Capital One vs IBM Interview Questions
Capital One lists 47 LeetCode interview questions while IBM lists 115. They share 10 problems — 21% of Capital One's bank and 9% of IBM's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 37 Capital One-only and 105 IBM-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 10 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Capital One and IBM.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Capital One-specific problems like Simple Bank System, Block Placement Queries, Text Justification and IBM-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Capital One skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
10 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Capital One and IBM.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Palindrome Number | Easy |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Rotate Array | Medium |
| Roman to Integer | Easy |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
Unique to Capital One (37)
Problems in Capital One's list that do not appear at IBM.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Simple Bank System | Medium |
| Block Placement Queries | Hard |
| Text Justification | Hard |
| Minimum Operations to Write the Letter Y on a Grid | Medium |
| Candy Crush | Medium |
| Count Alternating Subarrays | Medium |
| Four Divisors | Medium |
| Simplify Path | Medium |
| Count Operations to Obtain Zero | Easy |
| Longest Continuous Subarray With Absolute Diff Less Than or Equal to Limit | Medium |
| Split Message Based on Limit | Hard |
| Rotating the Box | Medium |
Unique to IBM (105)
Problems in IBM's list that do not appear at Capital One.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold | Medium |
| Gray Code | Medium |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Exclusive Time of Functions | Medium |
| Integer to Roman | Medium |
| Minimum Operations to Make Columns Strictly Increasing | Easy |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| Count Ways to Group Overlapping Ranges | Medium |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Minimum Absolute Difference | Easy |
| Minimum Operations to Make All Array Elements Equal | Medium |
| Number of Divisible Triplet Sums | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Capital One and IBM share?
Capital One and IBM share 10 LeetCode interview questions. 37 problems appear only in Capital One's list and 105 appear only in IBM's list.
What topics overlap most between Capital One and IBM?
The most common shared topics between Capital One and IBM are Array (6 shared questions), Math (4 shared questions), Matrix (2 shared questions), Sorting (2 shared questions), Hash Table (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Capital One or IBM?
Capital One has 9 Easy, 28 Medium, and 10 Hard questions. IBM has 33 Easy, 73 Medium, and 9 Hard questions. Capital One has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Capital One and IBM?
Start with the 10 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Capital One-specific and 20 IBM-specific questions to round out your prep.