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About the test:

The Mainframe Online Test uses scenario-based MCQs to evaluate candidates on their knowledge of mainframe technologies, including COBOL programming language, JCL, VSAM, CICS, and DB2. The test aims to evaluate a candidate's ability to design and develop mainframe applications that adhere to industry standards and best practices effectively.

Covered skills:

  • Mainframe Developer
  • Mainframe Analyst
  • Mainframe Programmer
  • Mainframe Specialist
See all covered skills

9 reasons why
9 reasons why

Adaface IBM Mainframe Online Test is the most accurate way to shortlist Mainframe Developers



Reason #1

Tests for on-the-job skills

The Mainframe Online Test helps recruiters and hiring managers to identify qualified candidates from a pool of resumes, and helps in taking objective hiring decisions. It reduces the administrative overhead of interviewing too many candidates and saves time by filtering out unqualified candidates.

The Adaface Mainframe Online test screens candidates for the typical skills recruiters look for Mainframe Developer roles:

  • Strong knowledge of COBOL (CICS), CA7, DB2 and/ or SQL, Other Mainframe Technologies & Tools
  • Experience Developing, troubleshooting, and modifying Mainframe systems
  • Understanding of the complex logic of COBOL and PL/I applications
  • Ability to quickly identify code errors
  • Vast knowledge of business processes in specific industries

The insights generated from this assessment can be used by recruiters and hiring managers to identify the best candidates for the Mainframe Developer role. Anti-cheating features enable you to be comfortable with conducting assessments online. The Mainframe Developer test is ideal for helping recruiters identify which candidates have the skills to do well on the job.

Reason #2

No trick questions

no trick questions

Traditional assessment tools use trick questions and puzzles for the screening, which creates a lot of frustration among candidates about having to go through irrelevant screening assessments.

The main reason we started Adaface is that traditional pre-employment assessment platforms are not a fair way for companies to evaluate candidates. At Adaface, our mission is to help companies find great candidates by assessing on-the-job skills required for a role.

Why we started Adaface ->
Reason #3

Non-googleable questions

We have a very high focus on the quality of questions that test for on-the-job skills. Every question is non-googleable and we have a very high bar for the level of subject matter experts we onboard to create these questions. We have crawlers to check if any of the questions are leaked online. If/ when a question gets leaked, we get an alert. We change the question for you & let you know.

These are just a small sample from our library of 10,000+ questions. The actual questions on this IBM Mainframe Test will be non-googleable.

🧐 Question

Medium

Decision Control
Arithmetic Operations
Decision Structures
Data Types
Solve
Consider the following COBOL program:
 image
What will the program display when it is executed?

Medium

Multi Dimensional Arrays
Arrays
Data Processing
Subroutines
Solve
Consider the following pseudocode snippet in COBOL:
 image
After executing this program, what will be the final state of StrArr?

Medium

VSAM File Processing in COBOL
VSAM
File Handling
Solve
Consider the following COBOL code snippet. The program aims to read from a VSAM Key-Sequenced Data Set (KSDS) named 'CUSTOMER-FILE' which contains customer records. The program reads the file in ascending order by 'CUSTOMER-ID', performs some processing (not shown here), and then displays the 'CUSTOMER-NAME' of the last record read.
 image
Assuming there are no syntax errors and the 'CUSTOMER-FILE' is present and accessible, what will the program display as the last customer's name after executing this COBOL program?
A: The program will display the name of the customer with the highest 'CUSTOMER-ID'.
B: The program will display the name of the customer with the lowest 'CUSTOMER-ID'.
C: The program will not display any customer name.
D: The program will display the name of the first customer in the 'CUSTOMER-FILE'.
E: The program will display an uninitialized or random 'LAST-NAME'.

Medium

Database Performance Tuning and Data Consistency
Database Performance Tuning
Transaction Management
Locking Mechanisms
Solve
Consider the following DB2 database scenario. You are managing a stock trading platform that uses a DB2 database to track user transactions and market prices. The database has two tables, Users and Stocks.
 image
A user transaction to buy a stock is a two-step process:

1. Decrease the user's balance in the Users table.
2. Increase the quantity of the stock owned by the user in the Stocks table.

