Cisco Senior Hardware Engineer Mock Interview

Master 30 Cisco Senior Hardware Engineer interview questions covering silicon design, systems architecture, and technical depth.

Question 1 of 30

Can you describe the elements of your designs that address the safety issues for the hardware?

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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.

A Cisco interviewer will ask this question to ensure that you incorporate safety in your hardware designs. Not only does the equipment you design need to function correctly, but it also needs to be safe to use. When answering this question, you should address both the high-level design elements and elements specific to a piece of hardware. These same design elements also likely enhance the durability of the equipment and its longevity. The Cisco interviewer may also ask you follow-up questions about specific equipment they expect you to work on if hired.

William Swansen

"When designing a piece of hardware for Cisco, there are several considerations I would build into the design. These include functionality, usability, and safety. Each of these is equally as important and must integrate with the others. The major element considered for safety is power. I would ensure that the power is appropriate for the piece of equipment, that is consistent, and that there are safety elements such as circuit breakers and fuses if it were to be interrupted. Other safety-related design factors include access to the hardware, physical elements such as sharp edges, and the hardware controls."

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30Cisco Interview Questions & Answers

Competency

1.Can you describe the elements of your designs that address the safety issues for the hardware?

Competency

2.How do you minimize the footprint of a design and still incorporate all the necessary hardware elements and electrical components?

Competency

3.Can you define what rectifiers are and their function within a hardware design?

Competency

4.What is the role of a printed circuit board or PCB within a piece of hardware?

Experience

5.Can you provide me a list of some of the devices you use in your hardware designs?

Competency

6.Every piece of electronic equipment will eventually fail or experience performance issues. Can you discuss some of the major reasons hardware fails and how good design can minimize this?

Competency

7.Can you discuss what a semiconductor is and how they are used in your designs?

Competency

8.What is a chip, and how does it differ from an integrated circuit?

Competency

9.Can you tell me what you know about microprocessors?

Experience

10.What are some of the design tools you use for hardware design?

Competency

11.When would you elect to repair a component on a piece of Cisco hardware, and when would you recommend replacing one?

Competency

12.What are some of the benefits of incorporating LED technology into a design?

Competency

13.When designing a piece of hardware, what are the general consideration used in your design methodology?

Competency

14.What is machine language, and how is it used when designing hardware?

Competency

15.Can you discuss what a clock generator is and how it applies to your hardware designs?

Competency

16.What is meant by the term SMPS, and how does that contribute to the functionality of the hardware?

Competency

17.While the functionality of a piece of hardware is important, Cisco uses other criteria when deciding whether to develop a piece of equipment. Can you discuss some of these?

Competency

18.One of the design cost components of a piece of hardware Cisco considers is NRE. Can you define this and discuss how it impacts a design project?

Competency

19.No matter how well they're designed, some pieces of hardware or equipment either never made it to market or quickly became obsolete. Can you discuss why this occurs?

Competency

20.How are the processes of soldering and de-soldering in the hardware design process?

Competency

21.How is emulation used in the hardware design and development process?

Competency

22.What does SNR stand for, how does it impact an electronic device, and how can it be mitigated?

Competency

23.What is a breadboard, and how is it used to develop hardware?

Competency

24.How can a circuit store an electric charge?

Competency

25.Can you describe the type of circuit illustrated by this drawing?

Comptency

26.Please discuss pre-layout signal integrity and why this is important when designing a piece of electronic hardware.

Leadership

27.How would you manage your and your Cisco teamâ€™s time during an engineering project with tight deadlines?

Leadership

28.Describe the steps you would take when creating a Cisco hardware development project plan.

Teamwork

29.What types of professionals do you reach out to when you encounter a problem on a project that you canâ€™t solve yourself?

Leadership

Cisco Senior Hardware Engineer Mock Interview

Can you describe the elements of your designs that address the safety issues for the hardware?

30Cisco Interview Questions & Answers

1.Can you describe the elements of your designs that address the safety issues for the hardware?

2.How do you minimize the footprint of a design and still incorporate all the necessary hardware elements and electrical components?

3.Can you define what rectifiers are and their function within a hardware design?

4.What is the role of a printed circuit board or PCB within a piece of hardware?

5.Can you provide me a list of some of the devices you use in your hardware designs?

6.Every piece of electronic equipment will eventually fail or experience performance issues. Can you discuss some of the major reasons hardware fails and how good design can minimize this?

7.Can you discuss what a semiconductor is and how they are used in your designs?

8.What is a chip, and how does it differ from an integrated circuit?

9.Can you tell me what you know about microprocessors?

10.What are some of the design tools you use for hardware design?

11.When would you elect to repair a component on a piece of Cisco hardware, and when would you recommend replacing one?

12.What are some of the benefits of incorporating LED technology into a design?

13.When designing a piece of hardware, what are the general consideration used in your design methodology?

14.What is machine language, and how is it used when designing hardware?

15.Can you discuss what a clock generator is and how it applies to your hardware designs?

16.What is meant by the term SMPS, and how does that contribute to the functionality of the hardware?

17.While the functionality of a piece of hardware is important, Cisco uses other criteria when deciding whether to develop a piece of equipment. Can you discuss some of these?

18.One of the design cost components of a piece of hardware Cisco considers is NRE. Can you define this and discuss how it impacts a design project?

19.No matter how well they're designed, some pieces of hardware or equipment either never made it to market or quickly became obsolete. Can you discuss why this occurs?

20.How are the processes of soldering and de-soldering in the hardware design process?

21.How is emulation used in the hardware design and development process?

22.What does SNR stand for, how does it impact an electronic device, and how can it be mitigated?

23.What is a breadboard, and how is it used to develop hardware?

24.How can a circuit store an electric charge?

25.Can you describe the type of circuit illustrated by this drawing?

26.Please discuss pre-layout signal integrity and why this is important when designing a piece of electronic hardware.

27.How would you manage your and your Cisco teamâ€™s time during an engineering project with tight deadlines?

28.Describe the steps you would take when creating a Cisco hardware development project plan.

29.What types of professionals do you reach out to when you encounter a problem on a project that you canâ€™t solve yourself?

30.What are some of the methods you use to upgrade the skills of your development team?