Cisco vs DE Shaw Interview Questions
Cisco lists 87 LeetCode interview questions while DE Shaw lists 105. They share 16 problems — 18% of Cisco's bank and 15% of DE Shaw's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 71 Cisco-only and 89 DE Shaw-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 16 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Cisco and DE Shaw.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Cisco-specific problems like Longest Palindromic Substring, Predict the Winner, Lucky Numbers in a Matrix and DE Shaw-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: DE Shaw skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
16 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Cisco and DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| House Robber | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Word Search II | Hard |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Search a 2D Matrix | Medium |
| Longest Consecutive Sequence | Medium |
| Insert Delete GetRandom O(1) | Medium |
| Unique Paths | Medium |
| Sliding Window Maximum | Hard |
Unique to Cisco (71)
Problems in Cisco's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Predict the Winner | Medium |
| Lucky Numbers in a Matrix | Easy |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| 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 DE Shaw (89)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at Cisco.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Cisco and DE Shaw share?
Cisco and DE Shaw share 16 LeetCode interview questions. 71 problems appear only in Cisco's list and 89 appear only in DE Shaw's list.
What topics overlap most between Cisco and DE Shaw?
The most common shared topics between Cisco and DE Shaw are Array (11 shared questions), Hash Table (6 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (4 shared questions), String (4 shared questions), Matrix (3 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Cisco or DE Shaw?
Cisco has 24 Easy, 50 Medium, and 13 Hard questions. DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. DE Shaw has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Cisco and DE Shaw?
Start with the 16 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Cisco-specific and 20 DE Shaw-specific questions to round out your prep.