Both these steps need to be performed atomically to maintain data consistency.

Recently, with the increase in the volume of transactions, you are experiencing performance issues. Additionally, you have observed that during peak trading hours, a large number of user transactions are getting blocked, leading to user dissatisfaction.

Which of the following strategies would BEST address the performance and blocking issues, while ensuring data consistency?
A: Implement an optimistic concurrency control mechanism.
B: Reduce the transaction isolation level to READ UNCOMMITTED.
C: Break the transaction into two separate transactions
D: Increase the database's buffer pool size.
E: Implement row-level locking.

Medium

DB2 Isolation Levels and Data Consistency Revisited
Transactions
Isolation Levels
Data Consistency
Solve
Consider two users executing the following transactions concurrently on DB2:

Transaction 1 (User A):
 image
Transaction 2 (User B):
 image
Table1 has thousands of records, and the value 'Value1' for Column1 is not unique in Table1. Both transactions are executed almost simultaneously with Transaction 2 executed a bit earlier. Considering the isolation levels set for the transactions, which of the following is the potential data inconsistency issue that might arise?
A: A deadlock situation may occur.
B: Transaction 1 will wait indefinitely for Transaction 2 to commit.
C: Both transactions might update the same record leading to a lost update.
D: Transaction 1 can experience a dirty read due to the changes made by Transaction 2.

Medium

Optimizing Query Performance
Indexing
Query Optimization
Solve
You are managing a DB2 database which includes a table named `ORDERS`. The `ORDERS` table has a large volume of data and contains the following columns: `OrderID`, `CustomerID`, `OrderDate`, `ProductID`, `Quantity`. 

One of the frequently executed queries on the `ORDERS` table is:
 image
You are asked to optimize this query without changing its structure or the table schema. Which of the following strategies would MOST likely improve the performance of this query?
A: Create a HASH index on `CustomerID` and `OrderDate`.
B: Create a CLUSTERED index on `CustomerID` and `OrderDate`.
C: Create a NONCLUSTERED index on `CustomerID` and `OrderDate`.
D: Create a CLUSTERED index on `OrderID`.
E: Create a NONCLUSTERED index on `OrderID`.

Medium

Transaction Handling and Error Recovery in DB2
SQL Programming
Transactions
Error Handling
Solve
Consider the following pseudocode in an IBM DB2 environment:
 image
This stored procedure is used to update the inventory of a particular item. If the `NewQuantity` input parameter is negative, the procedure signals an exception. There's also a handler declared for exceptions, which logs an error message.

Given this scenario, if an error occurs during the UPDATE statement, which of the following will happen?
A: The update operation will fail, an error message will be logged, and the quantity in the inventory will remain unchanged.
B: The update operation will succeed, no error message will be logged, and the quantity in the inventory will be updated.
C: The update operation will fail, an error message will be logged, but the quantity in the inventory will still be updated.
D: The update operation will fail, no error message will be logged, and the quantity in the inventory will remain unchanged.
E: The update operation will succeed, an error message will be logged, but the quantity in the inventory will still be updated.

Medium

Disposition Parameters
JCL Syntax
Dataset Management
Solve
Consider the following JCL snippet:
 image
In MYJOB, PROG1 in STEP1 uses the dataset MY.DS.INPUT with a disposition of (OLD,DELETE,KEEP). PROG2 in STEP2 also uses the dataset MY.DS.INPUT with a disposition of (NEW,PASS,DELETE).

Assume that STEP1 executed successfully, but STEP2 failed during its execution. What would be the status of the dataset MY.DS.INPUT after the job MYJOB is run?
A: MY.DS.INPUT will be deleted.
B: MY.DS.INPUT will be kept and can be used by other jobs.
C: MY.DS.INPUT will be newly created.
D: MY.DS.INPUT will be available for the duration of the job, then deleted.
E: MY.DS.INPUT status cannot be determined with the provided information.

