IBM video interview questions
13 researched questions — 13 reported by real candidates or published by IBM. Updated August 2026.
1Why do you want to work for IBM?
Reported by multiple candidatesMotivation & backgroundReported across IBM graduate interviews, stage not verified.
Practice this in the mock2What do you know about IBM?
Reported by multiple candidatesPast behaviorReported across IBM graduate interviews, stage not verified.
Practice this in the mock3Give an example of a time when you had to work in a team.
Reported by multiple candidatesPast behaviorReported independently by multiple candidates.
Practice this in the mock4When at work or on a project, have you had to persuade someone to change their opinion or do something differently?
Reported by multiple candidatesPast behaviorReported independently by multiple candidates.
Practice this in the mock5Tell me about a time when you had to overcome a particular challenge.
Reported by multiple candidatesPast behaviorReported independently by multiple candidates.
Practice this in the mock6Tell me about the most interesting project you have done.
Reported by multiple candidatesPast behaviorReported independently by multiple candidates.
Practice this in the mock7Where do you see yourself in three years?
Reported by multiple candidatesPast behaviorReported independently by multiple candidates.
Practice this in the mock8Why did you choose your particular degree?
9Describe an occasion where you have thought outside the box to come up with a new way of doing things.
Reported by a candidatePast behaviorSingle UK candidate report, technical consultant, assessment stage.
Practice this in the mock10What value would you bring to the organization?
11UK graduate scheme: expect the video assessment before an assessment centre with group logic and case exercises, a paired role-play and a presentation.
Reported by a candidatePast behaviorReported by a candidate; current applicability may vary.
Practice this in the mock12India campus and off-campus: dated 2024–2025 reports describe cognitive ability games, English, HackerRank coding, learning agility and a trait assessment with no video round.
Reported by a candidatePast behaviorReported by a candidate; current applicability may vary.
Practice this in the mock13IBM Consulting and experienced hires: candidate reports of the video assessment cluster here, including a Salesforce consultant role.
Reported by a candidatePast behaviorReported by a candidate; current applicability may vary.
Practice this in the mock
The IBM hiring process at a glance
- 1Application and screening — Apply online through the IBM candidate portal; IBMers with expertise in the field review your application, skills and experience.
- 2Online assessments — One or two role-dependent assessments — coding, English language, work behaviours and, where applicable, the video assessment. IBM asks you to complete them within 7 days of the invite, in one sitting.
- 3Video assessment (one-way) — Pre-recorded answers to a series of interview questions via webcam and microphone, graded before any scheduled interview; reported at roughly 10–20 minutes. Platform not named by IBM.
- 4Interview or assessment centre — Phone, video or in-person interview, or an assessment centre visit with group exercises and an in-person interview; UK graduate routes report an assessment centre plus a final interview.
- 5Decision — IBM shares its decision after the final interview, followed by offer documentation and onboarding.
Practice these questions in a timed mock
Reading questions is preparation; answering them under the clock is practice. The IBM mock uses these researched questions in a realistic one-way video format — 30 seconds to prepare, recorded answers, scored against our calibrated benchmark. Your video never leaves your device.
Take the IBM mock interviewHow the IBM hiring process works
IBM's stated pipeline runs application, screening by IBMers with expertise in the field, one or two online assessments, then an interview or assessment centre, then a decision. The online assessment stage is the one that matters for video practice: IBM draws from a menu of coding assessments (multiple choice and/or coding challenges, widely reported and officially signposted for practice on HackerRank), the video assessment, an English language assessment delivered as text-based multiple choice, and an IBM work behaviours trait assessment. Which of these you receive depends on the role, and IBM states plainly that the hiring process may vary by location and region.
The video assessment itself is a one-way, on-demand recording — you answer a set of interview questions to your webcam and microphone with no interviewer present, and it is graded before you reach any scheduled interview. IBM's own guidance says to complete assessments within seven days of the invite, in one sitting, in a quiet environment with minimal distractions, and to note whether the assessment is timed; it also advises going with your first reaction rather than overthinking, and taking any practice run offered. Reported total length is around ten to twenty minutes, with one candidate describing an invite for a twenty-minute pre-recorded interview; per-question prep and answer limits circulate widely but are not confirmed by IBM, so treat any specific countdown as configurable and read your own invite carefully. IBM offers accommodations and adjustments at the assessment stage, requested through the email or form in the invite.
Regional and programme differences are real and worth planning around. UK graduate routes report up to three stages after the video — assessment centre and then a final interview, with group logic and case exercises, a paired role-play and a presentation. Indian campus and off-campus flows in 2024 and 2025 instead centre on a cognitive ability games battery of roughly six short games in about thirty minutes, an English test, a HackerRank coding round, a learning agility test and a trait assessment, followed by group discussion and technical plus HR interviews — those dated reports describe no video round, so the pre-recorded stage is not universal. Consulting and experienced hires are where candidate reports of the video assessment cluster, including one report for a Salesforce consultant role. IBM describes its interviewing as structured and behavioural, asking about the technical skills and behaviours required for the role, which is exactly the style that populates a one-way recording.
Practise by recording answers to competency prompts in a tight two to three minute structure — situation, your specific action, measurable result — and keep an IBM-specific "why us" answer ready, since it is the most consistently reported IBM prompt across every source. For entry-level technical roles, one candidate described a mixed set of behavioural and coding items in the same sitting, so be ready to talk through technical reasoning aloud rather than only telling stories. End-to-end timelines are commonly reported at three to six weeks, though that figure comes from aggregators rather than IBM.
About this research
- Researched questions
- 13 — 13 officially published or candidate-reported
- Typical format
- One-way video; a common setup is 30s prep + ~2 min answers. Employers configure their own timing, question count, and retakes.
- Research updated
- August 2026 · part of our evidence-labeled video-interview question bank
Best-supported scope: IBM's own careers site names a "Video assessment" as a stage inside its pre-interview Online Assessment block, so the one-way format itself is officially established. The question wordings below are real, publisher-attributed IBM interview questions but are stage-agnostic — reported across IBM graduate interviews generally, not tied at source to the video stage. Strongest signal for the video round in consulting, UK/EU early-career and experienced hiring; Indian campus reports from 2024–2025 describe no video round at all.
These are questions you may encounter — paraphrased from public, dated sources. No one can guarantee the exact questions in your interview, and we never claim to.
Need it tailored to your exact role?
- Paste a job link, or pick IBM and type your role.
- Get the researched question set with evidence labels, assembled into a balanced six-question practice mock for your role.
- Where the research has gaps, role-specific practice questions are generated for you — always labeled as generated, never passed off as reported.
Sources reviewed
- IBM Careers — Application process and steps (names the video assessment)
- IBM Careers blog — Assessment FAQ (7-day window, assessment families)
- IBM community forum — candidate asks about an entry-level video invite (2021)
- TargetJobs — questions from past IBM graduate interviews (2022)
- Graduate-jobs.com — dated IBM candidate interview submissions (2017–2018)
- GeeksforGeeks — IBM on-campus experience, cognitive games round (Sep 2024)