IBM - Global Sales - Summer Intern Hiring | Interview Experience | On-campus | for Batch 2025
Summary
I interviewed for a Summer Intern position at IBM, going through a screening round and an HR round. I successfully got shortlisted after the screening round and received the final selection after the HR round, being selected along with seven of my batchmates.
Full Experience
On November 29th, 2023, at 11 AM, I had my first round for IBM's Global Sales Summer Intern Hiring, which was a screening round. It was crucial to thoroughly review the job description. The interview consisted of various types of questions:
Type-I (General/Behavioral):
1. Self Introduction.
2. What do you know about IBM? Explain its achievements.
3. What's your particular interest or domain in tech?
4. What attracts you towards IBM?
Additionally, there were more questions derived from the job description.
Type-II (Technical/CS Fundamentals):
5. Explain the difference between memory and storage. Also, what is the model of your phone? Explain its features and qualities.
6. Which one is better: microservices or monolithic architecture?
7. What is ASCII?
8. What do you know about private and hybrid cloud? State the main difference.
9. What is Kubernetes and orchestration?
10. Why cloud and virtual machines (VMs)?
11. Questions on Computer Network (CN) layers and other networking technical questions.
12. Explain SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle).
There were also general questions on Operating Systems (OS), Computer Organization and Architecture (COA), and Database Management Systems (DBMS).
Type-III (Personality):
1. Tell me about your hobbies.
2. Describe the greatest moment in your life.
3. What is your favorite book and writer?
4. Who is your role model?
5. What do you do in your free time?
The interviewer concluded by asking if I had any questions for them.
My first round lasted for about 45 minutes, and I was successfully shortlisted along with seven of my batchmates.
I then had the HR Round on the same day at 3:30 PM. For this round, it was highly important to be well-prepared with my resume.
HR Questions were as follows:
1. Introduce yourself.
2. DSA related questions: explain any one searching technique like "Binary search algorithm," explain a sorting technique like "Bubble sort," or any other of your choices.
3. What are different types of time complexities?
4. Explain ASCII completely with an example.
5. Screenshare and explain any one of your mentioned projects.
6. How much do you rate yourself in coding and in which language?
7. Why did you choose that particular language and not any other?
8. Kubernetes vs. Docker?
9. Which latest technologies do you know?
The round ended with the interviewer asking if I had any questions for them.
This HR round took around 30 minutes. The final list of selected students was released after 4-5 weeks, and I was successfully selected.
Interview Questions (26)
Self Introduction
Tell me about yourself.
About IBM and its Achievements
What do you know about IBM? Please explain some of IBM's key achievements.
Technical Interests/Domain
What are your particular interests or domains in technology?
Interest in IBM
What attracts you towards working at IBM?
Memory vs. Storage & Phone Details
What is the difference between memory and storage? Also, what is the model of your phone? Explain its features and qualities.
Microservices vs. Monolithic Architecture
Which one is better: microservices or monolithic architecture? Justify your answer.
What is ASCII?
What is ASCII?
Private vs. Hybrid Cloud
What do you know about private and hybrid cloud? State the main differences between them.
Kubernetes and Orchestration
What is Kubernetes, and what is orchestration in the context of container management?
Benefits of Cloud and VMs
Why do we use cloud computing and virtual machines (VMs)?
Computer Network Layers
Explain the different layers of the Computer Network (OSI/TCP-IP) model.
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Explain the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
Hobbies
Tell me about your hobbies.
Greatest Life Moment
Describe the greatest moment in your life.
Favorite Book and Writer
What is your favorite book and who is your favorite writer?
Role Model
Who is your role model?
Free Time Activities
What do you do in your free time?
Questions for Interviewer
Do you have any questions for me?
Searching and Sorting Techniques
Explain any one searching technique, such as Binary Search Algorithm, and any sorting technique, such as Bubble Sort, or any other of your choice.
Types of Time Complexities
What are the different types of time complexities (e.g., O(1), O(n), O(log n))?
ASCII with Example
Explain ASCII completely, providing an example.
Project Explanation
Please share your screen and explain any one of the projects mentioned on your resume.
Coding Proficiency
How would you rate yourself in coding, and in which programming language?
Programming Language Choice
Why did you choose that particular programming language over others?
Kubernetes vs. Docker
Explain the differences between Kubernetes and Docker.
Latest Technologies
Which latest technologies are you familiar with?
Preparation Tips
I prepared by thoroughly going through the job description and practicing common technical and behavioral questions. I also made sure to prepare my resume well for the HR round and was ready to explain my projects. I specifically focused on foundational computer science topics like Operating Systems, Computer Organization and Architecture, Database Management Systems, networking, cloud concepts, and Data Structures and Algorithms fundamentals like searching and sorting algorithms.