Okay, I've searched for Cisco Network Engineer positions in Iselin, NJ, with full-time schedules, requiring 5+ years of experience and expertise in Cisco ACI and multi-vendor firewall management. I have found 23 positions matching your criteria.

Sure. Here's the analysis:

Job Analysis:

The Cisco Network Engineer role is fundamentally designed to maintain and optimize a complex, multi-vendor network environment within a financial firm, demanding robust expertise in enterprise, data center, and cloud networking. The core purpose is ensuring seamless connectivity and network reliability while adhering to rigorous change management and security protocols—a necessity in financial services where uptime and secure data flow are critical. The engineer will tackle daily operational challenges such as troubleshooting connectivity issues, managing firewall rule changes, and participating in on-call rotations, requiring not only technical acumen but also resilience under pressure. Success in this role hinges on deep knowledge of networking fundamentals (routing protocols, MPLS, VPNs, spine-leaf architectures), cloud integrations (AWS, Azure), and security technologies (multi-vendor firewalls, Zero Trust principles). The role also demands strong collaboration skills for cross-team coordination—interacting with L3 engineers, vendors, and other departments—to diagnose incident causes and drive root cause analyses. Documentation and knowledge sharing reflect the importance of operational rigor and team growth. Candidates must possess not just technical depth but the agility to navigate ambiguous network incidents and evolving technologies, with success measured by incident resolution efficiency, network uptime, and adherence to compliance standards within 6–12 months.

Company Analysis:

Open Systems Technologies (OST) is a seasoned IT staffing leader serving top-tier financial and technology clients, embodying a unique blend of startup energy and established market stability. This positioning indicates a workplace that values entrepreneurial spirit, adaptability, and high performance, within a somewhat fluid but disciplined environment. OST’s culture prioritizes flexibility and forward-thinking approaches—qualities essential for someone operating in fast-moving, high-stakes IT environments like the financial sector targeted by this role. The organization’s long tenure and reputation suggest a stable foundation, yet their startup-like operational style means the Network Engineer will likely be empowered to take ownership and innovate within their domain. Given OST’s staffing focus, the engineer might interface with multiple clients or internal teams, requiring a versatile, communicative professional comfortable within a dynamic staffing and technology ecosystem. The role’s visibility may be moderate, rooted in operational expertise rather than broad leadership, but the contribution directly aligns with client satisfaction and service quality—core drivers of OST’s business success and growth strategies.

Absolutely. Here are some mock interview questions that could come up:

• Behavioral: Tell me about a time when you had to troubleshoot a complex network outage under pressure. How did you manage communication and resolution?
• Behavioral: Describe an experience where you coordinated with multiple cross-functional teams and vendors to resolve a network incident. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
• Behavioral: Can you share how you've contributed to knowledge sharing or documentation within your previous teams?
• Behavioral: Give an example of when adhering to a strict change management process prevented a potential network issue.
• Technical: How would you approach diagnosing and resolving a persistent connectivity issue in a hybrid AWS-Azure network environment?
• Technical: Explain how you have implemented and troubleshot firewall rule changes across a multi-vendor environment including Checkpoint and ASA devices.
• Technical: What steps do you take to design and maintain a spine-leaf data center fabric using Cisco ACI technology?
• Technical: Describe your experience with monitoring tools like SolarWinds. How do you prioritize alerts and escalate issues?
• Situational: Imagine you receive an urgent network alert during your on-call shift indicating intermittent packet loss in the datacenter. How do you proceed with troubleshooting?
• Situational: If you identify a misconfiguration during a firewall rule deployment that could cause a network outage, how would you handle it, especially if the change has already been partially implemented?
• Situational: Suppose you are tasked with integrating a new SaaS-based security solution into the firm’s existing Zero Trust architecture. How would you plan and execute this?
• Company Fit: What attracts you to Open Systems Technologies and the opportunity to work within a financial services client environment?
• Company Fit: How do you see your technical skills and personal work style aligning with OST’s culture described as entrepreneurial and high performing?
• Company Fit: Considering OST’s position as a staffing solutions provider, how would you handle the dynamic nature and potential multiple client engagements of this role?
• Questions for Interviewer: Can you describe the typical team structure this role works within and how the Network Engineer collaborates with other IT functions?
• Questions for Interviewer: How does OST measure success and performance for this role within the first 6 to 12 months?
• Questions for Interviewer: What are the company’s most critical network challenges currently, and how can this position contribute directly to solving them?