical

Cisco Software Engineer Interview Questions India 2026

Cisco India (Bangalore and Pune) hires across networking software, cloud/SD-WAN, security, and full-stack product teams, and the interview difficulty and format varies noticeably by business unit.

Practice with AI voice feedback 12 questions · Technical · 2 sessions free

About Cisco

Cisco India (Bengaluru) is the company's largest global engineering campus outside the US with ~15,000 employees. It covers core routing and switching software, SD-WAN, WebEx (Cisco Collaboration), security, and cloud networking.

Products: Cisco IOS / IOS-XE (networking OS) · Cisco SD-WAN (Viptela) · WebEx (video collaboration) · Cisco SecureX / Umbrella (security) · Cisco Meraki (cloud-managed networking) · AppDynamics (observability)
Competitors: Juniper Networks · Arista Networks · Palo Alto Networks · Fortinet · Zoom (WebEx) · Microsoft Teams (WebEx)
Scale: ~15,000 employees in India. Bengaluru campus is Cisco's largest engineering site globally outside San Jose. Hyderabad and Pune also have significant presence.

Cisco recruitment process

01
Resume screen: campus drives (NIT/IIT/BITS) plus lateral hiring via LinkedIn and referrals
02
Online Assessment: aptitude plus 2 to 3 coding problems, 90 min
03
Technical Round 1: DSA coding and CS fundamentals (OS, pointers, memory)
04
Technical Round 2: Networking concepts or domain-specific technical depth depending on team
05
Technical Round 3 (senior roles): Architecture discussion or design
06
HR Round: compensation, location preferences, and culture fit

What to expect in each round

01
Online Assessment (90 min)
Aptitude section followed by 2 to 3 coding problems, easy to medium. Some BUs include a networking MCQ section.
02
Technical Round 1 (45-60 min)
DSA problems plus CS fundamentals such as process vs thread, virtual memory, or pointer arithmetic. Language internals are probed for C/C++ roles.
03
Technical Round 2 (45-60 min)
Networking and infrastructure roles get TCP/IP, socket programming, or routing questions. Cloud and full-stack roles get a second DSA or system design intro.
04
Technical Round 3 (senior roles, 45-60 min)
Higher-level architecture or distributed systems discussion. Less common at SWE-1 level.
05
HR Round (20-30 min)
Standard behavioral and logistics discussion. Cisco values cross-functional collaboration; prepare one story about working across teams.

Technical questions Cisco asked

Sourced from 2+ candidate post-mortems. Hit Practice to answer any one with AI voice feedback.

01
Medium
Reverse a linked list in O(1) extra space. Then explain when you'd use this in production.
Practice free →
02
Easy
What is the difference between a class and an object? Give an example.
Practice free →
03
Easy
Write a SQL query to find the second-highest salary in a department.
Practice free →
04
Easy
What is normalisation in databases? When would you de-normalise?
Practice free →
05
Easy
What's the difference between a stack and a queue? Give a real-world use case for each.
Practice free →
06
Hard
Given a stream of integers, design a data structure that returns the median in O(log n).
Practice free →
07
Medium
You have a service that's slow only on Tuesdays. Walk me through how you'd debug.
Practice free →
08
Hard
Here's 200 lines of payment-processing code with several intentional bugs. Find them and explain the production impact of each.
Practice free →
09
Medium
Explain webhooks vs. polling for a developer who has never built a payment integration. You have 4 sentences.
Practice free →
10
Hard
Walk me through Razorpay's fraud-detection model. How would you reduce false positives without increasing chargeback losses?
Practice free →
11
Medium
We see UPI failure rates spike at 9pm on weekends. How would you debug and what's your hypothesis?
Practice free →
12
Easy
What's 54% of 110? You have 10 seconds.
Practice free →

7 more questions. Sign up to unlock all

Reading won't get you hired

Stop reading, start answering.

