I’ve read a lot about how Cisco sucks and they have a poor reputation for talent. What if you were a really high performer there (projects got attention of CEO & CTO), are in early 20s, and interview really well. Are you going to have a hard time going to a FANG due to past experience at Cisco?
Definitely Interview performance will have maximum weight for someone with <10 YoE
Why would getting the interview be harder? There are tons of ex-cisco at FAANG
Follow on: (1) what constitutes the bad reputation and (2) how can you demonstrate that you don’t have the same “shiftiness” of other employees?
Interview performance matters. Once you are in the interview loop, it doesn’t matter. Catching the eye of the recruiter or hiring manager is another matter.