Ciena Hardware Test / Validation Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 9 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Ciena.
Ciena
Digital Verification Engineer
Entry Easy Negative experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen
Interview formats
Coding Behavioral
The interview itself was okay, I had one with the recruiter and then one with the team. The technical question wasn't too hard. Maybe I messed something up and didn't get accepted, which is fine. But getting to the interview was a nightmare. Communication was terrible, and my recruiter even changed halfway through. No email replies for ages, but they did call me after 5 pm to schedule dates. They also didn't respond after the interviews, even though the team encouraged me to ask questions.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- What's your experience been like?
- Do you have a coding question you can do to show you get the logic?
Ciena
Software Test Engineer
Mid Difficult Positive experience Accept offer 7 rounds
Interview process
Technical screen Technical screen Technical screen Recruiter call Take home Recruiter call Recruiter call
Interview formats
Technical Technical Technical Behavioral Technical Behavioral Behavioral
This was for Ciena's MCP Team role, focusing on NMS, DWDM, OTN, GMPLS, and Packet technologies. There were a total of 7 interview rounds. It started with 3 technical rounds via online video. Then, round 4 was with a Manager, round 5 was an aptitude test, round 6 was with a Director, and the final 7th round was with HR.
Confirmed questions3 questions
- Tell me about your experience with Optical Networking and NMS testing, specifically focusing on deep dives and scenario-based examples.
- Can you provide specific examples of scenario-based testing you've conducted related to Optical Networking and NMS technologies?
- Describe how you would approach testing in various complex scenarios within Optical Networking and NMS.
Ciena
Test Engineer
Senior Average Negative experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Onsite
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral
The first round was a phone interview where I was asked about my L2-L3 testing experience and knowledge, specifically about OSPF and BGP. The interviewer initially said I'd be called for a face-to-face interview, but after four days and several follow-ups, HR informed me the feedback wasn't positive. When I inquired why, they mentioned my BGP concept was good but other concepts like OSPF weren't, which surprised me given BGP's complexity compared to OSPF. I suspect internal politics and referral bonuses at Ciena influence hiring decisions, suggesting good relationships with internal staff are key to passing interviews.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- Could you explain BGP confederations and describe the BGP state machines?
- What is NSSA in OSPF, and how does the AS-PATH appear when a route update originates from a BGP confederation?
Ciena Hardware Test / Validation Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Ciena interview reports.
“What is NSSA in OSPF, and how does the AS-PATH appear when a route update originates from a BGP confederation?”
Read reports →“Could you explain BGP confederations and describe the BGP state machines?”
Read reports →“What is your understanding of OOPS concepts?”
Read reports →“Will you be asked to write Python programs?”
Read reports →“What is your knowledge on basic datatypes?”
Read report →“Tell me about optimizing test automation.”
Read report →“Tell me about product related questions.”
Read report →“How would you rate the coding questions?”
Read report →“Describe how you would approach testing in various complex scenarios within Optical Networking and NMS.”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 9 Ciena interview reports.