IBM interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

SDE - Intern

IBM
upvote
share-icon
3 rounds | 3 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

expand-icon
Journey
I started my journey in coding in the second year. Actually, I initially started my journey from my 12th class learning C++ there. Later, I started giving contests on coding platforms and solving questions on them. Then from 3rd year onwards, I started preparation for GATE where I studied core subjects like OS, DBMS, OOPS, COA, TOC, CD, C, and CN in depth and scored AIR 239 in GATE CSE 2023.
Application story
It was on campus I applied through my IIT Madras placement cell. Then OA was taken on the Hackerrank platform and then shortlisted for tech interview along with 15 other students, out of 16, 6 were further selected for HR interview and then finally total of 2 were selected including me.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
My written test went well and then called for an interview, in the first tech interview I gave answers to all the questions except one, I answered the questions with confidence and it helped me.
Preparation
Duration: 3 months
Topics: Linked list , Unix , DMA , COA , Graphs , DP , OOPs, Core computer science subjects
Tip
Tip

Tip 1: Start solving contests of  Code Studio
Tip 2:  Learn new technology through Coding ninjas.
Tip 3: Solve the Problem of the day daily in Code Studio

Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: NA
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Add projects in it
Tip 2: Add related courses

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Interview
Duration45 minutes
Interview date19 Sep 2023
Coding problem1

There were 3 coding questions , one was moderate and other 2 were easy , I solved two easy ones fully and was able to pass only 3 test cases out of 11 for the moderate problem.

1. Rearrange string

Hard
50m average time
50% success
0/120
Asked in companies
eBayAdobeMicrosoft

You are given a string “S”. Your task is to rearrange the characters of a string “S”, such that it does not contain any two adjacent characters which are the same.

If it is possible to rearrange the string “S”, then print any possible arrangement. else, print “not possible” without quotes.

For Example:

For a string  “qaacde”, This string has two same adjacent characters.
So, one possible way to rearrange the string is “qacade”. Now, this string does not have two adjacent characters that are the same. 
Problem approach

Here i applied Dynamic programming breaking down a problem into smaller subproblems and solving each subproblem only once, storing the solutions to subproblems to avoid redundant calculations. 2D DP used here.

Try solving now
02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration45 minutes
Interview date22 Sep 2023
Coding problem1

60 minutes of Tech interview was held where one DSA question related to Linked list was asked then DMA of COA subject was asked , also UNIX and system related questions were asked.

1. Remove Duplicates From an Unsorted Linked List

Moderate
15m average time
85% success
0/80
Asked in companies
IBMAdobeAmazon

You are given a linked list of N nodes. Your task is to remove the duplicate nodes from the linked list such that every element in the linked list occurs only once i.e. in case an element occurs more than once, only keep its first occurrence in the list.

For example :
Assuming the linked list is 3 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 2 -> 3 -> NULL.

Number ‘2’ and ‘3’ occurs more than once. Hence we remove the duplicates and keep only their first occurrence. So, our list becomes : 3 -> 2 -> 4 -> NULL.
Problem approach

I used hash map and then deleted the particular node physically.

Try solving now
03
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration30 minutes
Interview date27 Sep 2023
Coding problem1

HR related question were asked , also few system question was also asked to me.

1. HR Round

What happens when computer starts?

Where does OS reside in Computer?

What will i do if some new problem comes and i don't know about it anything .

Here's your problem of the day

Solving this problem will increase your chance to get selected in this company

Skill covered: Programming

What is recursion?

Choose another skill to practice
Similar interview experiences
company logo
SDE - Intern
2 rounds | 6 problems
Interviewed by IBM
1757 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
SDE - Intern
3 rounds | 9 problems
Interviewed by IBM
1129 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
SDE - Intern
4 rounds | 8 problems
Interviewed by IBM
1774 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
SDE - Intern
3 rounds | 5 problems
Interviewed by IBM
1265 views
0 comments
0 upvotes
Companies with similar interview experiences
company logo
SDE - Intern
3 rounds | 6 problems
Interviewed by Amazon
15480 views
4 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
SDE - Intern
4 rounds | 7 problems
Interviewed by Microsoft
15338 views
1 comments
0 upvotes
company logo
SDE - Intern
2 rounds | 4 problems
Interviewed by Amazon
10142 views
2 comments
0 upvotes