IBM vs ServiceNow Interview Questions
IBM lists 115 LeetCode interview questions while ServiceNow lists 71. They share 17 problems — 15% of IBM's bank and 24% of ServiceNow's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 98 IBM-only and 54 ServiceNow-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 17 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both IBM and ServiceNow.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add IBM-specific problems like Find the Smallest Divisor Given a Threshold, Gray Code, 3Sum and ServiceNow-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: ServiceNow skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
17 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both IBM and ServiceNow.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Two Sum | Easy |
| Merge Intervals | Medium |
| Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters | Medium |
| String Compression | Medium |
| Valid Parentheses | Easy |
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Longest Palindromic Substring | Medium |
| Maximum Subarray | Medium |
| Group Anagrams | Medium |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Next Permutation | Medium |
| Subarray Sum Equals K | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| Gas Station | Medium |
| Generate Parentheses | Medium |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
Unique to IBM (98)
Problems in IBM's list that do not appear at ServiceNow.
| 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 |
| Rotate Image | Medium |
| Minimum Absolute Difference | Easy |
Unique to ServiceNow (54)
Problems in ServiceNow's list that do not appear at IBM.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do IBM and ServiceNow share?
IBM and ServiceNow share 17 LeetCode interview questions. 98 problems appear only in IBM's list and 54 appear only in ServiceNow's list.
What topics overlap most between IBM and ServiceNow?
The most common shared topics between IBM and ServiceNow are Array (10 shared questions), String (7 shared questions), Hash Table (6 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (5 shared questions), Two Pointers (4 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: IBM or ServiceNow?
IBM has 33 Easy, 73 Medium, and 9 Hard questions. ServiceNow has 7 Easy, 51 Medium, and 13 Hard questions. ServiceNow has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both IBM and ServiceNow?
Start with the 17 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 IBM-specific and 20 ServiceNow-specific questions to round out your prep.