IBM Interview Questions

Excerpts from Interview #1:

• What are semaphores?
• What is synchronization?
• What are arithmetic operators in C++? Distinguish between unary and binary operators.
• Evaluate a+=a + ++a if a=20 initially.
• What is virtual memory?
• What is paging, faulting, and deadlock?
• How to call a C++ function which is compiled with C++ compiler in C code?
• How can one application use same API provided by different vendors at the same time?
• If you are given the name of the function at run time how will you invoke the function?

• Don’t you feel that you are overqualified for the role?
• How would you compensate for your lack of experience?
• What do you look in a boss?
• Have you ever helped resolve a dispute among others?
• What position do you see yourself in when working in a team for a project?
• What are your personal work rules? What has been your most disappointing moment in a professional environment?
• Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job.
• Do you have any questions for me?

Excerpts from Interview #2:

• Define scheduling in OS.
• What are the purpose of following mathematical functions in C++: atan(),atan2().
• Tell us the difference between merge and quick sort. Which one would you prefer and why?
• Under what conditions do the mathematical function log(),log10() produce an error?
• Discuss the benefits and loopholes of type casting.
• Do you really need the auxiliary space in merge sort?
• Do you use any IBM product? Why not or which one?
• Write a program to input three integers and print the largest of three.

• What encourages you to do your best on the job?
• How willing are you to work overtime? Nights? Weekends?
• How would you know you were successful on this job?
• Would you be willing to relocate if required?
• Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead of your own?
• How would your teammates describe your management style?
• What is your biggest learning from a mistake at work?
• What are your blind spots?
• What would you look for in a candidate for this role?

Excerpts from Interview #3:

• A hill is present, few taps are present, all connected to other taps above/below, find which tap will be the last one to get water from a spring on the top of the mountain.
• What is base class and derived class? How are these two interrelated?
• Design a couple of classes, explain all the basic OO fundamentals.
• Explain the importance in inheritance in OOPS.
• What is procedural programming?
• Illustrate one advantage and one disadvantage of using ? : in place of if?

• Tell me about your dream job.
• What makes you well suited for this job?
• What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
• What has higher value for you: the money or the work?
• What would your previous boss say your strongest point is?
• Tell us about an incidence where you resolved a big issue with your boss.

Excerpts from Interview #4:

• What is the difference between C and Java?
• What is significance of default clause in a switch statement?
• What is meant by an entry controlled loop?
• What is variable's scope?
• Define dangling - else. When does it occur?
• What are the uses of recursion function?
• What are the conditions of a deadlock?
• Write a program to find the LCM and HCF of two numbers.
• Show us how to reverse a linked list?

• Introduce yourself.
• What is your long term goal in life?
• What are the things that make you angry? Why?
• How would you describe your previous supervisor?

Excerpts from Interview #5:

• What is OODBMS?
• What is the difference between a structure and a union?
• What is function declaration? How is it different from function definition?
• What is 'sudo' access?
• Write a program to read an integer and determine number of digits in it.
• What are strings?
• What is use of constant arguments in functions?
• Define local scope and class scope.
• Write a C++ program that converts lower case letters in a given string to corresponding upper case letters and vice versa.
• What do you understand by array ?Explain its significance.

• Tell me about your family background.
• Why IBM?
• What is the most innovative thing you have ever done?
• Which dance form do you like most? What are the most important qualities in a team player?
• What do you do in your free-time? How did you spend your last summer?
• Who is the best chess player currently?

Excerpts from Interview #6:

• Can you tell advantages of RDBMS over simple custom DBMS?
• Which is the layer of an Operating System that takes care of the system resource usage at the lowest level?
• How are one dimensional represented in memory?
• Differentiate between global and local prototype.
• Can you tell any two advantages of stored procedures?
• What is meant by the index of an element? How are they numbered in C++?
• What is the difference between do loop & do while loop?

• What has been your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?
• What are your expectations in terms of a salary?
• Where do you see yourself five years from now?
• How would you rate yourself from 5? Justify the score?
• What is the difference between hard work and smart work?