Cisco hires 14,000 to 16,000 people each year, according to talent-acquisition VP Karla Samdahl. The firm is hiring aggressively, especially for skills in software development and machine learning.

You’ve studied hard, and you’re ready to take the CCNA exam. But before you can take it, you get a surprise shot at a job interview. In the technical part of the interview, they see your resume’, ...