IBM | Associate Consultant | India | Nov [Offer]
Summary
I successfully secured an offer for the Associate Consultant position at IBM in India. The interview process involved an online coding and English test, followed by two rounds of interviews focusing on technical and object-oriented programming concepts, as well as problem-solving.
Full Experience
My on-campus interview experience for the IBM Associate Consultant role in India began with an online test. The first part was a 45-minute coding assessment on HackerRank, where I managed to pass 9 out of 10 test cases. This was an elimination round. Following that, I took an English Language Test, which covered basic English concepts like synonyms, correct spelling, and sentence correction.
A few days later, I proceeded to Round 2, which consisted of two interviews.
Interview 1
This round started with a brief introduction. The interviewer then delved into SQL queries, DBMS concepts, and various OOP concepts. I was also asked to write the code or logic for a stars triangle pattern. Additionally, they asked me about the difference between multiprocessing and multithreading. It's crucial to prepare these subjects thoroughly. Interestingly, nothing specific was asked from my resume.
Interview 2
This interview took place 2-3 days after my first interview. This round began with the interviewer's introduction, followed by mine. They inquired about my past internship experience and my preferred programming language, to which I responded Java. The discussion then moved to constructor overloading and related concepts. I was also given a probability problem that required the use of permutations and combinations. Finally, the interviewer presented a reasoning question: How many matches will be played between 100 players in a knockout tournament? This interview lasted approximately 25 minutes.
The very next evening, I received an email from my college placement cell confirming my selection for the full-time offer.
Interview Questions (4)
Stars Triangle Pattern
Write code or logic to print a stars triangle pattern using a programming language of choice.
Multiprocessing vs. Multithreading
Explain the key differences between multiprocessing and multithreading, including their advantages, disadvantages, and typical use cases.
Constructor Overloading
Describe constructor overloading in object-oriented programming, particularly in Java, and explain related concepts like method overloading and constructor chaining.
Knockout Tournament Matches
In a knockout tournament with 100 players, where each match eliminates one player until only one winner remains, how many total matches will be played?
Preparation Tips
My preparation focused heavily on core computer science subjects. I thoroughly reviewed SQL queries and DBMS concepts, as well as various Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) concepts like constructor overloading. I also made sure to understand the distinctions between multiprocessing and multithreading. For the coding assessment, I practiced pattern-based problems, similar to the "stars triangle pattern" I encountered. Although the specific probability problem was not extracted, I did brush up on permutations and combinations. Finally, I practiced general reasoning questions to be ready for the logical puzzles.