Cisco Senior Hardware Engineer Interview Questions
Go Back1. How do you minimize the footprint of a design and still incorporate all the necessary hardware elements and electrical components?
2. Can you describe the type of circuit illustrated by this drawing?
3. How can a circuit store an electric charge?
4. What is a breadboard, and how is it used to develop hardware?
5. What does SNR stand for, how does it impact an electronic device, and how can it be mitigated?
6. How is emulation used in the hardware design and development process?
7. How are the processes of soldering and de-soldering in the hardware design process?
8. 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?
9. 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?
10. 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?
11. What is meant by the term SMPS, and how does that contribute to the functionality of the hardware?
12. Can you discuss what a clock generator is and how it applies to your hardware designs?
13. What is machine language, and how is it used when designing hardware?
14. What are some of the benefits of incorporating LED technology into a design?
15. When would you elect to repair a component on a piece of Cisco hardware, and when would you recommend replacing one?
16. Can you tell me what you know about microprocessors?
17. What is a chip, and how does it differ from an integrated circuit?
18. Can you discuss what a semiconductor is and how they are used in your designs?
19. 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?
20. When designing a piece of hardware, what are the general consideration used in your design methodology?
21. What is the role of a printed circuit board or PCB within a piece of hardware?
22. Can you define what rectifiers are and their function within a hardware design?
23. Can you describe the elements of your designs that address the safety issues for the hardware?
24. Please discuss pre-layout signal integrity and why this is important when designing a piece of electronic hardware.
25. Can you provide me a list of some of the devices you use in your hardware designs?
26. What are some of the design tools you use for hardware design?
27. How would you manage your and your Cisco team'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 are some of the methods you use to upgrade the skills of your development team?
30. What types of professionals do you reach out to when you encounter a problem on a project that you can't solve yourself?