Interview for IBM

obrien36

Hi, not sure if this thread belongs here, apologies if it doesn't. I'm going for an interview on Monday at IBM for a graduate role in the Dublin Software Lab.

The email informing me of the interview said that I would be required to do assessment tests on site and I was just wondering would anybody know are these general assessments as in an aptitude test or specific e.g. Java test or Servlet test.

If anyone can help me with IBM interview advice or let me know what it's like to work there it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Atomic Pineapple

obrien36 wrote: »

Hi, not sure if this thread belongs here, apologies if it doesn't. I'm going for an interview on Monday at IBM for a graduate role in the Dublin Software Lab.

The email informing me of the interview said that I would be required to do assessment tests on site and I was just wondering would anybody know are these general assessments as in an aptitude test or specific e.g. Java test or Servlet test.

If anyone can help me with IBM interview advice or let me know what it's like to work there it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I have done two interviews in IBM, one of which I had to do assesment tests after the verbal interview.

The test's were multi choice questions on the technology that would be involved so I had 3 test's on Java, XML and JSP's.

The questions were varied from explain what a certain thing in Java means/is/does to a piece of code being given and you have to figure out what it does or what it changes a variable to.

The questions weren't that hard but the time limit meant very little time for thinking.

The interviewers were quite nice though and both interviews were quite informal.

The place seemed very full and busy, I'd imagine it would be very hectic working there but they have GYM facilities and stuff on site I think.

But I didn't get the job so I cant comment on working there.

Let us know how you get on

ronivek

Some of their teams use C++ so there is also an optional C++ exam if that's your bag.

Like any other software development interview have a think about projects you've done outside of academia or employment. Also have a think about any group projects you've done and what kind of issues you encountered; how they were dealt with and so on.

If there are any enterprise Java technologies you've used or been exposed to then make sure and highlight those if possible. It would also help to do a bit of research on the lab and the products that they work with.

Above all; be honest. You'll be interviewed by experienced developers and if you try to hoodwink them you're liable to get caught out.

Best of luck.

Hobbes

draffodx wrote: »

The place seemed very full and busy, I'd imagine it would be very hectic working there but they have GYM facilities and stuff on site I think.

Depends on what site your talking about.

I don't know about the interviews, but I do know the tests vary depending on the job role/level you applying for.

It can range from interview type questions to questionnaire (after interview) or both. Some of the questionnaires have negative scoring (you have to answer "I don't know" or risk getting -1 on a question if you guess).

For grad you should be fine if you know the stuff. Like ronivek says don't try to BS your way through the interview or study for the questions.

obrien36

Well the interview went ok I think. The actual interview part was pretty informal and consisted of a discussion of my final year project and master's project problems encountered etc.

I had three tests, the first being the IPATO test which was 15 mins long. This was a general aptitude test with data matrices, number sequences etc. The second was a general technologies test which was also 15 mins long. This had a different topic for every page like XML, Java, JSPs, SQL, CSS, HTML etc.

The last one was just Java and was 20 mins long. This consisted of sections of code from which you had to choose the correct answer. Overall the standard was reasonable but it'd be nothing to worry about. They were the kind of questions that you either know or you don't and not the kind you can really study for. They were all multiple choice but in the second test there was negative marking.

Thanks for all the replies above. The advice was very much appreciated!

Atomic Pineapple

obrien36 wrote: »

Well the interview went ok I think. The actual interview part was pretty informal and consisted of a discussion of my final year project and master's project problems encountered etc.

I had three tests, the first being the IPATO test which was 15 mins long. This was a general aptitude test with data matrices, number sequences etc. The second was a general technologies test which was also 15 mins long. This had a different topic for every page like XML, Java, JSPs, SQL, CSS, HTML etc.

The last one was just Java and was 20 mins long. This consisted of sections of code from which you had to choose the correct answer. Overall the standard was reasonable but it'd be nothing to worry about. They were the kind of questions that you either know or you don't and not the kind you can really study for. They were all multiple choice but in the second test there was negative marking.

Thanks for all the replies above. The advice was very much appreciated!

I had to do the IPATO test on my own at home a few days after the interview and it was 45 minutes long with 3 parts to it, they must have changed it?

How did you find the questions and the IPATO?

obrien36

The questions weren't too bad I guess I can't really complain but they were designed to catch you out. Some of them would consist of true or false and the statement might be "X does blah blah blah blah blah - and blah" and it will be all true apart from the last bit so you have to be careful.

The IPATO was grand, I think I might have done well on that. The data matrix questions at the start can be tough if you haven't seen anything like them before.

bedek

Could you give some tips about tests - some examples, API areas which is worth to read through ?

obrien36

Well it was over a year ago now but what I would say about the coding questions is know the technical aspects of each language very well, so know the nuts and bolts really well.

The questions are quite tough if you don't know the basics of each language so study your notes on the core aspects of each topic e.g. for say Java know the technical aspects of a class, constructor etc. You might get something like:

Class A {
some stuff
}

Class B {
some stuff
}

and be asked about scope/public/private methods between them. That's all I can really remember tbh, hope it helps. Another big thing is keep your time well. I think it's 20 mins per test and if you leave yourself short for the last one you'll be automatically striked off.