Hi! I’m Anmol from the Physics Department and I interned at American Express in Gurgaon.
Selection Procedure:
AmEx recruits through the TnP cell and like most Day 1&2 companies has a multi-layer selection process. The selection procedure involved a CV-shortlisting round, which was essentially based on CGPA (>7). Next was an online test, which was based on general aptitude. There were absolutely no programming (COL 106) or probability-based (MTL 106) questions in the testing procedure. Thereafter, there were 2 interviews. The first was the technical round, which was mostly resume-based, a few puzzles and some technical questions. The second was an HR round. This round consisted of general questions like “why do you want to join Amex?”, some more puzzles and a small case study.
The Internship:
I had heard from someone that Amex assigns a lot of work to interns but this wasn’t something I was concerned about. I was just looking forward to what unfolds.
About the internship, when a person approaches the company for a loan or a credit card, the company does a background check on the person. They have some algorithms for the same. Amex too has a risk prediction model. It can be used to increase or decrease the standing limit on a card depending on how ‘risky’ the customer is. My job was to check if the model is doing well for a particular set of customers.
Work Culture:
For interns, the work that was assigned was easily manageable. A mentor was assigned to new interns in the company. They guided us on how things were done. My mentor was very supportive and friendly and he helped me a lot with my work. The people there were easily approachable. Everyone has cubicles and there’s thus really no hierarchy. If I had some issues, I could also talk to the manager, director or even the vice president! I also realised that the work-life balance was pretty good and people weren’t complaining about any excessive workload. The company also supported people who wanted to pursue personal ideas that would be co-beneficial to the company.
AmEx provides stay in a guest house for the first week, during which interns are supposed to arrange for accommodation. The workplace itself is really cool, located in a prime office area in Gurgaon. You’ll find Costa Coffee and Starbucks in the same building and a lot of AmEx employee discounts at a lot of major food chains. Work hours are relaxed, Mondays start late at 1 PM and Fridays end early at 5 PM.
Takeaways:
This was a completely new experience for me. I saw how things in the corporate world are so well organised and well structured. Even the smallest actions were well planned and not spontaneous. I got to learn a lot about this. I saw how much my actions affected other people. There was far more accountability than in college and there are more constraints on the work that each employee performs.
In a lighter vein, AmEx makes you feel special with all it has to offer and overall, it was a fantastic experience.
Interviewed by: Muskaan Jain