Cisco Hardware Engineer Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers

Round: Test
Experience: 1 question on cache miss.



1 question on CMOS circuit design for MUX
Tips: Learn basics very well. 



Digital IC design  - RC delay calculation, designing circuits using CMOS, transmission gates, NMOS, memory design etc.



Computer Architecture - problems oriented - so learn cache miss, no of bits calculation problems, MIPS, etc.



Digital Systems -



Some logic questions - learning to use divide and conquer, stack, queues, hashes on non-programming problems,
Duration: 60 minutes
Total Questions: 10

General Tips: If you have done any work which is related to NVIDIA, it might help.

In my case, I have worked in CUDA for my project.

Keep details about your project at your fingertips.
College Name: IIT MADRAS
Motivation: VLSI is my core and interest. I had plenty of experience in designing systems in FPGA and EDA algorithms. I am also into parallel algorithms in GPU.

Round: Test
Experience: Pointer cut-off for this company was 8.5 and above. A written test for 50 marks which was subjective was conducted. Few were selected after the test.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Prepare Digital system design. VHDL coding(but they mainly concentrated on logic), Memory management (Cache and other things) .

General Tips: As it was 1 day process it was not that exhausting. But the hard work paid off. So it was a happy day. Their was lot of tension too during the process, not during my interview but looking at others performance. The competition is too much .The 1st and 2nd round was purely technical so it was challenging. HR was really chilled out.
Skill Tips: Try to be confident and dont fear the interviewers. They just try to put you in a difficult situation and see if you will be able to clear. But few interviewers will be very sweet. Never loose hope.
Skills:
College Name: NIT Surathkal

Round: Test
Experience: Written round separate for Hardware and Software profiles for an hour each. You could write only one. Maybe around 100 from EC/EE attended the test as there was a pointer cutoff of 8.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: 8 people selected from the Hardware profile.

General Tips: The overall experience was rewarding at the end of it, but it was an exhausting process. All the waiting about for your interviews and results will drain your mental energy. I had a four hour wait in the TNP for my name to be called for the tech interview (I was the last to be interviewed). Even though it helps that you can ask from the previous candidates about what transpired in their interview, the wait can get really tiring. Also, be sure that as the afternoon progresses, even the panelists get tired of successive interviews, so there is an added challenge to make sure to be noticed. The one advantage of late Tech and HR rounds was that I had to wait for a very less time for the results. But at last after getting the offer, nothing matters much.
For the test, there will be a variety of questions over the entire scope of digital electronics. Expect STA, CMOS Implementation, Comp. Arch. basics, Memory models (we had a cache latency question), sequential circuits and synchronization, and even a question on C coding. So go into the test with a thorough revision of the 4 courses: DSD, MP, VLSID and DECA. The C question will be a comparatively easy one.
For the technical interview, "We've already tested your basic technical skills in the test. We want to know more about what you've worked on." was the first statement from the interviewer. So be prepared to explain any of your projects listed in your resume in detail. It helps if you have some project related to Computer Architecture to speak on. Of course there will be one or two technical questions after to probe the depth of your knowledge.
Skill Tips: 1) No aptitude preparation at all. This wan't required also as nVIDIA is a core Electronics company.
2) Preparation for written test : Review of all digital electronics and related courses taken during three years of ECE (VLSID, DSD, MP, DECA).
3) Nothing of analog electronics or linear systems asked in the test. Exclude such preparation if you want to write the nVIDIA Hardware test.
4) Have at least one Computer Architecture related project in your resume and be ready to speak on it.
5) Knowledge of VHDL/Verilog is a huge plus.
Skills:
College Name: NIT Surathkal

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Had a decent CGPA (>8.5) and good number of projects. Also had good academic achievements (olympiads etc).
Tips: Keep resume crisp. Do not try to overdo the points to impress.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Found myself in trouble in quite a few questions. But took time, persevered and also had a clear rationale to choose this company.
Tips: Have good understanding of computer organization, Data Structures and Algorithms and digital circuits. Also be ready to answer few puzzles. DO NOT get flustered and persevere during interview.

Skill Tips: Be calm, confident and take time to understand the questions. Use first principles as often as possible.
Skills: 1)communication Skills, Computer Architecture, Basic Digital Logic, Algorithms And Data Structures
Duration: 2-3 months
College Name: IIT Madras

Round: Test
Experience: Initial shortlisting was based on the written test.Questions on data Structures, Operating Systems, Logical questions.Focus on Quant, Coding, Algorithms.
Duration: 60 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Interview is held in one HR round and one or two technical roundsRound duration around 15-20 minutesTechnical questions consisted of questions on Programming skills, Operating systems, and Puzzles

Round: HR Interview
Experience: General questions like why this company, tell us about yourself etc were asked.

Skill Tips: ""
College Name: IIT Madras

Round: Test
Experience: Initial shorlisting was based on One Hour written test
Questions on Data structure,Operating system and logics were asked in the test
Tips: Focus on Quant,coding and algorithms
Duration: 60 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Subject knowledge and skills tested in technical interview are:
1.Programming skills
2.Operating systems
3.Puzzels

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Very general questions like -why this company,tell something about yourself were asked .

General Tips: Discuss the logical questions with friends and prefer the group studies .
Skill Tips: Online materials are very useful for logical questions
Skills: Basics of C, Data structures, Networks, Puzzels
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Keep basics clear, practice aptitude, be thorough with the concepts of digital design, learn verilog

Topics to prepare for Nvidia Hardware Engineer interview:

• Digital Electronics
• Verilog HDL