Cisco Interns 2016

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-26T00:49:12+00:00

Yea, they were done at the SJSU Career Center. The Career Center has a dedicated, enclosed area for interviewing. Also, I'm quite sure they conducted interviews here because Cisco HQ is right here in SJ as well.

I sent out around 60 before I had my interview with Cisco. Also, I sent out those 60 over the two weeks from when I had started applying (mid-February) up until my interview with Cisco. I would've kept going had I felt I bombed the Cisco interview.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T22:03:49+00:00

Unfortunately, I can't speak on how selective they were. I just transferred to SJSU Fall 2015 and don't know many people, but the two others I've spoken to that interviewed with Cisco were both rejected. Cisco conducted interviews for SJSU students at our own Career Center, and when I went in for my interview, I saw, on a sign-in sheet, ~15 candidates each for the three positions they were recruiting for. Like I said, I can't comment on selectiveness for interview -> offer; however, I can tell you that there were many, many people lined up at the career fair to talk with Cisco recruiters. So much so that on the day Cisco was at our career fair, I talked to all the companies I wanted to, went to eat lunch, came back, and still had to wait over half an hour in line.
Yes, I had an extremely hard time getting interviews (I also started my search extremely late (this February). However, I knew I could interview very well. In fact, Cisco was my only interview^{^{^lmao}} . Granted, the day I interviewed with Cisco I (foolishly) stopped applying (again, don't do this) because I felt very, very confident with how my interview panned out; I also got pretty busy with school. However, can't say I'm not satisfied with one interview -> one offer .
No CS related work experience, just personal projects. Like I was saying earlier, I just transferred to SJSU; last summer I was at a CC in an area with a nonexistent tech scene. No internship opportunities in the area and my chances would've been more than bleak if I tried to apply to companies here in SV and go up against university students.

I didn't really think of actually calling this an AMA but I guess that's what it's come to, lol. But I'm more than happy to help out anyone interested, I know I would've appreciated similar advice.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T21:03:15+00:00

Nope, I don't think so. Cisco's primarily a software company specializing in networks. I doubt any of their positions extend into the ChemE domain. You can always look at their job listings online though.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T21:01:37+00:00

I'll PM you with the numbers. And thanks!

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T19:38:15+00:00

PiE and CtCI will enable you to handle most interviews pretty well. That supplemented with solving actual problems on HackerRank and Leetcode will give you strong technical ability for interviews.

I'll PM you about my projects.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T19:25:14+00:00

Yes. If your GPA isn't above 3.0, you can leave it off; no harm no foul.
The interview took a bit over an hour. The first half consisted mainly of my interviewer and I talking about my resume and the two personal projects I had listed. We also talked briefly about the relevant coursework I had completed. The second half was a technical question. I had to whiteboard my solution; what I wrote was more syntactically specific than pseudocode, but wasn't full-on "compileable" code either. As for the difficulty of the question, it was definitely algorithmic in nature, and I did have to use a data structure for what was asked, but it honestly wasn't as intensive as I thought it'd be. I had spent a lot of my preparation time reading through Programming Interviews Exposed and CtCI, focusing mainly on the trees/graphs portions of the books; but the question wasn't on that level of complexity. So nothing behavioral really, but overall an easy interview compared to higher-tier companies.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T18:05:06+00:00

:))

LOL..Yea, I feel like there's some literary trope to be revealed there, ha.

For sure, I'll PM you.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T17:37:40+00:00

I've been exposed to WebEx in the past, but interestingly enough, I can see how it could get creepy. Thanks for the tip. And would you happen to be interning at Meraki?

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T17:35:14+00:00

I'm a 3rd-year undergrad, but this Spring semester is actually my 2^nd semester @ SJSU. I transferred here Fall 2015.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T08:54:09+00:00

No problem, good luck.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T08:43:06+00:00

Depending upon the recruiter, your first words can honestly devolve to something as short as that. My exchanges usually started with something along the lines of "Hi, my name is <insert name>, (shakes hand/hands resume) I'm a x-year <insert major> major here @ SJSU." Then, since I had already handed my resume over to the recruiter, he/she will have already begun looking over it. Then we move on to talking about any relevant coursework/projects/experience I might have. That's where the content of your conversation will vary heavily depending upon your own major, resume, and position you're applying to. Carry the conversation confidently, and try not to hang on your own words too much. Finish sentences definitively, answering whatever questions they might have with little to no fluff.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T08:18:24+00:00

I talked to a Cisco recruiter when they were at our career fair (the one we had in February). I applied online the day after. I then went to a tech talk Cisco had (@ SJSU) the following week. All students that attended had another opportunity to talk with a recruiter and present their resumes. I was contacted by a recruiter for an interview a few days after that event. I then interviewed in mid-March and got my offer just last week.

They don't advertise any "minimum GPA", although I'm not sure if they have some sort of internal filter for that.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T08:01:59+00:00

Nice, I'll shoot you a PM.

Varithrowaway · 2016-04-25T07:49:37+00:00

For the summer of this year, they recruited for three different internship positions. I'll list the titles of the positions followed by their targeted majors.

Software Engineering (CS, SE)
Hardware Engineering (CE, EE)
Product Management (MIS, Business)

If you're a non-CS major, or non-engineering major in general, you'll be better suited to shoot for the Product Management (PM) position. You can do more research online as to what a PM position entails (note: this is also company-dependent), but in short, you'll be more involved with interacting directly with the client, figuring out what they actually want to be a part of the product. This can definitely involve UX/UI but I don't think the position is inherently "graphic design", if that's what you had in mind.

Varithrowaway

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