American Express
When I heard of this company coming to our campus, I was slightly impressed by the name but didn’t really took it seriously. It was an A++ company according to the placement rules of our college. I had not made it to the interviews of many A++ companies before so this time also I thought I won’t make it. Actually I was fed up of those companies who conduct the written exam and never bother to check it. These companies just look at the percentage and shortlist the toppers only leaving people like me (with percentage just below 70) very disappointed. I mean c’mon, why the hell are you taking the written when you are not even gonna consider it!! At least don’t waste our time.
So the day had come when we (all the students) were required to appear for the selection procedure of AmEx. We were required to reach the auditorium at 9 am in the morning. And I woke up at 8:20 that day. I wasn’t even worried. I got ready and was about to reach college. It was 9:37 am when my friend aarti called me and said “The placement committee guys are saying that they won’t let anybody in after 9:45” and I said “Relax, I ll be there in time” while actually was in no way on time . Still I made it before the 9:45 deadline and I was there in the audi at 9:42.
After 15-20 minutes the company officials were there in the auditorium to begin the presentation. All of them had great personality and communication skills. This is something that I always look for in a job. I always wanted to work in an environment where apart from my technical skills I could improve my communications skills as well. And I came to know more about the company and was really impressed. The presentation left a great impression on my mind and it was then when I said to myself “Whether I get selected or not, I am gonna give it my best shot”.
There was a short listing of candidates before the written test and out of 125-135 people, around 100 could sit for the test and rest had to leave the auditorium. The test began. The questions were relatively easy based on general aptitude and common sense. Fortunately, there was negative marking. I had really bad experience with the tests where there is no negative marking. I took my time to answer each and every question. Out of 20 I was able to answer 18 off which I came to know later that I had one incorrect answer. I did not think much about whether I will make it to the interviews or not and went to my classroom to attend the next lecture. In the middle of the lecture, I came to know that I and one of my friend modi were short listed for the interviews.
I went to the auditorium and came to know that a total of 29 students cleared the test out of which, 9 were from my class. I was glad to see so many IT people clearing the test. It was really a morale booster. We were sitting there waiting for our turn and trying to kill time by talking to each other and everyone telling everyone else that “kuch nahi padha yaar!! Patanai kya hoga interview mein”. I have always hated the auditorium for this reason. The place suffocates me. And sometimes when I think about the fests, the audi is a totally different place. A place where u can sit back and relax with an air conditioner giving you a break from the hot weather outside during summer. But that’s another story . I went outside for a while and called up sana (my girlfriend ) and reminded her that I had a test today about which she had totally forgotten and did not wish me luck. I don’t blame her as I wasn’t serious about it either. So I told her that I had cleared the written and she was glad to know. Then she wished me luck and I went back to the auditorium. My friends came up and wished me luck. That’s one thing you need the most in an interview. There was some chatting and jokes and it really made me a little comfortable for a while. And after a while they were all gone and once again the audi became a graveyard. After a while finally my turn for the interview came. So, this was the first time I was going for an interview totally unprepared. Not that I prepared a lot for my previous interviews but at least used to study a little. I said to myself “Calm down, just be honest. You’ve got nothing to lose”. At that time, a lot of positive things that my friends had said to me earlier were coming back to me. So, I took my documents and borrowed a pen from a friend and went inside the room.
Taking my interview were Manish and Preeti, Director and Sr. Manager respectively in American Express. We shook hands, greeted each other, they offered me a seat and our conversation began. Preeti asked me to introduce myself. After that, there were some cv based questions and some general HR questions like:
• What are your strengths?
• Why do you want to join AmEx?
• Why should we take you?
• Where do you see yourself after 5 years?
• What are your plans regarding higher studies?
These were followed by 2 situational questions. They seemed quite impressed with my answers to situational questions. Then they moved to the technical stuff. They asked me a few database related questions which were quite easy and then a few sql queries for which I did not remember the syntax exactly as it had been a long time since I had studied database (almost an year). So I explained to them the logic and the relational algebra query theoretically and they seemed satisfied. So it was nearly a 20 minutes interview and went fine. Throughout the interview, my voice was a little shaky, especially in the beginning. In the end of it, Manish told me about the shift timings of their company which was a little different from the usual 9 to 5 job. Then I left the room and went back to the auditorium.
Now there was a hope in my mind that I might clear the first round of interview. I called up sana again and had a little chit chat with her. Told her about what all had happened and asked her, what if I get selected. She said “let’s keep our fingers crossed”. After that I went back to the audi and came to know that the first round of interview was over for everyone. Just after that, Rahul Agarwal came into the audi and called up my name. I raised up my hand and he asked me to come along for the next round of interview.
