Ola Cabs Business Analyst Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Topics to prepare for Ola Cabs Business Analyst interview:

• Business Case
• SQL
• Excel
• Python

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Focus on SQL, Excel, Basic Python, Statistics, and Probability concepts

General Tips: Ola cabs visited our campus for Management Trainee Profile. The process started late in November with a written test; the test was conducted on HackerEarth and consisted 40 questions (Verbal, RC, Quant & LR) to be completed in 60 minutes. About 40 students (20ish waitlisted) were shortlisted based on the test. The written exams of most of the companies predominantly test quant, verbal, DI & LR; and I would strongly suggest practicing Arun Sharma & other CAT materials.

Moving forward, the interviews were scheduled for Dec 1 and consisted of three rounds. It is important that you smile, exude confidence and engage the interviewer and get them interested in you. I would suggest taking up roles involving public speaking through clubs, events, competitions, etc and hone your communication skills. Also, try having mock interviews with your friends and exchange feedback. Also, PORs really help in showcasing leadership qualities.

My first round started off with my introduction and resume walk-down. Since my resume had concentration in Economics & Finance, I was questioned on Micro-Economics, Financial terms, Pricing strategies and so forth. By now I had built up a great rapport, and the interview felt more like a conversation. I was asked on the economics behind the surge pricing, and how and when the price for customer increases & decreases and was asked real-life cases to vary the pricing (Price increases when Demand-high Supply-low; and price decreases Supply-high Demand-low. Then, I was asked to estimate the number of people chewing pan at that particular moment in Varanasi (My interview was happening around 9:30 PM). [Segment by gender and age, estimate no of ppl who chew pan, the frequency of chewing pan, and allocate a percentage who chew pan at that particular moment]. The interview ended with questions from my side and at last, I ended up giving a product suggestion to improve Ola, which was very highly appreciated (with a promise to take it up with the product team).

Second round: Resume walk down, asked again on financial terms, financial statements, valuation, etc [be completely thorough of your resume, don't fake anything], asked to suggest a couple business opportunities in Varanasi, the business model of Ola [read the difference between business model & revenue model of a business], then a mini-case/problem on increasing the revenue of a small space & budget constrained restaurant. This was followed by couple more factor questions - metrics on which drivers can rate Ola; even after increasing no of drivers we are unable to fulfill demand/increase no of booking (there is unfulfilled demand), identify all the metrics/places you'll look at to identify the problem source. Tips for case questions & factor/metrics questions: Be composed, ask permission & take time to write down your thoughts before blurting out, they are always going to ask for more metrics - don't fluster & be prepared to think and give more & more metrics/solutions. Lastly, the interview ended with questions from my side [google up interviewer profile while waiting and frame ques accordingly; my first interviewer was in product team and my second was in analytics/ML; right questions can excite the interviewers and leave an impact].

Third round: HR based questions; questions abt different Ola services - their business model, target customers, feasibility in diff regions; your goals, expectation from Ola.
Other interviewees were also asked puzzles. Finally, eight candidates were offered full-time positions.

Go through Case in Point, practice guesstimates, and puzzles[Mt Fuji, Geekforgeeks, etc] with your friends [do mocks & exchange feedback].

Best of luck!!!
College Name: IIT BHU

Round: Test
Experience: it was a basic test, CAT level questions and can be easily cleared
Tips: keep your cool, don't panic
Duration: 60 minutes
Total Questions: 60

College Name: IIT BOMBAY