DE Shaw vs IBM Interview Questions
DE Shaw lists 105 LeetCode interview questions while IBM lists 115. They share 15 problems — 14% of DE Shaw's bank and 13% of IBM's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 90 DE Shaw-only and 100 IBM-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 15 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both DE Shaw and IBM.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add DE Shaw-specific problems like Binary Tree Cameras, Find Minimum Cost to Remove Array Elements, Maximum Number of Subsequences After One Inserting and IBM-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: DE Shaw skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
15 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both DE Shaw and IBM.
Unique to DE Shaw (90)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at IBM.
Unique to IBM (100)
Problems in IBM's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Roman to Integer | Easy |
| Count Ways to Group Overlapping Ranges | Medium |
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Minimum Absolute Difference | Easy |
| Minimum Operations to Make All Array Elements Equal | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do DE Shaw and IBM share?
DE Shaw and IBM share 15 LeetCode interview questions. 90 problems appear only in DE Shaw's list and 100 appear only in IBM's list.
What topics overlap most between DE Shaw and IBM?
The most common shared topics between DE Shaw and IBM are Array (10 shared questions), Hash Table (6 shared questions), Two Pointers (5 shared questions), String (4 shared questions), Binary Search (3 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: DE Shaw or IBM?
DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. IBM has 33 Easy, 73 Medium, and 9 Hard questions. DE Shaw has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both DE Shaw and IBM?
Start with the 15 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 DE Shaw-specific and 20 IBM-specific questions to round out your prep.