Cisco vs Cognizant Interview Questions
Cisco lists 87 LeetCode interview questions while Cognizant lists 29. They share 13 problems — 15% of Cisco's bank and 45% of Cognizant's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 74 Cisco-only and 16 Cognizant-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 13 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Cisco and Cognizant.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Cisco-specific problems like House Robber, Predict the Winner, Lucky Numbers in a Matrix and Cognizant-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Cisco skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
13 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Cisco and Cognizant.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Happy Number | Easy |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Move Zeroes | Easy |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Remove Duplicates from Sorted Array | Easy |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| Rising Temperature | Easy |
Unique to Cisco (74)
Problems in Cisco's list that do not appear at Cognizant.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| House Robber | Medium |
| Predict the Winner | Medium |
| Lucky Numbers in a Matrix | Easy |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Snakes and Ladders | Medium |
| Number of Valid Words in a Sentence | Easy |
| Maximum Difference Between Increasing Elements | Easy |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Find Third Transaction | Medium |
| Implement Router | Medium |
Unique to Cognizant (16)
Problems in Cognizant's list that do not appear at Cisco.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Palindrome Number | Easy |
| Count Subarrays of Length Three With a Condition | Easy |
| Smallest Value of the Rearranged Number | Medium |
| Fibonacci Number | Easy |
| Valid Anagram | Easy |
| Second Highest Salary | Medium |
| Longest Common Prefix | Easy |
| Managers with at Least 5 Direct Reports | Medium |
| Reverse Integer | Medium |
| Product Sales Analysis I | Easy |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Count Primes | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Cisco and Cognizant share?
Cisco and Cognizant share 13 LeetCode interview questions. 74 problems appear only in Cisco's list and 16 appear only in Cognizant's list.
What topics overlap most between Cisco and Cognizant?
The most common shared topics between Cisco and Cognizant are Two Pointers (6 shared questions), Array (6 shared questions), String (4 shared questions), Math (3 shared questions), Hash Table (3 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Cisco or Cognizant?
Cisco has 24 Easy, 50 Medium, and 13 Hard questions. Cognizant has 18 Easy, 10 Medium, and 1 Hard questions. Cisco has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Cisco and Cognizant?
Start with the 13 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Cisco-specific and 16 Cognizant-specific questions to round out your prep.