IBM Interview Questions, Process, and Tips for Freshers

General Tips: First my resume is shortlisted to IBM India then they call me for interview process for the first round of interview i.e Technical round then 2 technical HR took the interview related to my technical skill. I crack interview of first round then after 15 min they had took my 2nd round i.e HR round in interview they asking question. After that HR told me that we will tell you your result after 2 days. After 2 days HR called me and said that you are selected in IBM India pvt. Ltd.
Skills: Communication, Body Language, Problem Solving, Decision Making Skills
Duration: 1-4 weeks

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I had sent my resume to the hiring group, Selection through telephonic interviews. I was interviewed by three different research groups  (once by each).
Tips: Factors in decreasing order of importance: CGPA each stage. Ability to explain your projects precisely. Ability to solve ''standard" logarithmic problems.  The way you think and put down your Answer is the most important. The final answer .s not so I important, and they prod you when you think out aloud anyway.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Almost- by default they ask about your previous projects/internships if they are relevant to the group. Ofher questions depend on the group you are interviewed by and your own profile, In my case it was machine learning, text mining etc. I was told about the research problem they were dealing with then and asked f or comments/suggestions/.inputs and a discussion followed.
Tips: Basically these are specialized Interviews so it's good to have sound knowledge of your domain (analytical and application skills are very much required).

Skill Tips: CGPA>9.0, 1f not (like me) relevant work done in the domain and in past internship.A recommendation from the professor is also a good add on.
College Name: IIT Madras

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: CGPA about 8.00
Tips: Criterion for getting shortlisted for test - CGPA > 8.0
for GD - the score in their test
There was no shortlist after GD (all were called for PI) but they were looking to eliminate those who talked about technology and research instead.

Round: Test
Experience: There was a simple test on English and basic level Math. A timed test (no calculators allowed). CAT preparation can help but not exactly necessary.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The profile is all about teamwork and hence GD was an important part of the selection procedure. The panelist, then, tried to confuse us by citing examples of advanced technology and research in the context of "smarter planet". He was actually looking for people who talked about "ideas for business expansions" and not about "knowledge of advanced technology".

Round: Interview
Experience: There was just one round of HR interview. Predominantly resume based. The interviewer just had a chat with me, asked about my hometown, discussed a few extra curriculars I had mentioned in my resume. There was this one common question about teamwork. He asked for my experiences of teamwork and what I had learned from them. I think he was also looking for communication skills.

General Tips: 1. 9.66 CGPA in Management minor stream, overall CGPA > 8.0
2. Internship at IMaCS where I worked in teams with MBA grads

1st and 2nd years - explore all branches, all fields, as much as possible. Maintain good CG. Have some extra curriculars.
2nd years - get your passport asap. do a core intern to get an idea of your field and also to fill your resume.

3rd years - decide whether or not you want to app. (I converted to dual degree because I was still indecisive on this).

If your CG is low and you are bent on apping, do some extra projects, put papers and maintain relation with profs.
Skill Tips: I did not particularly prepare for non-core. I just solved a couple of quant papers. I did not particularly prepare for core companies. I did observe that going through structures and geotech courses really helped my classmates land core jobs.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Test
Experience: Quant, Sequence series, Basic mathematics
Each question was given a specific time after which other question appeared on screen and you cannot go back to the previous question. So this was a bit stressful.
12 people got selected.
Duration: 30 minutes

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The moderator picked each and every guy and asked him/her to put his/her views, and then time was allocated to debate on the points raised. In total 15 mins GD. No elimination through GD. Basic GD skills were looked for that is ability to speak and to drive the discussion to a positive direction.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Just 1 round of interview. Mostly HR question were asked. Resume based questions were asked. Basically HR questions were asked.

Round: Resume Shortlist
Tips: Interview was basically the criteria for selection. The internship, project POR everything mattered. Co-curricular activities were also asked.

