IBM vs LinkedIn Interview Questions
IBM lists 115 LeetCode interview questions while LinkedIn lists 141. They share 21 problems — 18% of IBM's bank and 15% of LinkedIn's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 94 IBM-only and 120 LinkedIn-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 21 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both IBM and LinkedIn.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add IBM-specific problems like Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold, Gray Code, 3Sum and LinkedIn-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: LinkedIn skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
21 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both IBM and LinkedIn.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Exclusive Time of Functions | Medium |
| Integer to Roman | Medium |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Number of Divisible Triplet Sums | Medium |
| Find Pivot Index | Easy |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Merge Sorted Array | Easy |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Validate Binary Search Tree | Medium |
| Product of Array Except Self | Medium |
| Next Permutation | Medium |
| Intersection of Two Arrays | Easy |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Task Scheduler | Medium |
Unique to IBM (94)
Problems in IBM's list that do not appear at LinkedIn.
Unique to LinkedIn (120)
Problems in LinkedIn's list that do not appear at IBM.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Max Stack | Hard |
| Nested List Weight Sum II | Medium |
| All O`one Data Structure | Hard |
| Word Ladder | Hard |
| Find the Celebrity | Medium |
| Nested List Weight Sum | Medium |
| Design Authentication Manager | Medium |
| Find Leaves of Binary Tree | Medium |
| Shortest Word Distance II | Medium |
| Max Consecutive Ones III | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Maximum Product Subarray | Medium |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do IBM and LinkedIn share?
IBM and LinkedIn share 21 LeetCode interview questions. 94 problems appear only in IBM's list and 120 appear only in LinkedIn's list.
What topics overlap most between IBM and LinkedIn?
The most common shared topics between IBM and LinkedIn are Array (13 shared questions), Hash Table (8 shared questions), String (6 shared questions), Sorting (4 shared questions), Two Pointers (4 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: IBM or LinkedIn?
IBM has 33 Easy, 73 Medium, and 9 Hard questions. LinkedIn has 25 Easy, 90 Medium, and 26 Hard questions. LinkedIn has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both IBM and LinkedIn?
Start with the 21 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 IBM-specific and 20 LinkedIn-specific questions to round out your prep.