Cisco Computer Hardware Engineer Mock Interview

Master 30 Cisco Computer Hardware Engineer interview questions covering ASICs, routing platforms, and hardware architecture.

Question 16 of 30

How do you design scalability into your computer hardware designs?

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William Swansen

William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.

Making your designs scalable is a critical skill needed for Cisco computer hardware engineers. Every type of technology will need to grow as it is used more or used for different applications. Building scalability into your designs is important expertise you will need to communicate to the Cisco interviewer if you expect them to hire you. You may want to provide an example of how you have done this in the past to illustrate your answer.

William Swansen

"When beginning a new computer hardware design, one of the factors I consider is how to make it scalable. This is important because it allows organizations like Cisco to use the same design as its use grows or the applications it runs expand. Methodologies I use to incorporate scalability into my designs include providing additional real estate on the motherboard, including provisional circuits that can be used later for additional memory and I/O, and creating extra expansion slots. It is much less expensive to do this during the initial design than to have to redesign a new system to accommodate the additional capacity."

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30Cisco Interview Questions & Answers

Computer Hardware Engineer

1.When did you become interested in computer hardware?

Computer Hardware Engineer

2.What innovations have you made that will help you contribute to Cisco's IT operations?

Computer Hardware Engineer

3.Tell me about a difficult engineering problem you have encountered and how you made it through it.

Computer Hardware Engineer

4.What attracts you to Cisco?

Computer Hardware Engineer

5.What new innovations have you read about? How did that impact you?

Computer Hardware Engineer

6.Walk me through your troubleshooting process when you are developing a new computer system.

Computer Hardware Engineer

7.Tell me about an unsuccessful problem you faced and why you couldn't complete it.

Computer Hardware Engineer

8.Tell me about a crisis you encountered at work and how you handled it.

Computer Hardware Engineer

9.Can you discuss the difference between multiprocessing and multitasking?

Computer Hardware Engineer

10.What is a heat sink, and why is it used for?

Computer Hardware Engineer

11.How would you go about evaluating a hardware component you have never used before for inclusion in your Cisco hardware design?

Computer Hardware Engineer

12.Can you walk me through what you do as a hardware engineer daily?

Computer Hardware Engineer

13.Can you discuss the most complex hardware system you have designed, including how long it took you to build it?

Computer Hardware Engineer

14.Tell me about a situation in which you could not create a specified hardware system in the timeframe you were given.

Computer Hardware Engineer

15.What are some of the specific tasks you have performed in your role as a computer hardware engineer?

Computer Hardware Engineer

16.How do you design scalability into your computer hardware designs?

Computer Hardware Engineer

17.What is meant by fault tolerance?

Computer Hardware Engineer

18.Please define architectural risk and discuss how you mitigate it if hired by Cisco.

Computer Hardware Engineer

19.Do you consider learning about new technologies if hired by Cisco a requirement or an opportunity?

Computer Hardware Engineer

20.What is the most challenging part of your job as a hardware engineer?

Computer Hardware Engineer

21.Can you define ASCII and discuss how it is used in your work as a computer hardware engineer?

Computer Hardware Engineer

22.Do you have experience as a hardware development team lead, and if so, did you enjoy it?

Computer Hardware Engineer

23.Can you describe how you would explain a complex technical issue to people here at Cisco who didn't have a technical background?

Computer Hardware Engineer

24.How would you go about prioritizing the tasks you are assigned on a Cisco computer hardware design project?

Computer Hardware Engineer

25.What is your strategy for staying up to date with developments in the hardware engineering industry?

Computer Hardware Engineer

26.How would you troubleshoot the problem involving a slow-running computer system here at Cisco?

Computer Hardware Engineer

27.Can you provide me a brief description of your technical background?

Computer Hardware Engineer

28.What is a microprocessor, and how is it used in the design of computer hardware?

Computer Hardware Engineer

29.What are some of the factors that affect the speed of a microprocessor?

Computer Hardware Engineer

Cisco Computer Hardware Engineer Mock Interview

How do you design scalability into your computer hardware designs?

30Cisco Interview Questions & Answers

1.When did you become interested in computer hardware?

2.What innovations have you made that will help you contribute to Cisco's IT operations?

3.Tell me about a difficult engineering problem you have encountered and how you made it through it.

4.What attracts you to Cisco?

5.What new innovations have you read about? How did that impact you?

6.Walk me through your troubleshooting process when you are developing a new computer system.

7.Tell me about an unsuccessful problem you faced and why you couldn't complete it.

8.Tell me about a crisis you encountered at work and how you handled it.

9.Can you discuss the difference between multiprocessing and multitasking?

10.What is a heat sink, and why is it used for?

11.How would you go about evaluating a hardware component you have never used before for inclusion in your Cisco hardware design?

12.Can you walk me through what you do as a hardware engineer daily?

13.Can you discuss the most complex hardware system you have designed, including how long it took you to build it?

14.Tell me about a situation in which you could not create a specified hardware system in the timeframe you were given.

15.What are some of the specific tasks you have performed in your role as a computer hardware engineer?

16.How do you design scalability into your computer hardware designs?

17.What is meant by fault tolerance?

18.Please define architectural risk and discuss how you mitigate it if hired by Cisco.

19.Do you consider learning about new technologies if hired by Cisco a requirement or an opportunity?

20.What is the most challenging part of your job as a hardware engineer?

21.Can you define ASCII and discuss how it is used in your work as a computer hardware engineer?

22.Do you have experience as a hardware development team lead, and if so, did you enjoy it?

23.Can you describe how you would explain a complex technical issue to people here at Cisco who didn't have a technical background?

24.How would you go about prioritizing the tasks you are assigned on a Cisco computer hardware design project?

25.What is your strategy for staying up to date with developments in the hardware engineering industry?

26.How would you troubleshoot the problem involving a slow-running computer system here at Cisco?

27.Can you provide me a brief description of your technical background?

28.What is a microprocessor, and how is it used in the design of computer hardware?

29.What are some of the factors that affect the speed of a microprocessor?

30.Can you discuss a time that a team member made a mistake and the steps you took to correct it?