The AI asks Cisco-style questions, listens to your voice, and scores your answer in two minutes. 2 sessions free, no card.

Start free practice

← All companies·Cisco·Technical

Cisco Software Engineer Interview Questions India 2026

Cisco India (Bangalore and Pune) hires across networking software, cloud/SD-WAN, security, and full-stack product teams, and the interview difficulty and format varies noticeably by business unit.

Practice with AI voice feedback 12 questions · Technical · 2 sessions free

About Cisco

Products: Cisco IOS / IOS-XE (networking OS) · Cisco SD-WAN (Viptela) · WebEx (video collaboration) · Cisco SecureX / Umbrella (security) · Cisco Meraki (cloud-managed networking) · AppDynamics (observability)
Competitors: Juniper Networks · Arista Networks · Palo Alto Networks · Fortinet · Zoom (WebEx) · Microsoft Teams (WebEx)
Scale: ~15,000 employees in India. Bengaluru campus is Cisco's largest engineering site globally outside San Jose. Hyderabad and Pune also have significant presence.

Cisco recruitment process

01
Resume screen: campus drives (NIT/IIT/BITS) plus lateral hiring via LinkedIn and referrals
02
Online Assessment: aptitude plus 2 to 3 coding problems, 90 min
03
Technical Round 1: DSA coding and CS fundamentals (OS, pointers, memory)
04
Technical Round 2: Networking concepts or domain-specific technical depth depending on team
05
Technical Round 3 (senior roles): Architecture discussion or design
06
HR Round: compensation, location preferences, and culture fit

What to expect in each round

01
Online Assessment (90 min)
Aptitude section followed by 2 to 3 coding problems, easy to medium. Some BUs include a networking MCQ section.
02
Technical Round 1 (45-60 min)
DSA problems plus CS fundamentals such as process vs thread, virtual memory, or pointer arithmetic. Language internals are probed for C/C++ roles.
03
Technical Round 2 (45-60 min)
Networking and infrastructure roles get TCP/IP, socket programming, or routing questions. Cloud and full-stack roles get a second DSA or system design intro.
04
Technical Round 3 (senior roles, 45-60 min)
Higher-level architecture or distributed systems discussion. Less common at SWE-1 level.
05
HR Round (20-30 min)
Standard behavioral and logistics discussion. Cisco values cross-functional collaboration; prepare one story about working across teams.

Technical questions Cisco asked

Sourced from 2+ candidate post-mortems. Hit Practice to answer any one with AI voice feedback.

01
Medium
Reverse a linked list in O(1) extra space. Then explain when you'd use this in production.
Practice free →
02
Easy
What is the difference between a class and an object? Give an example.
Practice free →
03
Easy
Write a SQL query to find the second-highest salary in a department.
Practice free →
04
Easy
What is normalisation in databases? When would you de-normalise?
Practice free →
05
Easy
What's the difference between a stack and a queue? Give a real-world use case for each.
Practice free →
06
Hard
Given a stream of integers, design a data structure that returns the median in O(log n).
Practice free →
07
Medium
You have a service that's slow only on Tuesdays. Walk me through how you'd debug.
Practice free →
08
Hard
Here's 200 lines of payment-processing code with several intentional bugs. Find them and explain the production impact of each.
Practice free →
09
Medium
Explain webhooks vs. polling for a developer who has never built a payment integration. You have 4 sentences.
Practice free →
10
Hard
Walk me through Razorpay's fraud-detection model. How would you reduce false positives without increasing chargeback losses?
Practice free →
11
Medium
We see UPI failure rates spike at 9pm on weekends. How would you debug and what's your hypothesis?
Practice free →
12
Easy
What's 54% of 110? You have 10 seconds.
Practice free →

7 more questions. Sign up to unlock all

Reading won't get you hired

Stop reading, start answering.

The AI asks Cisco-style questions, listens to your voice, and scores your answer in two minutes. 2 sessions free, no card.

Start free practice