Nielsen Research Analyst Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: 15 people were short listed from the entire lot.
Tips: High CGPA or course in R programming will be helpful in getting shortlisted.

Round: Telephonic interview
Experience: general HR questions like describe yourself was asked. I was questioned on my tennis knowledge (extra curricular) and detailed description of intern too.
Tips: Be thorough with your resume from start to end and you should be able to explain what you did in interview.

Round: Test
Experience: Difficult questions related to data interpretation mixed with probability were asked to solve within 7 minutes. One guess-estimate question and one case study type problem were asked to be solved within 23 minutes.
Tips: calculations should be done fast and assumptions properly written.
Duration: 30 minutes
Total Questions: 6

General Tips: Be very thorough with your resume and some general HR questions.
Skill Tips: Be calm and not get tensed is a must,
Skills: Analyzing And Problem Solving Skills
Duration: 2
College Name: IIT Madras
Motivation: This is a very diverse company and major attraction is that it applies decision analytics to solve business problems. Being interested in a finance and coding a bit, this profile seemed the right fit.
Funny Moments: I was quizzed on my knowledge of tennis like how many Grand slam has Leander paes won and what was the semi final score of US open.

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Didn't read any material saw resumes of my friends who pass out last year to see how to organize my points. Prepare my resume and refine it with the help of my friends several times

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Saw common HR questions from the websites and prepare answers for that .worked in groups in which one person acted as an interviewer.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: For the case studies, I referred many e-books available to learn the basic procedure to solve case studies. Sample case studies are also available on sites of these companies (Mckinsey.com, BCG.com or Bain.com)

Round: Puzzle Interview
Experience: Some companies asked puzzles. Common puzzles can be found on internet (pagalguy.com, brainvista.com , or orkut)

College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Interview
Experience: Firstly, I was kept on waitlist for EXL but, was later shifted to the main list. The first round was HR and it went well.

Round: Interview
Experience: After subsequently acing the the first round. The second round was technical in nature and involved a case study. In my view , I was able to perform decently in it.

Round: Interview
Experience: The third interview was a puzzle interview that tested the mental abilities. I had done one of the puzzles before so answered it properly .
Tips: 1. I had joined CL just after 4th year for my aptitude only and took a lot of time to prepare my resume. then I have been in habit of conducting discussions with my wingmates.
2. Moreover before the interviews I prepared thoroughly for HR questions.

General Tips: 1. Although I had a low CPI, I have been involved in various co-curricular activities.
2. I have been involved in M club as a vocalist
3. I have played football,
4. I was the Festival coordinator of Antaragni.
5. Apart from that, I have been involved in Techkriti in my first and second year in hospitality and in my third year in PR.
6. I have also been a STF in Udghosh.
7. I have a habit of reading books and newspapers regularly.
8. My internships included an online project for BSE after my second year, a one month internship in RBI after my third year.
9. I had an internship with a London based consultancy firm after my fourth year.
10. My MSc project is on GREEN CAFEs and purchasing power of people and their desire to spend money on them.
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Test
Experience: 1. Quantitative questions (10), Verbal Ability (10) and Data Interpretation (10). 
2. It was long as the DI questions were time consuming.
Tips: Attempt each section because there are sectional cut offs as well. Many people didn't consider this and attempted some sections completely and left out some completely.
Duration: 45 minutes
Total Questions: 30

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It lasted for 15-20 minutes.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The panel was of one person. It lasted for 20 minutes. He asked the place I belonged too. I answered Delhi and then he went straight on to the case that if my friends wants to open up a barber shop in the area I live, what are the prospects. It was pretty open ended and could be taken anywhere. Was trying to see if I can bring in all factors or not. Then regarding one of the competitions I participated in, he asked me to list three and just 3 factors which can summarize my solutions. This king of bullet-ed answering is generally expected from consultants and maybe that’s why he asked such a question.

Round: Stress Interview
Experience: The panel was of one person. He asked me a puzzle and said if I know it already I should tell him. I didn’t know it so he proceeded. Then he went out of the room saying he doesn’t want an answer, he just wants to discuss the puzzle with me and will be back in 5 mins. He came 5 mins later and started circling around me in the interview room and asked what I had to say regarding the question. I told him what I could figure out and then he started helping me in where I was stuck. He constantly kept circling around me. Probably was trying to build up stress. Finally together we arrived at the answer and he was happy after that and let me go.

General Tips: 1. Keep yourself calm in the interview even if you don’t know something. Smile and say that you don’t know is the best way.
2. Stress interviews might be there, you panic and you are out. That’s something not expected from you under pressure.
3. Participating in competitions held at the time of placements is a good idea to know about the company as well about your preference regarding the company. The problem statements are a good insight into the actual problems companies deal with.
4. Be focused on the kind of companies you want to go for. Even at the stage of application, it's good to remove some companies from your wishlist based on your interest and capability to avoid confusion and disappointment in the end.
Skill Tips: If you have done some data processing project before, that gives something to talk about in your interview.
Skills: Probability and Statistics
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Test
Experience: 1. Number of Questions: 30 (10 each from mathematics, English and DI).
2. Type of questions and details Questions of Mathematics and DI were mainly from previous years CAT papers. 
3. The time was very limited and so speed was very important while solving the questions. 
4. Moreover there was cut off for individual sections so keeping that in mind one had give time to each section.
Duration: 30-40 minutes
Total Questions: 10+10+10

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Most of the questions were resume based. The interviewer also tried to confuse me sometimes. While I was answering he looked at the ceiling and here and there but I ensured that I was still answering everything very confidently not diverting my attention.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: It was a HR + puzzle + casestudy interview and lasted for 20-25 minutes and had a panel of only one.

General Tips: 1. Don’t leave everything for the end. As December approaches it becomes more and more hectic with end sems, project deadlines, BTP, ppts to attend, test of companies etc. Start preparing early.
2. Do attend ppt and write down points whatever they mention in the ppt. generally one can prepare the questions like why this sector or why this company from the points they mention in ppt. 
3. They generally mention that they are looking for in the candidates in the ppt so this helps in preparing the answers in interview. Moreover do spend some time in preparing for HR. 
4. At least think and write down few basic points of the questions that are generally asked in the interviews.
Skill Tips: Do solve all previous year question papers of CAT and try to increase speed of solving.
Do practice some case studies and puzzles.
Skills:
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: HR Interview
Experience: This round went pretty well in my opinion.

Round: Guesstimate Interview
Experience: I had prepared for guesstimates. So, this round went rather well.

General Tips: 1. I had a CPI of 8.6 and my resume didn't have any co-curricular activities as such. I had an intern in Pidilite Industry and i had given my CAT exam.
2. I had joined CL for CAT which helped me for aptitude tests .
3. Also, I prepared for puzzles and guesstimates, took part in the diamond case study competition though I didn't win it. 
4. I had also prepared for core companies as well.
College Name: IIT KANPUR