American Express Business Planning Analyst Interview Questions and Answers

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Please be on time and well dressed
Communication must be good
Answer questions if you can, if you don’t know just accept you don’t know

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Be confident and don't speak lie.

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Be natural and your own true self. If your natural skills are inclined towards the requirements, you will be hired or you will know where you have to improve.

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Read the job description and know the job role as the interview questions are related to it.

Round: Test
Experience: 30 questions, 30

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Tell about myself
Tips: Need to talk. So they can get to know about are communication

Round: Test
Experience: It's a aptitude test of English and finance related questions askef
Duration: 1 hour
Total Questions: 80

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Q: Give me five steps to estimate the number of traffic lights in Bombay.
Me: I will divide the city into equidistant lines, both vertical and horizontal; sort of a mesh. Then I would take vertical and horizontal rectangles i.e. the rectangles which fall on length and breadth of the city. Starting with the horizontal ones I would try to estimate the number of roads going from east to west in each rectangle(depending on the type of area: residential, commercial or a highway) Similarly I would try to estimate the number of roads going from north to south in each vertical rectangle. Now I have the average number of roads per unit length and per unit breadth. Now, I can calculate the average number of roads intersecting per rectangle. Now if I have the data, I can also use the traffic density data to further improve my estimate, i.e. whether the traffic light is required in that rectangle or not.(depending upon the traffic density)
Q: Lets say that golden quadrilateral gets completed tomorrow. What would be its impact on the sales of Ashok Leyland?
Me: Sir, they would increase, as more and more traffic will shift from railways to roadways as the average time taken by road will decrease.
Q: If I say that the sales will decreases by road, the truk will make the same number of trips in less amount of time, thereby rendering overcapacity in the road transport market therefore the sales will decrease.
Me: (I actually didn't let him complete, I interrupted him in between and said that I got the logic)
Tips: Don't try to overstate the facts.

Skills:
Duration: 3
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: HR Interview
Experience: 1. At First, I missed the Credit Suisse GD since I hadn’t brought along a portfolio manager (one who handles your interview schedule and attends to the ever-ringing mobile phone).
2. I proceeded to Credit Suisse, and requested their HR contact to give me a chance since I could not turn up for the GDs.
3. It was here that I handed over my mobile phone to my friend Apratim Tiwari, who was managing the Credit Suisse procedures, and requested him to pursue the HR guy to schedule an interview, and also handle my phone when I was interviewing and he had successfully managed to get me an interview with Credit Suisse.
4. The interview went well. They were apparently quite impressed.
5. Two more rounds of interviews, and the HR guy made me an offer.
6. But, since Deutsche Bank was my dream company, I was also interviewing with them and got selected.
Tips: You would need to focus on three broad areas for a comprehensive preparation:
(a) HR questions: This is the most important part for any interview. In companies like DB, your communication skills coupled with your preparation of such questions account for more than 70% of a candidate’s selection. Answering questions about your career goals, interests, and your career thus far should become second nature by the end of November. You must also know the firms and job profiles inside out. I worked on this specific area, and by the end of the placement session, I had gained a reputation among my wingies for my expertise at answering HR questions.
(b) Puzzles: Since this is a non-core sector, puzzles are the only way to objectively test the ability of candidates with diverse backgrounds. Look up braingle.com and techinterview.org. These two should suffice. Also, whenever you come across a puzzle that you’ve already encountered, pretend as if you’re going through it for the first time. Don’t rush through. This is your opportunity to impress them. Do not squander it away!
(c) Finance and economic affairs: If you have a comprehensive knowledge of the financial markets, national economy, and international affairs, in addition to the above two, it is highly improbable that you won’t be selected. For brushing up these, read the Economist (print or online), and read through the opinion pages of Economic Times or the Business Standard for 2-3 months leading to the Placement season. You must also regularly read a newspaper like the Hindu or Indian Express to keep yourself abreast of the latest events which frequently become a focal point of group discussions (for Credit Suisse). You CANNOT afford to walk into the interview ignorant of terms like European debt crisis, global financial crisis, fiscal cliff, QE, and basic finance like options, hedging etc. Wikipedia, Investopedia and J.C.Hull (first few chapters) are great sources to pick up these.

General Tips: 1. If you are a B.Tech. student, do not be under the wrong impression that you can target all sectors- core as well as non-core. It is really difficult to prepare comprehensively for all companies, especially if you are in the B.Tech. program owing to time constraints.
2. The Dual degree students have an edge over you for precisely two reasons. Firstly, they get more time to prepare for the placements, and have learnt vicariously from their B.Tech. batchmates' experiences. Secondly, they tend to have higher retention rates (good for the companies).
3. Work on your English communication skills which are crucial for performing well in interviews and GDs.
Let neither of these become an obstacle by leaving no stone unturned in the course of your preparations.
4. You can’t appear for more than 4 companies in the first slot. It is not realistic. Hence, decide beforehand. I knew I hadn’t prepared enough for consulting or core, hence I opted out of ITC and Opera.
5. If you are shortlisted in multiple companies, ask a reliable friend to accompany you to the interviews, and handle your mobile phone (“managing one’s portfolio”). You’ll thank me someday for this advice.
6. I was happy that I prepared as much as I did, neglecting my college academics in the process. It is a decision I am proud of.
7. My Morgan Stanley internship distinguished me from scores of other candidates. I had never truly appreciated its importance till then. That also goes to show how important it is to get a good internship.
Skill Tips: 1. I scored a 100 percentile in CAT and the preparation made a huge impact on preparing for any of the interviews.
2. I also interned at Morgan Stanley which was further a plus for me.
3. I had received Honda YES Award, University of Tokyo-IIT Scholarship and my academic background was quite good.
Skills: Problem solving skills, Finance Basics, Basic HR questions, Economic affairs
College Name: IIT KANPUR