IBM

IBM visited our campus for the Software Engineering Intern hiring process. I had heard that the process could be quite different depending on the role and campus, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I mainly prepared DSA along with the usual CS fundamentals like DBMS, OOP, OS and SQL. Round 1: Online Assessment The first round was conducted online. There were coding questions along with technical questions. The coding part had two DSA problems. One was based around a greedy approach and the other involved using a heap/priority queue. Neither problem looked impossible at first, but the time limit made it important to get the approach quickly. I spent quite a bit of time trying to understand the second problem before settling on the priority queue approach. I managed to get through the round and was shortlisted for the next stage. Along with DSA, there were questions covering basic computer science concepts. Nothing extremely deep, but there were enough questions from different areas that random guessing wasn't very useful. Round 2: Coding Assessment The second assessment was conducted on campus a few days later. This round was a little different from the first one. We were given three coding problems and had limited time to complete them. One question involved a fairly straightforward programming condition, another was an SQL query involving joins/grouping, and the last one was a pattern-printing problem. The pattern question looked simple when I first saw it, but the conditions made it more time-consuming than expected. The biggest challenge here was time management. I initially started with the pattern problem because it looked interesting, but after spending too much time on it, I switched to the SQL and simpler programming question. I was able to complete the easier questions, but I wasn't completely satisfied with my performance. Fortunately, I was still called for the interview. Round 3: Technical Interview The technical interview was conducted face-to-face and lasted around 35–45 minutes. The interviewer started with a normal introduction and then moved directly to my resume. He asked me to explain some of my projects and what exactly I had worked on. This part was actually more detailed than I expected. Instead of just asking what technology I used, he asked why I had selected it, how different components communicated with each other and what problems I had faced while developing the project. After the project discussion, the interview moved to OOP and C++ concepts. I was asked about things like shallow copy vs deep copy, virtual functions, runtime polymorphism and v-tables. I knew most of the concepts individually, but some of the follow-up questions forced me to think beyond the standard definitions I had prepared. We then moved to DBMS and SQL. There were questions about joins, normalization and database design. I was also given a small SQL query and asked to explain what it would return. The interviewer then asked a few questions from Operating Systems. These were mostly fundamental concepts rather than very advanced questions. There was also a short DSA discussion. Instead of simply asking me to solve a difficult problem, the interviewer was interested in my approach and complexity. I had to explain why I would choose one data structure over another. At one point I gave an approach that worked, but the interviewer asked whether I could reduce the complexity. I understood the improvement after a little discussion, but I took longer than I should have. The interview was fairly conversational. It didn't feel like the interviewer was trying to trap me, but there were several follow-ups whenever I gave a short answer. Round 4: HR After the technical round, there was a short HR interaction. The questions were mostly around my background, interests, why I wanted to work at IBM and what I expected from an internship. I was also asked about my preferred technical areas and whether I was comfortable working with different technologies. There were no particularly difficult questions in this round. It was more of a final interaction and verification stage. I finished the process feeling reasonably confident, although I knew there were a few technical questions where I could have answered better. Result The final result came after the interviews. Unfortunately, I wasn't selected for the Software Engineering Intern role. The process was a good learning experience because it wasn't only about solving DSA problems. The coding rounds were important, but the interview had a pretty broad mix of projects, OOP, DBMS, SQL, OS and problem-solving. The biggest thing I took away was that I shouldn't prepare only the topics that I expect to be asked. Knowing the basics of the subjects on my resume and being able to explain my own projects properly matters just as much. If I were giving the interview again, I'd spend more time revising OOP internals, SQL/DBMS and OS fundamentals, along with continuing regular DSA practice. The DSA itself wasn't the only thing that decided the interview.