Associate Systems Engineer

I got the initial interview through an on-campus recruiting service near their office in Raleigh. The first round was a video interview: I had to make a 2-minute video answering the question: What does "The Network is the Platform" mean for Cisco's customers?

After making it past the first round, I was invited to a Skype interview with one of their current ASEs. It consisted of some behavioral questions, some technical questions about Cloud technology (e.g., what are some of the risks associated with moving to cloud computing?) as well as one quick brainteaser. I completely overthought the brainteaser question, but was able to send a follow-up email to the interviewer giving a better and more succinct answer to the question.

After this, I was invited to their superday at their office in Raleigh, where I was asked to prepare several things:

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Technical Assessment
This will be a 15 minute Technical Assessment to assess your ability to understand technical concepts. It will cover topics fundamental to Cisco's business including core (routing and switching) and architectures for business transformation (borderless networks, collaboration, and data center/virtualization). You will have 15 minutes to answer 10 multiple choice questions.

Interview
This will be a 30 minute individual interview with the assessors consisting of managers from the Field Sales Organization, Cisco Sales Associates Program, Human Resources as well as other organizations within Cisco.

Role Play - Discovery and Initial Proposal Meeting
The Discovery and Initial Proposal Meeting will be a 20 minute role play you will conduct with your assessors.
The documents listed below will provide you with valuable information to prepare for the Role Play. We strongly encourage you to read through the following information.

Presentation
Come prepared to deliver a 10 minute presentation to your assessors on the topic listed in the Presentation Brief. No laptops will be allowed, but hand-outs are welcome.

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I was given documents and materials to prepare for each, and the interview lasted all day: from 8-5. The interviewers were all very nice and willing to answer all of my questions, and in one of my interviewers they even asked to see a short film I entered in a contest that I included on my resume.

My tips: Practice your behavioral questions. Get a solid 10 stories that are easily adaptable to several situations. Other than that, have your technical questions down SOLID. Although they do have a strong training program, they want experts in networking. If you haven't taken a class on networking, I would memorize their manual from front to back. Other than that, be yourself and be likable - they want to have people who fit well with the company culture and who can face clients without losing face for the company. One mistake I made: In the role-play, I was asked repeatedly to give a price estimate for one of their services, even after saying I wasn't sure. They pushed, and I gave in: I guessed. DON'T DO THIS. Don't say anything unless you're ABSOLUTELY sure (in the roleplay at least). This was the biggest feedback item I was given. They don't want you giving clients false information.

I was contacted about two weeks later (after about 2.5 months of the interview process) to say I had been given an offer. I rejected it to teach abroad. Best of luck to anyone applying, it's a great program!