I applied in-person. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco in Jan 2010
Interview
slow but good... they had telepresence or phone calls
the manager reached out and asked if i had work experience
its is a good company but the process can be faster
i felt that its dragging and i was repeating myself in every interview
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Cisco (Raleigh, NC) in Mar 2014
Interview
Found out about position through word of mouth from former manager. Recommendations from current and former Cisco employees is key since cultural fit is very, very important for new hires. Basic competency - ability to do the job - can be discovered pretty quickly. What cannot, and what is very important at Cisco, is "Can I work with this person?" You don't get in the door if you don't already have impressive accomplishments, grades, or recommendations. That fulfills the baseline expectation for candidates. After that it comes down to cultural and team fit.
Internally hired from another area of the company. There were no unexpected or unusual questions posed. It was more difficult coming into the company from outside since there was more than one interview in that process.