IBM vs Intel Interview Questions
IBM lists 115 LeetCode interview questions while Intel lists 25. They share 12 problems — 10% of IBM's bank and 48% of Intel's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 103 IBM-only and 13 Intel-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 12 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both IBM and Intel.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add IBM-specific problems like Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold, Gray Code, 3Sum and Intel-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: IBM skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
12 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both IBM and Intel.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Climbing Stairs | Easy |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Palindrome Number | Easy |
| Reverse Integer | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
Unique to IBM (103)
Problems in IBM's list that do not appear at Intel.
| 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 |
| Roman to Integer | Easy |
| Count Ways to Group Overlapping Ranges | Medium |
| Meeting Rooms II | Medium |
| Minimum Absolute Difference | Easy |
| Minimum Operations to Make All Array Elements Equal | Medium |
Unique to Intel (13)
Problems in Intel's list that do not appear at IBM.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Find Consecutive Integers from a Data Stream | Medium |
| Maximum Nesting Depth of the Parentheses | Easy |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Copy List with Random Pointer | Medium |
| Count Primes | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock II | Medium |
| Merge Two Sorted Lists | Easy |
| Reverse Words in a String | Medium |
| Add Two Numbers | Medium |
| Container With Most Water | Medium |
| Linked List Cycle | Easy |
| Valid Palindrome | Easy |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do IBM and Intel share?
IBM and Intel share 12 LeetCode interview questions. 103 problems appear only in IBM's list and 13 appear only in Intel's list.
What topics overlap most between IBM and Intel?
The most common shared topics between IBM and Intel are Array (6 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (4 shared questions), Math (4 shared questions), Hash Table (3 shared questions), String (2 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: IBM or Intel?
IBM has 33 Easy, 73 Medium, and 9 Hard questions. Intel has 10 Easy, 14 Medium, and 1 Hard questions. IBM has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both IBM and Intel?
Start with the 12 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 IBM-specific and 13 Intel-specific questions to round out your prep.