BNP Paribas Senior Analyst Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Test
Experience: Test was conducted by AMCAT at Madras School of Economics. Test was an adaptive test. Accuracy matters along with the speed. Do focus on all the sections. Questions were easy to moderate.
Tips: Prepare well before the test. HSBC was the second company to conduct test. DO NOT IGNORE RETAIL BANKING.

Preparation Material: Arun Sharma
Duration: 55 minutes
Total Questions: 50

Round: Technical + HR Interview
Experience: HSBC had skype interview at MSE. I was waiting from 11am in the morning. And it was already 6pm in the evening. One girl before me took around 45 minutes. As i entered, they were in hurry. They wanted to finish soon. As i started interview, they directly told me that they are getting late so they would finish things quickly. I was not asked even to introduce myself.

They asked me one project i have worked on and which i think was the best. I told them a project on Credit Risk Modelling. Luckily interviewer was also from the Credit Risk Team at HSBC. He started grilling over all the concepts. Why i used the particular model? What is ROC? What was the delinquency period and why ? I had done that project too seriously. I made him clear all the concepts. They focus more on your concepts and understanding. They also asked my few basic questions on Statistics which were related to my project.

I told them everything in just 10 minutes. And right after that the interviewer told me that it would be the last question they will ask me. I started thinking i won't get selected as no one finished in just 10 minutes. Then interview went on for 5 more minutes. I was given a case study on decreasing sales of a particular departmental store's division.

At last there were some HR questions. At last interviewer was really impressed by me. Guys a

College Name: Madras School of Economics

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Initial shortlisting was based on resume where CGPA cutoff was around 8.

Round: Test
Experience: Questions were related to Data interpretation and Aptitude,which mostly tests a person's patience too.Around 20-25 were shortlisted after this round.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Questions relating to case studies and course done in your maths were asked.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: In this round,the candidate was asked to talk about himself, his qualities and mostly the activities he was involved in the past 4-5 years of his life.

Skill Tips: A proper revision of math courses will also be useful during interviews and can do much better by having preparation in case studies.
Skills: Good communication skills
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Test
Experience: The first section tested basic aptitude mainly logic and interpretation. It tests your timing and approach to solve a question.
The second consisted of Data Interpretation mainly pie charts and tables having data around bank deposits and dues. This section has enough time but can sometimes turn out tricky.
Now comes Economics. I had no idea prior to the test that this would be asked. So literally knew nothing beforehand. But questions can be answered if given a little thought into it. Most of them are from our personal experiences of banking excluding a select few which needs in depth knowledge of finance.
Tips: Just be patient and try and answer all questions. After all there is nothing to lose because no negative. I was kinda confident because the first two sections went pretty well. Don't think they gave much weight-age for the Economics section.
Duration: 60 minutes

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: Shortlist after the first round was announced at night. So group discussion and interviews followed the next day. Always been not a fan of group discussions. This time around I tried to keep in pace with the current affairs and most likely topics.
In my panel there were 10 members. It started well, I managed to chip in with a few valid points. Remember the key here is to be different and mention points that can carry the gd forward.
Tips: Make sure you are audible and straight to the point. People are waiting to barge in and speak, so any small pause might rip you off your chance.
Duration: 20 minutes

College Name: NIT Tiruchirappalli

Round: Test
Experience: It was a decent test as normal apti tests but you have to keep little extra knowledge about retail banking and econometrics.
Tips: Just practice well for all aptitude test and boost your speed with accuracy.
Duration: 60 minutes
Total Questions: 40

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: It was a good discussion but in between there was a chaos as number of people in my group was too big(14) as far as GDs are concerned.But overall it was good and everyone whosoever wanted, had put their points.
Tips: Don't fight during GD. Make sure that whenever you get chance you utilize it fully and make a very effective point. Also keep in mind it is a GD so you should be humble to others as well.
Duration: 30 minutes

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: It was a very weird experience.
After get shortlisted from test late in the night, our GD was early in the morning and then followed by interview. And then something really strange happened.I was waiting for my turn since afternoon and I was the last one to be interviewed. When I was called for my turn, all three panel of interviewers came out of their rooms and they announced the result before taking my interview so it was shocking because as par our campus rule you can not straight away declare the results to candidates before the whole process gets over. It shook me and I was very angry at that time but I kept myself calm and turned that anger into a positive way thanks to my friend who were there with me during that time. All I thought was I will get a chance and now I don't have anything to lose so I have to make a better impact on them than the other guys and convince them to increase their selected candidate list. The interview started with general HR questions, why do you want to join us? Why do you think we should hire you? And then they started asking questions over my project which I mentioned in my resume. After that there were few basic probability questions and some analytical puzzles. And during my interview I said I like to play with numbers so they threw me a multiplication 55555*55555 and it took me around 25-30 seconds to do it so I think that was a really effective part of my interview well at last I got selected in HSBC.
Tips: Don't get panic and never lose your calm. Situations can be more worst than what you thought it to be but be confident on yourself. Sooner or later you will be rewarded for your work. Good luck in advance :)

General Tips: Just be yourself and be confident. Be with those who make you feel comfortable. Keep calm and eventually everything will fall in the right place.
Skill Tips: I would say that patience is not a skill but it is as important as any other skill during your interviews. You might encounter some serious situations which might take you on your nerve so be patient.
During your interviews make sure whatever you know you should be able to communicate it well enough otherwise your knowledge is of no use. At the same time ensure that you don't really show off that you know more. If you know more about that problem be humble to the interviewer as discuss or share your thoughts in a very polite manner. And last but not the least is the analytical skills. You might be asked to decode some case or do guesstimates to be prepared for it. Practice it a lot with your friends or else whichever way you like it to be done.
Skills: Analytical skill, Communication, Patience
College Name: IIT KANPUR
Motivation: My only motivation was to get a analytical job which I was targeting. And apart from it there was a reason in my life to get this job and do something for someone very special. So, this keeps me motivated even today.
Funny Moments: The whole placement process right from companies visiting your campus to giving test and getting shortlisted for the interviews was really stressful but when I look back I cherish all those moments where we all friend sat together abusing some bull shit companies their procedure. How we used to run like a wild animal from one test to another one PPT to another. Those late might discussion talking about our future. Those were the lifetime memories, good or bad, which will stay with us always.

Godd luck again for your placements. :)

Round: Test
Experience: The test was on amcat platform where you can not skip the question and you have to attempt each and every question.the key thing here is accuracy specially in first two section coz in retail banking and econometric will be new for everyone.I am from Industrial Engg and Management(M.tech) so we have some basic idea of Econometrics.
Tips: Maintain the accuracy and try to give few hours in studying the basic of Retail Banking and Econometric, coz these are the two section where u can take the lead. and never forget that this is the mass rejection process

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: Follow the basic rule of GD and try to give valid example with your point.
Tips: Read the Newspaper and be aware of what is happening around.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: my interview was around 35-40 minutes process in which they as the technical part from my resume
Tips: just be confident and they will try to stress you out.so be calm and compose and try to understand the question properly before start giving your answer
they expect the logic how you attempt the question


Round: HR Interview
Experience: be ready for the puzzles
Tips: The process is going to be time talking so be ready to wait, and dont sound low in the interview coz this is the day u are waiting for your entire life.

Skills:
College Name: NIT Tiruchirappalli

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Be confident and prepare your resume well