Rahul is also a Director in AmEx. He along with Praveen, took my second interview. This round also began with some general HR questions and then they quickly moved on to the technical part. They asked me a few sql queries and unlike my previous interview, they were more particular about the syntax. I don’t know whether my answers were correct or not. They asked me how long had it been since the last time I had worked on sql. I said almost an year. Then they were fine and asked me if I am comfortable with puzzles. I said “Sure”. So they asked me a puzzle. I knew the answer!!. For like 2 seconds whether I should tell them the truth or should I fake it and pretend that I don’t know the answer and eventually come up to the solution. I made up my mind and told them the truth. They seemed impressed . Then there was another puzzle d I knew the solution to that as well. And again I told them the truth and they were now smiling. These puzzles had been already asked in first round so they were probably expecting that we (the students) might have discussed these outside. The interview was going pretty smooth and I was much more fluent this time. Then they asked me another puzzle. This time I did not know the answer. So I smiled and said “This one I haven’t solved before”. So I started thinking and tried to solve it but at the same time I was getting nervous because now it was second round and I was getting serious about getting the job. The personal experience with job interviews is “Till the time you are not very serious about it and taking it easy, you will be performing well. But the moment you get serious and start thinking about the outcome, your performance starts deteriorating”. So now I was worried. I started thinking out loud to convince them that I am not wasting time. Rahul cross questioned me and told me that I am going in the wrong direction. He them helped me by asking me about how to start solving the problem. My start was correct and I logically followed up correctly upto a few steps but then after that, I was making the mistake. After I had taken up sufficient amount of time and had not been able to come up with a solution, Rahul asked me to stop. I dropped the pen on the table and within myself, I was feeling really sad. I thought it’s over now. The interview was over and I wasn’t able to solve the puzzle they gave me. I stood up, thanked both of them with handshakes and started moving towards the door. Manish just entered the room and greeted me with a smile. There were a lot of things going on in my head. For one moment I was thinking that I had blown up my opportunity and at the same time there was some part of me that was still hopeful that I might get selected.
Then I went back to the audi where I came to know that out of 29, only 7 had cleared the first round of interview. And out of that 7, 5 were my classmates cum friends . So we were thinking that this might be the final interview and the results would be declared after that. After an hour or so, the second round was also over and the selection committee took a break for meal. I was trying to pass my time by talking to everyone around. We were cracking jokes about almost everything but at the same time all of us were getting restless. Finally the break was over and within five minutes, one the placement committee members came to the audi and took the names of five students out of seven. For a moment I was like “WHAT ABOUT THESE FIVE??” Selected, Rejected or what ??. He then said “These students will be appearing for the Group Discussion round in five minutes.” The other two unfortunately had to leave the audi now. Fortunately, I was one of those five who were going to appear for the GD. Now the tension was rising. We were consoling each other that “now it is going to be purely based on luck. Everyone of us is equally good.” Then the GD round began.
The topic of our discussion was “Inida-Pak dialogue”. They gave us about two minutes to think and then asked us to start. I started the discussion and it followed smoothly. Everyone was presenting their suggestions and nobody was cross questioning anyone. All of us got the opportunity to speak and all in all it was a healthy discussion. It was a very short round of nearly 3-4 minutes. Then we were sent back to the audi to wait for the results.
After waiting there for about 10 minutes, we finally saw the whole selection committee entering the audi with the results. All five of us were standing in a line, one beside the other, with tension in our minds. Then Manish started.
Manish: We liked all five of you. All of you were exceptionally good. We wanted to take all of you. So what we have done is, we have selected 2 out of five and put the remaining 3 in a waiting list so that in case anyone among the top 2 doesn’t join or if there is a vacancy available then those 3 might get a chance. So the first one among the two is :
Aman Bindal (Followed by an applause and congratulations)
And the other one is
Mandeep Gulati (that’s me )
I was so glad to hear my name that for a few seconds I wasn’t aware what’s going on around me. I shook hands with the AmEx guys and hugged my friends who congratulated me. Then I went downstairs and called up sana who was eagerly waiting for my call and praying for my success. She was so happy when I told her that I had been selected . Then I called up home and informed them. They were also very happy . I also called up and informed some of my friends. Then I called up sharad and vibhor who were among the three students in waiting list and we all went to “Jeetos” for a mini treat and finally went home.
Today, I have completed 4 weeks in American Express. I still cherish the memory of that day
Mandeep Singh Gulati