Medium

Execution Order and Return Codes
Job Control
Execution Order
Return Codes
Solve
Consider a JCL job that needs to execute five steps: STEP01, STEP02, STEP03, STEP04, and STEP05. The steps represent data initialization, data processing, data validation, error handling, and job finalization respectively.

The execution rules are as follows:

1. The job should always start with STEP01.
2. STEP02 should only execute if STEP01 completes successfully with a return code (RC) of 0.
3. STEP03 should always run after STEP02, irrespective of STEP02's return code.
4. STEP04 should only execute if either STEP02 or STEP03 fails, i.e., return a code not equal to 0.
5. STEP05 should always be the last step, and should only execute if all the previous steps were successful (each returning a code of 0).

Given these rules, how would you design the JCL job using the IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF construct?
 image
🧐 Question🔧 Skill

Medium

Decision Control
Arithmetic Operations
Decision Structures
Data Types
2 mins
COBOL
Solve

Medium

Multi Dimensional Arrays
Arrays
Data Processing
Subroutines
2 mins
COBOL
Solve

Medium

VSAM File Processing in COBOL
VSAM
File Handling
2 mins
COBOL
Solve

Medium

Database Performance Tuning and Data Consistency
Database Performance Tuning
Transaction Management
Locking Mechanisms
3 mins
IBM DB2
Solve

Medium

DB2 Isolation Levels and Data Consistency Revisited
Transactions
Isolation Levels
Data Consistency
2 mins
IBM DB2
Solve

Medium

Optimizing Query Performance
Indexing
Query Optimization
2 mins
IBM DB2
Solve

Medium

Transaction Handling and Error Recovery in DB2
SQL Programming
Transactions
Error Handling
3 mins
IBM DB2
Solve

Medium

Disposition Parameters
JCL Syntax
Dataset Management
2 mins
IBM JCL
Solve

Medium

Execution Order and Return Codes
Job Control
Execution Order
Return Codes
2 mins
IBM JCL
Solve
🧐 Question🔧 Skill💪 Difficulty⌛ Time
Decision Control
Arithmetic Operations
Decision Structures
Data Types
COBOL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Multi Dimensional Arrays
Arrays
Data Processing
Subroutines
COBOL
Medium2 mins
Solve
VSAM File Processing in COBOL
VSAM
File Handling
COBOL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Database Performance Tuning and Data Consistency
Database Performance Tuning
Transaction Management
Locking Mechanisms
IBM DB2
Medium3 mins
Solve
DB2 Isolation Levels and Data Consistency Revisited
Transactions
Isolation Levels
Data Consistency
IBM DB2
Medium2 mins
Solve
Optimizing Query Performance
Indexing
Query Optimization
IBM DB2
Medium2 mins
Solve
Transaction Handling and Error Recovery in DB2
SQL Programming
Transactions
Error Handling
IBM DB2
Medium3 mins
Solve
Disposition Parameters
JCL Syntax
Dataset Management
IBM JCL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Execution Order and Return Codes
Job Control
Execution Order
Return Codes
IBM JCL
Medium2 mins
Solve
Reason #4

1200+ customers in 75 countries

customers in 75 countries
Brandon

With Adaface, we were able to optimise our initial screening process by upwards of 75%, freeing up precious time for both hiring managers and our talent acquisition team alike!


Brandon Lee, Head of People, Love, Bonito

Reason #5

Designed for elimination, not selection

The most important thing while implementing the pre-employment IBM Mainframe Test in your hiring process is that it is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. In other words: you want to use the test to eliminate the candidates who do poorly on the test, not to select the candidates who come out at the top. While they are super valuable, pre-employment tests do not paint the entire picture of a candidate’s abilities, knowledge, and motivations. Multiple easy questions are more predictive of a candidate's ability than fewer hard questions. Harder questions are often "trick" based questions, which do not provide any meaningful signal about the candidate's skillset.

