IBM Interview Experience for Associate Systems Engineer (On-Campus)

Four rounds were listed, and they occurred over two days, and we had to be physically present on campus for all the rounds. The initial three rounds went on on the first day, and the last round, which was the interview, took place on the alternate day

Round 1 (Coding Test): 2 coding questions, Duration: 1 hour

All the questions were grounded on recursion and concentrated on the Core DSA concepts. The scholars who were suitable to break at least one question and a few test cases of the alternate question were named. The scholars who cleared the round were informed via an advertisement made by our placement fellow.

Round 2 (English Test): Unlimited Questions, Duration: 15 minutes

This was a veritably easy round, and utmost people did good. The test was divided into three sections, and the entire motive was to test your vocabulary and your language chops. There were questions related to corridor of speech, antonyms, synonyms, expressions, and one- word reserves. The named scholars were informed also via placement fellow.

Round 3 (Group Discussion): Duration: 30–40 minutes

15- 20 scholars were grouped for this particular round. I won’t call it a ‘ group discussion ’ but rather it was like an improvisational speech. The scholars were made to sit down as per the sequence in the name list, and they were given a content to speak on. The catch is that you have 2 – 3 minutes to speak on your content, and that’s it. In my group, the first six scholars that also had me were given the content ‘ Android vs. iOS ’, where the first three, including me, spoke for Android and the coming three spoke for iOS. The coming 6 scholars were asked to speak on ‘ the success of Chandrayan ’ and the coming 6 scholars were asked to speak on ‘ why boardwalk culture is better than online shopping? ’ one by one. The person in charge judged you on your presence of mind, body language, and speaking chops. The scholars who cleared this round were informed also by the placement fellow.

This is how the first day came to an end, and I was really tired by the end of it because it went on for like 12 hours, starting from Pre-Placement Connect. I was doubtful about my performance in the GD round, but I ended up clearing it as well.

Round 4 (Tech + HR Interview): Duration: 45 mins

This was actually the best interview I ever appeared in, and presumably the most chill- out. The interviewer was so cool, and we had such a candid discussion. It started with a usual enlighten me about yourself, and I was presumably the only pupil in the lot who added commodity piecemeal apart from their specialized knowledge. I always feel an interviewer wants to know further about you than what they can see from your CV. I added how I love watching Bollywood movies and how I’m a typical Bollywood addict, but I also like watching anime. I also added the fact that I was a trained dancer and a painter. She also followed on to ask me many questions related to Bollywood films and what anime I would suggest to a non-anime watcher. Then, we went to the technical part, where she asked me about my take on generative AI, and we had quite a converse on it as I’ve been doing a study on the ‘ethics of AI ’ for quite some time now. My CV also had a lot of DevOps- related tools, technologies, and gests , so our discussion shifted there. She asked me about containerization, virtualization, advantages and benefits, nonstop integration, nonstop delivery, and many other tech effects. Now, the most surprising part was that she was asking everyone a DSA question at the end of the interview, but, she gave me a pen and paper and asked me to draw something for her, as I said I was a trained painter. I did a rough sketch, and she liked it surprisingly. She then asked a little about my training and family background. That was the end, but at the end of the interview, where we were given a chance to clarify any doubts, I asked her if IBM would allow me coffers for free to enhance my tech chops if I came on board. We had a little converse about that part, and eventually, the interview came to an end.

I had quite a good feeling after the interview, and I was nearly 80 percent sure of getting named. To be honest, I was so tired of the nonstop hustle of the two days that I didn’t indeed have the energy to stress about it. The results were out three days later, and I was named along with 28 other scholars. All by each, it was a lengthy process with the placement, but all the rounds felt relatively easy. However, you’ll be suitable to clear it without any worries, If you’re confident in yourself and skills.