Capital One vs Cisco Interview Questions
Capital One lists 47 LeetCode interview questions while Cisco lists 87. They share 14 problems — 30% of Capital One's bank and 16% of Cisco's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 33 Capital One-only and 73 Cisco-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 14 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Capital One and Cisco.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Capital One-specific problems like Simple Bank System, Block Placement Queries, Text Justification and Cisco-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Capital One skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
14 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Capital One and Cisco.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Largest Rectangle in Histogram | Hard |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Remove Boxes | Hard |
| Word Search | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Word Search II | Hard |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Find Servers That Handled Most Number of Requests | Hard |
Unique to Capital One (33)
Problems in Capital One's list that do not appear at Cisco.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Simple Bank System | Medium |
| Block Placement Queries | Hard |
| Text Justification | Hard |
| Minimum Operations to Write the Letter Y on a Grid | Medium |
| Candy Crush | Medium |
| Count Alternating Subarrays | Medium |
| Four Divisors | Medium |
| Simplify Path | Medium |
| Count Operations to Obtain Zero | Easy |
| Longest Continuous Subarray With Absolute Diff Less Than or Equal to Limit | Medium |
| Split Message Based on Limit | Hard |
| Rotating the Box | Medium |
Unique to Cisco (73)
Problems in Cisco's list that do not appear at Capital One.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| House Robber | Medium |
| Predict the Winner | Medium |
| Lucky Numbers in a Matrix | Easy |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| Snakes and Ladders | Medium |
| Number of Valid Words in a Sentence | Easy |
| Maximum Difference Between Increasing Elements | Easy |
| Find Third Transaction | Medium |
| Implement Router | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Find the Largest Area of Square Inside Two Rectangles | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Capital One and Cisco share?
Capital One and Cisco share 14 LeetCode interview questions. 33 problems appear only in Capital One's list and 73 appear only in Cisco's list.
What topics overlap most between Capital One and Cisco?
The most common shared topics between Capital One and Cisco are Array (11 shared questions), Matrix (5 shared questions), String (3 shared questions), Math (2 shared questions), Stack (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Capital One or Cisco?
Capital One has 9 Easy, 28 Medium, and 10 Hard questions. Cisco has 24 Easy, 50 Medium, and 13 Hard questions. Capital One has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Capital One and Cisco?
Start with the 14 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Capital One-specific and 20 Cisco-specific questions to round out your prep.