Reason #6

1 click candidate invites

Email invites: You can send candidates an email invite to the IBM Mainframe Test from your dashboard by entering their email address.

Public link: You can create a public link for each test that you can share with candidates.

API or integrations: You can invite candidates directly from your ATS by using our pre-built integrations with popular ATS systems or building a custom integration with your in-house ATS.

invite candidates
Reason #7

Detailed scorecards & benchmarks

Reason #8

High completion rate

Adaface tests are conversational, low-stress, and take just 25-40 mins to complete.

This is why Adaface has the highest test-completion rate (86%), which is more than 2x better than traditional assessments.

test completion rate
Reason #9

Advanced Proctoring


About Mainframe Developer Roles

Mainframes are high-performance computers with large amounts of memory and processors that process billions of simple calculations and transactions in real time.

A mainframe developer is essentially a software developer who works within the mainframe system.

Mainframe experts are a diminishing group of developers. This has created an increasing demand for mainframe experts on a global scale.

Typical Mainframe Developer responsibilities include:

  • Design, develop and maintain Mainframe COBOL & JCL
  • Develop and execute unit test and integration plans/scripts to validate that application changes meet technical specifications
  • Provide Solution Delivery Methodology artifacts associated with application components
  • Perform application support tasks like: systems support, security reviews, & maintenance tasks

What roles can I use the IBM Mainframe Test for?

  • Mainframe Developer
  • Mainframe Programmer
  • Mainframe Systems Analyst
  • Mainframe Operations Analyst
  • Mainframe Administrator

What topics are covered in the IBM Mainframe Online Test?

Mainframe computing
Update cursor
COBOL

Index refers to the number of displacement positions in an array.

Index
Table declaration
Lock contention
SEARCH
Confinement level
Alias
LIKE table
Linkage
Foreign keys
INCLUDE
Referential integrity
CICS
EIB
DRDA
Spool
COPYBOOK
UPDATE
Job Control Language
Static and dynamic linking
DCB parameter
STEPLIB
DB2 program
Type-2 index
SOC-7 error
Evaluate Statements
COMMITS
JCL
Singapore government logo

The hiring managers felt that through the technical questions that they asked during the panel interviews, they were able to tell which candidates had better scores, and differentiated with those who did not score as well. They are highly satisfied with the quality of candidates shortlisted with the Adaface screening.


85%
reduction in screening time

FAQs

Can I combine multiple skills into one custom assessment?

Yes, absolutely. Custom assessments are set up based on your job description, and will include questions on all must-have skills you specify.

Do you have any anti-cheating or proctoring features in place?

We have the following anti-cheating features in place:

  • Non-googleable questions
  • IP proctoring
  • Web proctoring
  • Webcam proctoring
  • Plagiarism detection
  • Secure browser

Read more about the proctoring features.

How do I interpret test scores?

The primary thing to keep in mind is that an assessment is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. A skills assessment is optimized to help you eliminate candidates who are not technically qualified for the role, it is not optimized to help you find the best candidate for the role. So the ideal way to use an assessment is to decide a threshold score (typically 55%, we help you benchmark) and invite all candidates who score above the threshold for the next rounds of interview.

What experience level can I use this test for?

Each Adaface assessment is customized to your job description/ ideal candidate persona (our subject matter experts will pick the right questions for your assessment from our library of 10000+ questions). This assessment can be customized for any experience level.

Does every candidate get the same questions?

Yes, it makes it much easier for you to compare candidates. Options for MCQ questions and the order of questions are randomized. We have anti-cheating/ proctoring features in place. In our enterprise plan, we also have the option to create multiple versions of the same assessment with questions of similar difficulty levels.

I'm a candidate. Can I try a practice test?

No. Unfortunately, we do not support practice tests at the moment. However, you can use our sample questions for practice.

What is the cost of using this test?

You can check out our pricing plans.

Can I get a free trial?

Yes, you can sign up for free and preview this test.

I just moved to a paid plan. How can I request a custom assessment?

Here is a quick guide on how to request a custom assessment on Adaface.

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