Ok so I just finished my IBM new grad SWE interview loop and wanted to write this up while it was fresh because the info online was either really stale or for experienced hires.
First: IBM's new grad / entry level interview process is way more behavior-heavy than I expected. I went in prepping mostly for LC-style coding and the behavioral stuff hit harder than the technical.
Here's what I got:
Recruiter screen. 20-30 minutes. They asked about my background, a project I was proud of, why IBM specifically. Know something real about IBM. I mentioned Watsonx and the hybrid cloud stuff. That got a good response.
Online assessment. Two coding problems. The difficulty felt like LC medium, maybe one medium-easy. They're timed. No system design, just algorithm questions. Python was fine.
Technical interview (45 min). One coding question (another medium-ish, graph traversal in my case), then a conversation about a project. They actually spent like 15-20 minutes on the project. Bring something you can really explain.
Behavioral interview (45 min). This was more than I prepped for. They asked 5 behavioral questions. STAR format is explicitly what they want. I stumbled on one and the interviewer actually paused and said 'take your moment to think.' It wasn't adversarial, but you need stories ready. Teamwork, handling ambiguity, a time you disagreed with someone.
For new grads, the behavioral weight felt like 40-50% of the overall signal. Don't sleep on it the way I almost did.
The offer was Band 6 as expected, Austin TX. Base was in the low $90s which is below market for SWE new grad but IBM has some other perks and the stability angle is real if that matters to you.
Happy to answer specific questions.