I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at IBM (London, England) in Jan 2017
Interview
Word document application upload.
IPAT Tests
I attended the assessment centre, where I left the process.
The first half of the assessment centre was 2 group exercises. One 30 minutes logic exercise, where as a team you attempt to solve a sudoku type puzzle. One 45 minute group exercise where you have to come up with a business idea as a group and present it to assessors at the end.
I arrived at 8.15AM, and left at 1.30PM. There were about 25 people all for either tech or business consulting, and we were split into groups of 5. This means you are in direct competition. I did both exercises with the same group. Most of the time was spent waiting for other groups to finish.
At 1.30PM about 10 people were selected to go on to the second half of the day, where they are given one on one interviews. I believe they chose 2 from each group.
Why this was a negative experience:
- of the 5 hours 15 minutes I was there, 4 hours were spent waiting, although we were given a short 20 min presentation on IBM.
-I think the process is flawed. I was dismissed based purely on the group exercises. From my perspective I thought I performed well in these, but my group was strong. It ultimately comes down to a bit of luck. I think it's the people who play the game the best - i.e. offer to time keep, write down for the group, that get through.
- I was with 4 candidates out of the 25 most of the day. I think the groups should have been mixed up in the second task.
-My CV/application/background were not taken into account. Not given a chance to express my interest in technology or for the company before I was told to leave, which I spent a lot of time preparing for.
- it was a little humiliating to be dismissed on the day. In my opinion the group exercises and interviews should be on separate days.
The positives:
- it's good practice.
- I was reimbursed for travel and over night accommodation up to £150 (although was told this takes up to 12 weeks!)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Group exercise 2: What is the main selling point (of your business idea)?
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at IBM (London, England) in Jul 2016
Interview
Applied online, filled out one of IBM's graduate specific application forms. Had 7 days to complete two tests, one is numeric series - this is particularly hard, so find everything you can online to practice beforehand, the other is worded numeric test, this was much easier than the series test. Was invited to the assessment centre two days after tests were completed. Assessment centre includes another confirmation test, two group exercises in the morning, those who get through the morning round are invited to the afternoon round with a personal and a professional interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why IBM as a place to start your career in consulting
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at IBM (Washington, DC) in Feb 2016
Interview
Interviewed with 3 different individuals on the same floor. Each Interviewer asked different questions one was a behavioral interview, one was a technical interview, and the final interview is to test how you think. Technical questions were basic programming questions based on your preferred language. I.e what is polymorphisms how to use inheritance.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is polymorphisms?
How do you use inheritance?
Behavioral questions.