IBM CIOCampus Recruitment Experience
Question Details
IBM CIO visited our campus for internship and full-time offers (FTE) as part of their campus recruitment drive. Here’s a detailed account of the process:
Round 1 DSA (Onli...
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IBM CIO visited our campus for internship and full-time offers (FTE) as part of their campus recruitment drive. Here’s a detailed account of the process:
Round 1 DSA (Online Assessment) The first round was conducted on HackerRank and consisted of two coding questions: Deletion of Nodes in a Range: A linked list’s head node was provided, and the task was to return the list without numbers falling within a given range. Odd-Even Sum Problem: Given an array, calculate the maximum sum you can get by subtracting the prefix sum at odd indices and adding the prefix sum at even indices. The array could be rearranged to optimize the result. (
Note: This is my interpretation of the original problem, which was more abstract in its wording. ) The questions ranged from easy to medium-level difficulty on LeetCode standards.
Round 2 In-Person Interview Shortlisted students were invited for an in-person interview , which was the final round. Here’s how it went: Resume-Based Questions: The interviewer asked about my projects , reasons for choosing my degree, and the gap year in my education. (I had taken a one-year gap.) Scenario-Based Question: Implement a system to apply discounts on the cart during checkout, considering credit card validation and the order amount . SQL Query: Write a query using the GROUP BY clause. Coding Task: Print the alphabet 'N' using any programming language. Conceptual Question: What is the difference between Docker and Virtualization ? Final Verdict I was selected for the internship . Key Tips: Resume Preparation: The interview questions were largely based on my resume. Only include skills and projects you are confident about. Cloud Certifications: If you have any cloud-related certifications, incorporate them into your projects. This can help steer the conversation in your favor. Technical Preparation: Focus on solving medium-level DSA problems on platforms like LeetCode . Revise key SQL concepts and practice real-world scenario-based questions.
About This Question
This is a reported interview question from a ibm interview for a swe role (intern level) during the oa round reported in 2024.
It covers the following topics: Arrays, Linked List, Sql .
Difficulty rating: Easy
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About IBM Interview Reports
This question was reported by a candidate who interviewed at IBM. LeakCode aggregates interview reports from 10+ sources, including 1Point3Acres, Glassdoor, LeetCode Discuss, Blind, Reddit, Indeed, and Nowcoder. Each report is translated where necessary, deduplicated against existing entries, and tagged by company, role, round type, and reporting date.
Use this question as one calibration data point, not a memorization target. Companies typically rotate their question pools every 2-4 months; the exact wording of a 2024 question may differ from what you encounter today. The underlying pattern, difficulty level, and follow-up depth at IBM are the higher-signal extractions to take from this report.
For broader preparation context, the IBM interview process typically includes a recruiter screen, one or two technical phone screens, and a 4-5 round on-site loop covering coding, system design (at L4+ levels), and behavioral. Reports tagged on LeakCode show the round-by-round distribution and typical difficulty calibration. To browse questions filtered by round type and seniority, use the company hub linked above.
How To Practice This Type of Question
Solve similar problems on LeetCode under timed conditions (25-35 minutes per medium difficulty). The goal is pattern recognition: recognize the underlying technique (sliding window, two-pointer, BFS, memoized recursion, etc.) within 60-90 seconds of reading. Strong candidates verbalize their hypothesis out loud before coding, then iterate based on feedback. Weak candidates dive into implementation immediately, lose time on the wrong approach, and run out of time for follow-ups.
Companies update their question pools every 2-4 months. The exact wording of any given question may have been retired by the time you interview. Focus your prep on the pattern, not the specific problem. The patterns that appear in IBM reports consistently are the ones worth investing in; one-off niche problems are not.
During Your IBM Round
Apply the standard interview round template: clarify requirements (2-3 minutes), state your approach out loud and confirm direction with the interviewer (3-5 minutes), code with narration (15-25 minutes), test with concrete examples including edge cases (5 minutes), discuss optimization or trade-offs if time permits (5 minutes). This template is universally accepted across FAANG and adjacent companies; deviating from it produces weaker interviewer feedback signal.
The single most predictive failure mode in IBM reports tagged "no hire": not asking clarifying questions. Interviewers are explicitly trained to weight this. Strong candidates ask 3-5 clarifying questions even on problems that look obvious; weak candidates dive into code immediately. The clarifying-question check is often the first signal recorded in the interviewer's written notes.