Scale Engineer

Grade 13

Software EngineerPrincipal EngineerHard

This interview process is for a Principal Engineer (Grade 13) position at Cisco, focusing on assessing advanced technical skills, leadership potential, and strategic thinking.

Rounds·4

Timeline·~14d

Experience·10 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$180000 - US$250000

Interview time·210 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Technical depth and breadth in relevant areas.
  • Problem-solving and analytical skills.
  • System design and architectural thinking.
  • Leadership and mentoring capabilities.
  • Communication and collaboration skills.
  • Cultural fit and alignment with Cisco's values.

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Thoroughly review your resume and be prepared to discuss all projects and experiences in detail.
  2. Brush up on core computer science fundamentals, including data structures, algorithms, and operating systems.
  3. Practice system design problems, focusing on scalability, reliability, and performance.
  4. Prepare behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  5. Research Cisco's products, services, and recent news to understand the company's direction.
  6. Understand the specific technologies and domains relevant to the Principal Engineer role.
  7. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company culture.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Data Structures & Algorithms

Weeks 1-2: DSA - Advanced topics, LeetCode Hard.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on Data Structures and Algorithms. Cover advanced topics like graphs, dynamic programming, and complexity analysis. Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode (Hard difficulty).

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Describe a complex technical challenge you faced and how you overcame it.
  • How would you design a scalable and reliable notification system?
  • Tell me about a time you had to lead a team through a difficult technical decision.
  • What are your thoughts on the trade-offs between monolithic and microservices architectures?
  • How do you ensure the security and privacy of data in your systems?
  • Describe your experience with performance optimization at scale.
  • How do you mentor and develop junior engineers?
  • What is your approach to managing technical debt?
  • Discuss a time you disagreed with a technical decision made by your manager or team.
  • How do you stay current with new technologies and industry trends?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

San Jose, CA

Interview focus

Deep dive into distributed systems and microservices architecture.Emphasis on leadership and cross-functional collaboration.Strategic thinking regarding technology roadmaps and innovation.

Common questions

  • Discuss a time you had to influence a team with a different technical direction.
  • How do you mentor junior engineers on complex projects?
  • Describe a challenging system design problem you solved at scale.
  • What are your thoughts on the future of cloud-native architectures?
  • How do you balance technical debt with feature delivery?

Tips

  • Be prepared to discuss your contributions to open-source projects.
  • Highlight experience with large-scale data processing and analytics.
  • Showcase your ability to drive technical strategy and influence decision-making.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

Expand a step for evaluation criteria, sample questions, and prep notes.

DSA

Coding questions at Cisco.

Frequently reported on Cisco loops

View all at Cisco

Other guides

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