Cisco vs Pinterest Interview Questions
Cisco lists 87 LeetCode interview questions while Pinterest lists 49. They share 6 problems — 7% of Cisco's bank and 12% of Pinterest's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 81 Cisco-only and 43 Pinterest-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 6 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Cisco and Pinterest.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Cisco-specific problems like Longest Palindromic Substring, House Robber, Predict the Winner and Pinterest-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Pinterest skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
6 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Cisco and Pinterest.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Snakes and Ladders | Medium |
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Top K Frequent Elements | Medium |
| Unique Paths II | Medium |
Unique to Cisco (81)
Problems in Cisco's list that do not appear at Pinterest.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| House Robber | Medium |
| Predict the Winner | Medium |
| Lucky Numbers in a Matrix | Easy |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Number of Valid Words in a Sentence | Easy |
| Maximum Difference Between Increasing Elements | Easy |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Find Third Transaction | Medium |
Unique to Pinterest (43)
Problems in Pinterest's list that do not appear at Cisco.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Cisco and Pinterest share?
Cisco and Pinterest share 6 LeetCode interview questions. 81 problems appear only in Cisco's list and 43 appear only in Pinterest's list.
What topics overlap most between Cisco and Pinterest?
The most common shared topics between Cisco and Pinterest are Array (5 shared questions), Matrix (3 shared questions), Breadth-First Search (2 shared questions), Hash Table (2 shared questions), Sorting (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Cisco or Pinterest?
Cisco has 24 Easy, 50 Medium, and 13 Hard questions. Pinterest has 1 Easy, 29 Medium, and 19 Hard questions. Pinterest has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Cisco and Pinterest?
Start with the 6 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Cisco-specific and 20 Pinterest-specific questions to round out your prep.