IBM

Global technology and consulting firm with deep roots in enterprise IT and AI.

3 Rounds ~14 Days Medium

Start Mock Interview

The Interview Loop

Recruiter Screen (30 min)

Standard fit check, behavioral questions, and resume overview.

Technical Loop (3-4 Rounds)

Deep dive into domain knowledge, coding, and system design.

Interview Question Bank

All Roles Data Engineer 7

All Topics Algorithms 54 System Design 46 Culture Fit 38 SQL 12 Leadership 9 Machine Learning 8 Big Data Frameworks 7 Architecture 7

Data Engineer • Technical • medium

Explain how Apache Spark handles fault tolerance.

#Spark #RDD Lineage #DAG

Practice

Data Engineer • Technical • hard

How do you resolve an OutOfMemory (OOM) error in a Spark application?

#Spark #Performance Tuning #Memory Management

Practice

Data Engineer • Technical • medium

Explain the difference between repartition() and coalesce() in Spark. When would you use each?

#Spark #Data Shuffling #Optimization

Practice

Data Engineer • Technical • hard

What is data skew in Spark, and how do you mitigate it?

#Spark #Data Skew #Salting

Practice

Data Engineer • Technical • medium

Explain the concept of Broadcast Variables and Accumulators in Spark.

#Spark #Shared Variables

Practice

Data Engineer • Technical • hard

What is the Catalyst Optimizer in Spark SQL?

#Spark #Internals #Optimization

Practice

Data Engineer • Technical • medium

What are Parquet and ORC formats? Why are they preferred in Big Data over CSV or JSON?

#File Formats #Storage Optimization

Practice

Difficulty Radar

Based on recent AI-sourced data.

Meet Your Interviewers

The "Standard" Interviewer

Senior Engineer

Focuses on core competencies, system constraints, and clear communication.

Simulate

Unwritten Rules

Think Out Loud

Always explain your thought process before writing code or drawing architecture.

Practice Now