General Tips: I think i was selected because I was able to justify my skill set properly. I gave valid explanations of my skill sets, I was able to justify my internships. Projecting my confidence level was an added advantage. Decide your future i.e. what is your area of interest and then prepare for it.
Having a good POR always help.
CGPA should be above 8.
Have mock interviews with a wingmates.
During internship work properly.
Skill Tips: Prepare for CAT. Quant, Puzzles, Case studies are important. Mock GDs and Mock PIs with wing-mates are very important. Revised all basic courses. All app-mech courses, solved some questions from unsolved section of any text book. Ensure you have mock GDs and mock PIs with wingmates.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Test
Experience: It was a test of time management,speed and accuracy.
There were three sections
1.Manipulation of matrices 15 question (No negative marks,3 parts in this section)
2.Number sequences 20 questions (with negative marking . very simple,try to practice more questions and do at-least 12-15 Q)
3. Quant 12 questions (with negative marks, try to read question and solve them without pen)
I had written the same paper (model) for IBM internship, but fared very badly in that, so was cautious this time.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: There were 12 in our batch. They asked us to introduce ourselves. Suddenly they said lets us hear each person's opinion separately and start the discussion. I was the last person to share my views.
Everyone said that education is necessary and supported..
i got points on both the sides (supporting and opposing), so as every body spoke for it, i spoke against the topic.
Tips: Do not use paper to write points in GD.
Duration: 25 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: No much technical was asked. They asked questions like-
1.Tell me about yourself.
2. I had said that i was interested in coding, and they asked an example, i explained it confidently.. this was the only tough program i attempted on my own,so I explained the algorithm.
3. He asked about my family details and my experience in NITW.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The examiner started looking at my paper and said you attempt things which you don't know..
i said i attempted 12/20 in number seq and 11/12 in quant and i am confident that i have answered 10 correct in quant..
Then he said ok, I think he was convinced..
He then asked me about my strengths and weaknesses..
He also gave a chance to ask questions.

General Tips: It is totally a cool and lengthy process, be patient and confident..
I strongly feel if you have good communication skills you can easily crack interview, but practice a lot of num. seq, quant, speed calc..
College Name: NIT WARANGAL

Round: Test
Experience: Counter, types, difference, synchronous vs asynchronous Various designs using logic gates like full adder, multiplexer, XOR, XNOR, D-FF etc. Design of inverter with different rise and fall times. Anything invented by company or any big achievement of company must be known. eg- for IBM they asked me Who designed RISC microprocessor as it was designed by IBM.
Tips: Just practice from any book available in market for aptitude and reasoning book by R.S.Aggarwal is sufficient. try to solve some question papers. Be calm. Don’t be nervous when questions are hard because the level of questions will be same for everyone.

Round: Interview
Experience: Questions on Favorite Subject(at least 2), Project and Internships.
Tips: Be confident If you don’t know say NO. However if possible try to answer something and you may say that you forgot and if time will be given you can solve. After getting the question, think and then reply. At the end ask some questions which will show your enthusiasm to for them. Smile. Sell yourself. Don’t be nervous and get rejected by underperforming.

Round: Interview
Experience: Introduction About Company, PPT etc. About your hobbies/interests/home/paren’ts/previous places you visited or stayed. Your extra curricular activities.
Tips: Say about your strengths, use the usual ones like hardworking, honest and so on.Substantiate with examples which happened in your life and you handled it properly. Any social activity will add much advantage.

General Tips: For written test R S Agarwaal aptitude and reasoning is sufficient. For Technical, whatever is studied in curriculum is sufficient. Also project and internship parts should be well known. At last One thing one should keep in mind that one has to sell oneself so do whatever you think can describe yourself and that will be beneficial for your customer(company). All the best for all the participants from my heart and soul.
Skill Tips: CGPA Greater than 8 is a positive point. Mine is 7.8 so i got 1.75 lack less salary than my colleagues. Tell about Social activity Any group activity in college. Projects are required because it teaches us how to use our knowledge. Also we get practical experience of theories. Internships, if done will be much more beneficial. One has to sell oneself so show them that you are better than others in some fields and that will be beneficial for the company. How company can utilize your strengths.
Skills: Math, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, Cadence/ verilog
College Name: IIT KHARAGPUR