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

SDE - 1

IBM
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3 rounds | 6 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
I did not know about data structures and algorithms so I started my journey of learning DSA started in my 6th semester. I started of by watching some YouTube videos and later on practicing on geeks for Geeks and leetcode.
Application story
It was a pool campus where I got the application link from the university directly. After the eligibility criteria were met, I got the link to the first round, which had some core subject mcq questions followed by 3 DSA questions( 1 easy, one medium, one medium-hard)
Why selected/rejected for the role?
I performed well in all the rounds. In the DSA round, I solved all the questions due to my in-depth preparation. I was confident in my interviews, which is the key to outperforming other candidates.
Preparation
Duration: 4 Months
Topics: Data structure(Array, Linked list, stack, queue, recursion, tree) , Algorithms, OOPS, DBMS, Computer Networks
Tip
Tip

Tip 1 : Be Consistent
Tip 2 : Timely revision of completed topics 
Tip 3 : Read Interview Experiences of that company

Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: Above 7 CGPA
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Keep the resume to just 1 page with crisp and relevant information
Tip 2: Do provide the link to your projects hosted online and also the link to your CodeStudio profiles

Interview rounds

01
Round
Medium
Online Coding Interview
Duration60 Minutes
Interview date10 May 2022
Coding problem3

1. Add Two Numbers

Moderate
20m average time
80% success
0/80
Asked in companies
SprinklrIBMDeutsche Bank

You are given two non-negative numbers 'num1' and 'num2' represented in the form of linked lists.


The digits in the linked lists are stored in reverse order, i.e. starting from least significant digit (LSD) to the most significant digit (MSD), and each of their nodes contains a single digit.


Calculate the sum of the two numbers and return the head of the sum list.


Example :
Input:
'num1' : 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> NULL
'num2' : 4 -> 5 -> 6 -> NULL

Output: 5 -> 7 -> 9 -> NULL

Explanation: 'num1' represents the number 321 and 'num2' represents 654. Their sum is 975.


Try solving now

2. Merge Sort

Easy
15m average time
85% success
0/40
Asked in companies
BarclaysOracleHCL Technologies

Given a sequence of numbers ‘ARR’. Your task is to return a sorted sequence of ‘ARR’ in non-descending order with help of the merge sort algorithm.

Example :

Merge Sort Algorithm -

Merge sort is a Divide and Conquer based Algorithm. It divides the input array into two-parts, until the size of the input array is not ‘1’. In the return part, it will merge two sorted arrays a return a whole merged sorted array.

subsequence

The above illustrates shows how merge sort works.
Note :
It is compulsory to use the ‘Merge Sort’ algorithm.
Try solving now

3. Rat In A Maze

Easy
15m average time
85% success
0/40
Asked in companies
Samsung R&D InstituteDeutsche BankMakeMyTrip

You are given a starting position for a rat which is stuck in a maze at an initial point (0, 0) (the maze can be thought of as a 2-dimensional plane). The maze would be given in the form of a square matrix of order 'N' * 'N' where the cells with value 0 represent the maze’s blocked locations while value 1 is the open/available path that the rat can take to reach its destination. The rat's destination is at ('N' - 1, 'N' - 1). Your task is to find all the possible paths that the rat can take to reach from source to destination in the maze. The possible directions that it can take to move in the maze are 'U'(up) i.e. (x, y - 1) , 'D'(down) i.e. (x, y + 1) , 'L' (left) i.e. (x - 1, y), 'R' (right) i.e. (x + 1, y).

Note:
Here, sorted paths mean that the expected output should be in alphabetical order.
For Example:
Given a square matrix of size 4*4 (i.e. here 'N' = 4):
1 0 0 0
1 1 0 0
1 1 0 0
0 1 1 1 
Expected Output:
DDRDRR DRDDRR 
i.e. Path-1: DDRDRR and Path-2: DRDDRR

The rat can reach the destination at (3, 3) from (0, 0) by two paths, i.e. DRDDRR and DDRDRR when printed in sorted order, we get DDRDRR DRDDRR.
Try solving now
02
Round
Easy
Video Call
Duration50 minutes
Interview date18 May 2022
Coding problem2

The round was conducted online on webex. I received the mail previous day before the interview. The interviewer was friendly and calm.

1. Reverse Linked List

Moderate
15m average time
85% success
0/80
Asked in companies
WalmartHCL TechnologiesInfo Edge India (Naukri.com)

Given a singly linked list of integers. Your task is to return the head of the reversed linked list.

For example:
The given linked list is 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4-> NULL. Then the reverse linked list is 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 -> NULL and the head of the reversed linked list will be 4.
Follow Up :
Can you solve this problem in O(N) time and O(1) space complexity?
Try solving now

2. Social Networking Graph

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

You are given a graph with 'N' nodes numbered 1 to 'N', and 'E' edges, and you have to solve 'M' queries. Each query consists of two integers 'S' and 'T'. Your task is to find the count of nodes that are at a distance of 'T' from the node 'S'.

Two nodes that are directly connected with each other are considered to be at a distance of 1 unit. While two nodes having a common contact without having direct connectivity, are considered to be at a distance of 2 units. In a similar manner, we can calculate distances between nodes.

Note:

The graph may contain cycles.
Try solving now
03
Round
Easy
HR Round
Duration35 minutes
Interview date27 May 2022
Coding problem1

It was a managerial round. But mainly HR questions was asked. It was easy. Normal interaction happened.

1. Basic HR Questions

Description of the project that I made.
My Introduction, tech stack I am interested in and that I know.
Situation based questions like how to handle over work etc.

Problem approach

Tip 1 : Be Confident.
Tip 2 : Practice basic questions and your Introduction beforehand.

Here's your problem of the day

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

Skill covered: Programming

How do you remove whitespace from the start of a string?

Choose another skill to practice
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