Cisco vs Tesla Interview Questions
Cisco lists 87 LeetCode interview questions while Tesla lists 41. They share 16 problems — 18% of Cisco's bank and 39% of Tesla's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 71 Cisco-only and 25 Tesla-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 Tesla.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Cisco-specific problems like Longest Palindromic Substring, House Robber, Predict the Winner and Tesla-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
16 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Cisco and Tesla.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Snakes and Ladders | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Happy Number | Easy |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Longest Consecutive Sequence | Medium |
| Top K Frequent Elements | Medium |
Unique to Cisco (71)
Problems in Cisco's list that do not appear at Tesla.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| House Robber | Medium |
| Predict the Winner | Medium |
| Lucky Numbers in a Matrix | Easy |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| Number of Valid Words in a Sentence | Easy |
| Maximum Difference Between Increasing Elements | Easy |
| Find Third Transaction | Medium |
| Implement Router | Medium |
| Word Search II | Hard |
| Find the Largest Area of Square Inside Two Rectangles | Medium |
Unique to Tesla (25)
Problems in Tesla's list that do not appear at Cisco.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Minimum Changes To Make Alternating Binary String | Easy |
| Find Followers Count | Easy |
| Basic Calculator II | Medium |
| Building H2O | Medium |
| Design Circular Queue | Medium |
| Reorganize String | Medium |
| Rectangle Area | Medium |
| Evaluate Division | Medium |
| Word Ladder | Hard |
| Shortest Bridge | Medium |
| Design Memory Allocator | Medium |
| Flatten Nested List Iterator | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Cisco and Tesla share?
Cisco and Tesla share 16 LeetCode interview questions. 71 problems appear only in Cisco's list and 25 appear only in Tesla's list.
What topics overlap most between Cisco and Tesla?
The most common shared topics between Cisco and Tesla are Array (11 shared questions), Hash Table (7 shared questions), Matrix (3 shared questions), Sorting (3 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (3 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Cisco or Tesla?
Cisco has 24 Easy, 50 Medium, and 13 Hard questions. Tesla has 10 Easy, 26 Medium, and 5 Hard questions. Cisco has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Cisco and Tesla?
Start with the 16 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Cisco-specific and 20 Tesla-specific questions to round out your prep.