Balj Technology Interview Questions and Answers

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - lot of round, pretty tough

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: My resume had a couple of projects and a paper publication added to it, which was a part of my second year intern at TCS Innovation Labs.

Tips: I believe that the resume shortlist to appear for the test is just a formality and not a big deal to get through. Most of the students are allowed to appear for the test which is where, the main shortlisting occurs.
Although, the company does cut off people from certain departments. For example, none of the Agriculture and food engineering students were shortlisted for appearing for the test.
Also, from what I have heard, the company runs resumes through a program to take out the shortlist. Hence, certain key words such as "Scholar" or "Conference" may get you a good chance to get through the shortlisting.

Round: Test
Experience: The test is mainly quant based and how fast you can think and rationalize. They expect excellent speed; they ask you 20 questions to be answered in 30 minutes.
Tips: Normally, if a student is asked to appear for this right after his JEE examination, he would be able to get through it easily. But since our analytical thinking goes way down once we actually get in, it has to be worked upon again. I'd suggest you to solve all the quant questions of any CAT preparatory book for the American Express test. The test questions are quite similar to those that the CAT students prepare for.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: In general, the American Express interviews are considered to be pretty peaceful compared to the interviews of other companies. I was just asked about my work at TCS Innovation Labs and the paper I would be publishing based on that work and the courses I have done in Data Analytics and what all do I know in it. They do not test the knowledge you say you possess.
Tips: While I was preparing for my interview, I was told to read about Amex and its products. Secondly, and most importantly, I was aksed to read a lot about credit card frauds and suggest ways of preventing that. Even during my time, a lot of people were asked about this and judged severely on that. This is a must must if you would be appearing for its interview.

Also, you would do well if you are able to connect with the interviewer. For instance, if both of you have been a part of the same inter IIT or have the same tastes, etc.

Also, the interviews are that peaceful that you are able to direct the interview in your favour. There are certain parts of your CV that you can easily talk about and certain parts that you would want to avoid. If you are able to think on your feet, it is easy to re direct the interview in your favour and the things that you would like to talk about; in my case, it was my work at TCS.

Round: Puzzle Interview
Experience: The main decision whether you have to be taken in or not is decided in your first round of interview after which, the puzzle interview is just a formality and to find out whether you are able to think on your feet or not. Not a big deal, pretty easy.
Tips: Nothing to be worried about, the puzzles asked are pretty easy and most probably, you would have already heard them if you have a nag of solving puzzles.

General Tips: Do not worry or stress yourself much. The interview is pretty easy if you have an edge in the skills that the company wants. I had started studying Data Analytics in my second year summer vacations, just 1 hour a day for hardly about a month. Which gave me enough of an edge. The main hurdle lies in getting through the test round where about 300 people are simply cut off.
Skill Tips: You should be able to code efficiently. Knowledge in Python and SQL is a big plus.
Also, I had done a course on Coursera called "Machine Learning" of Stanford University. Today, the company does not expect a lot of knowledge in Data Analytics from students which is why this course gave me the edge I needed to get through the interview. It's a pretty easy course and not very demanding. I would recommend this if you want to find out even whether you'd be interested in Data Analytics or not.
I was asked about the things I know and whether I have ever implemented them.
Skills: Analytics And Coding
Duration: 2
College Name: IIT Kharagpur
Motivation: American Express is known to have a good working culture and is currently the third best company to work for in India. The internship stipend is largest compared to any other company in India along with accommodation and travel. The company has a well structured internship program and also has good challenging work to offer.
Funny Moments: After the test, I was not shortlisted for the interview round.. Which broke my heart.
Just after the presentation, I walked up to the person presenting and handed him a hard copy of my resume asking him to at least give me a shot at the interview if they think my profile is good enough.
I believe that this was a turning point of this entire experience. I believe, at that moment itself, I gained their favour to take me in. Which is probably why my interview was peaceful, which is probably why I could get through even though my interview was the last among a bunch of 25 students..

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: My resume had gotten shortlisted for the profile of an Analyst. This was the first stage.

Round: Group Discussion
Duration: 20 minutes

College Name: Lady Shri Ram College

Round: Test
Experience: Practice questions on Indiabix.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Operating Systems basics, Dbsa basics

General Tips: 1: Be Confident.
2: Keep Smiling.
3: Do not be Panic.
4: Remember they are here to hire you but not reject you.
5: Do not loose hope.
6: Believe at yourself.
7: Start preparing early.
8: Do demo interviews with your friend.
Skill Tips: Make sure you do a course on object oriented programming
Skills: C, Sql, Java
College Name: BITS PILANI
Motivation: Every body joins a comapny for making a software or earning money. But I was always motivated to MAKE MONEY. I have taken this job because they have very extensive work in Share Market and they have lots of MBA from IIM's, Lots of CAs, CS. Thats why i have choosen Edelweiss. I have rejected epic System USA for this profile.

Round: Test
Experience: There were 25 MCQs and 2 case studies (one was guesstimate and other was a strategy case).

Round: Other Interview
Experience: We had 4 rounds of interviews, each lasting for about 15 minutes. In each one, they asked something from the resume and some puzzles, probability questions and this was again because I told them I like Maths. Last one was telephonic and they asked me about my family background.

General Tips: Be yourself. Prepare everything from your resume. Take a good sleep before the interview. Don't pretend to be over-smart and DO NOT argue with them.
Skills: Puzzle solving skills, Probability
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Test
Experience: Basic CAT level questions of Data Sufficiency
Tips: CAT preparation would help. Strong basics in High school mathematics needed, along with some smart thinking at times.
Duration: 30 minutes
Total Questions: 50

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: 15 minutes given for an almost impossible to get an answer problem. Later asked to explain your solution. The approach matters much much more than the final answer.
Tips: Be cool, think basics. Don't forget elementary things that units conversion, unitary methods, probability distributions etc. If while explaining, you realize you actually made a mistake while attempting the problem, acknowledge it and explain the correct approach from there on, rather than trying to disguise your mistake.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: Things like, why Citi, prior experience with data analytics, examples from real life for mathematical concepts highlighted in Resume. Some general awareness related questions asked!
Tips: Be thorough through the resume. Act smart and reply what they want to hear. It's okay to ask them for a few minutes in case you want to think before answering something rather than mumbling what comes to your mind first!

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Again things like why Citi, why analytics. This round seemed more out of formality than for selection.

General Tips: Keep calm, and take the interview as a conversation - unless it's a stress interview. Always take your time and think before you answer anything rather than mumbling out the first thing that comes to your mind.
Skills: Probability, Statistics, Analytical skills
College Name: IIT MADRAS
Motivation: Needed a break into the Finance sector!

Round: Test
Experience: There were 25 MCQs. This was followed by 2 case studies, one guess estimate and the other was strategy case.

Round: Interview
Experience: It was for about 15 minutes. There were 4 such rounds. Questions were asked from resume, Some puzzles and questions on probability were asked because I told them that I like mathematics.

Round: Interview
Experience: This was over the telephone. They asked about my family background.

General Tips: Be yourself. Prepare from your resume thoroughly.
Have enough sleep before your interview as this will affect your performance.
Do not pretend to be over-smart, and DO NOT argue.
And lastly, prepare well, as in the end, it will all seem worth your efforts.
College Name: IIT KANPUR