Amex

Role: Internship

College: Banasthali Vidyapith

Interview Date: September 2021

Interview Type: Internship

Result: Selected

Difficulty: Medium

Rounds: 3 rounds

Topics Asked: Data Structures, Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs), Database Management Systems (DBMS), Projects, Behavioral, Analytical Thinking

Experience:

This is an interview experience shared by Sakshi Saxena for a 2-month internship at American Express. The process included three rounds.

Round 1: Coding Round (Codility Platform)

Duration: 90 minutes. Three medium-level questions were given. A key challenge was that only 1 or 2 test cases were visible, with the rest hidden, requiring thorough consideration of edge cases. The focus was on correctness over performance.

• Question 1: A lengthy problem involving a cleaning robot on an N*M grid, starting from the top-left, moving right, and rotating 90 degrees clockwise upon hitting an obstacle. The goal was to return the number of clean squares.
• Question 2: Merging two sorted lists with K and L elements, where merging takes (K+L) milliseconds, and the final list depends on the order of merges.
• Question 3: Finding the maximum odd decomposition of a number A, returning the array in ascending order. If no odd decomposition exists, return an empty array.

The candidate solved two questions correctly and was shortlisted for the next round.

Round 2: Technical Round

Seven students were shortlisted for this round. Questions included:

• Resume Walkthrough: The interviewer asked for a walkthrough of the resume, which had a combination of technical, managerial, design, and leadership positions.
• Projects: Explanation of projects, tech stacks, skills, frameworks, and technologies used. The interviewer focused on the "why, when, and how" of solutions applied in projects.
• OOPs & DBMS: In-depth questions on concepts.
• DSA: Explanation of stack, queues, LinkedList, and a little about trees. Pattern questions and output questions were given, with the interviewer more interested in the approach.
• Open Source and GitHub: Discussion on these topics.

Round 3: Interview with the Director of American Express

Duration: Around 30 minutes. This was described as a relaxed interview, focusing on the candidate as a person, their skills, and other involvements beyond tech. Questions were behavioral, situation-based, and analytical. Questions about American Express itself were asked, such as "What do you know about American Express, what do we do here, what services we provide and who is the CEO?" The candidate was also given a chance to ask questions about work culture, challenges, and responsibilities.

The candidate was ultimately selected for the internship.