IBM vs PayPal Interview Questions
IBM lists 115 LeetCode interview questions while PayPal lists 105. They share 28 problems — 24% of IBM's bank and 27% of PayPal's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 87 IBM-only and 77 PayPal-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 28 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both IBM and PayPal.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add IBM-specific problems like Gray Code, Exclusive Time of Functions, Integer to Roman and PayPal-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: PayPal skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
28 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both IBM and PayPal.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold | Medium |
| 3Sum | Medium |
| Fizz Buzz | Easy |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Minimum Absolute Difference | Easy |
| Count Vowel Strings in Ranges | Medium |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Longest Consecutive Sequence | Medium |
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Spiral Matrix | Medium |
| Group Anagrams | Medium |
| Divide Players Into Teams of Equal Skill | Medium |
| Climbing Stairs | Easy |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Product of Array Except Self | Medium |
| Find the Index of the First Occurrence in a String | Easy |
| Longest Increasing Subsequence | Medium |
| Subarray Sum Equals K | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Subsets | Medium |
| Happy Number | Easy |
| Degree of an Array | Easy |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
Unique to IBM (87)
Problems in IBM's list that do not appear at PayPal.
Unique to PayPal (77)
Problems in PayPal's list that do not appear at IBM.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do IBM and PayPal share?
IBM and PayPal share 28 LeetCode interview questions. 87 problems appear only in IBM's list and 77 appear only in PayPal's list.
What topics overlap most between IBM and PayPal?
The most common shared topics between IBM and PayPal are Array (20 shared questions), Hash Table (9 shared questions), String (7 shared questions), Two Pointers (6 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (6 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: IBM or PayPal?
IBM has 33 Easy, 73 Medium, and 9 Hard questions. PayPal has 19 Easy, 69 Medium, and 17 Hard questions. PayPal has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both IBM and PayPal?
Start with the 28 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 IBM-specific and 20 PayPal-specific questions to round out your prep.