American Express Assessment Centre

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Hey rb1...im preparing for the AC aswell just goin over the compentecies that they are likely to ask

As for the case study well cant really prepare for this,,,just have to see what it about. hows your prep going??

@stealth.

Welcome back to new forum. I thought it will be good idea to have a updated forum.

Currently I am preparing for competency questions. I believe key competences that may be relevant to finance scheme are:

- Analytical skills - Willingness to learn - Organisational skills (prioritisation, multi-task, time management) - Attention to detail - Numeracy skills

I believe set of competences can be categorised into three :

- Competencies for the specific graduate scheme - Competencies for the specific department - Competencies for the company in general

But more I explore and learn anything new, I will surely be happy to share it with you.

Regarding the case study, I am not there yet but as soon as I get there I will discuss about it.

When is your AC?

Speak to you soon.

Regards, rb1

Hi rb1, yea thats a good you made a seperate forum.

Yes well having looked at the past forums posted by other people, I am going through these competencies:

- Meeting deadlines - Teamwork - priorisitng workload - difficult customer - innovative idea - personal goal achieved and yes attention to detal and nuemeracy would be good one to go through.

my AC is nextweek!

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Anyone attending the Finance Scheme AC on Wed??

hey, yea im attending one on wed.

wat kind of prep working are u doing??? and did u get a call today to confirm ur coming??

do u knw wat to expect??

Yeah I got a call this morning from them. Where are you going in from? London?

Competency questioning is fairly straightforward and then the case study for which we can't prepare anything. So, just competency questions I guess. I think it will be fairly straightforward.

You?

yea i got a call but i was just out, so i told them to call me later but never heard back!! they probz just want to confirm whether im coming etcc.

yea im cumin from london so not to far.

prep wise well me just looked at the previous posts left my others and just preparing myself on those competencies, and as for case study well you cant really do much.

when they phoned you did you ask them how you can prepare for the case study and competencies?? apart from that yea it should be ok.

@stealth and bowen

wish you very best of the luck. I am sure you both going to do well. I will be waiting for you both to share your experiences later especially the case study.

Two tips I like to mention:

Interview - Keep answers precise and up to the point - Use variety of examples from various experiences (work, study, societies, sports, voluntary work etc.)

Case Study - Keep it structured, simple and easy to follow - Keep minimal information on presentation slides or flipchart. - Remember its three things matter content , delivery and ability to answer questions.

Common competencies they will be testing you on will include: - Customer focus - Planning and organisational skills - Analytical - Teamwork - Result orientation

Good luck. I will be in touch if I learn more about them before Wednesday. & least not rest have a good night sleep before the day and may be a movie.

Regards, rb1

hey bowen, what time is ur AC?

9:30am. Why? What time is yours? The same I presume?

hmm mine is at 9am.

She told me that mine was at 9:30am when she called on Monday. I presume that was why she was ringing you too. you can call her. Her name is Vanessa Jennings, and her number is: 01344 471242.

yea i just called her, he didt mention anything about the time. She just wanted to know whether i was coming and everything is fine.

where u coming in from? and on the email did it say who to ask when u get to reception?

I'm coming from Loughborough, so I have a 6:50am train! Good times. OK, maybe they are staggering the arrival times. Yes, it's Dilan Parmar at reception. Same for you?

thats far!, yea i've got the same person.

hows the prep going, dont know what else can be done apart from just wait and hope for the best really. do you know how many they are looking to hire?

No clue about how many they're looking to hire. I haven't spoken to HR about it really. Do you have any idea?

not sure either....depends on how many turn up tomorrow.

Hei..BOWEN n stealth.. how was your assessment centre going? what sorts of competency questions did they ask? how was the case study? I have mine on thursday.. :(:(:(:( ...worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrying.. it will be so kind of u to share some info... best of luck for u :)

BTW, BOWEN, i graduated from loughborough uni last year:)..

hey My1024 which scheme have you applied for?...AC is ok they ask some competencies around teamwork, communication, motivation etc...nothing to complicated. not much about amex

case study well u can prepare for it, they give ur hr to prepare and then u have to present it and explain ur findings.

gd luck!

@ stealth and bowen

how did you AC go.

How many people were there? How many did they say they are thinking of hiring?

What exactly were the questions (how many questions and around which competencies)?

How was the case study like (context , topic, objectives, powerpoint based)?

Who interviewed you (HR or finance team member) and who was present during the presentation?

When will they come back to you?

Well I can only pray for you both and your feedback on all of the above would really be appreciated

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Regards, rb1

Hei Stealth

I applied for Finance..thank you very much for your info...good luck for all of us:) will drop some info when i finish tomo

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hey My1024, how did ur AC go?? did they say when they get back to us and how many they looking to hire.

Gd luck!!

i have no idea how did it go...anyway.a candidate asked n they said they r looking for 4 graduates out of dont know how many candidates...they possiblly will get back to us next week~~~~~~~~~~fingers cross..

hey My1024, kool how many candidates were at your AC??

Stealth,

What did you think of the AC on Wednesday? There wasn't much candidate interaction so I didn't manage to find out your identity??

Bowen.

hey bowen, hows it goin?

hmm not sure the case study was quite long then i expected! and had a lot to read, as for the interview they didnt ask much about the role or amex just basic competencies.

how did you find it??

yea i was the one who got there first sitting in the canteen when u lot came.....

Yeah, I thought the interview was fine, I had a few questions about why Amex etc but they seemed to come towards the end of the interview, I was in the interview for about 1 hr 25mins because my interviewer wasn't sure what was happening next, i.e. whether or not she had to take me back or if they collected me! So perhaps Amex questions weren't on her original remit.

I didn't make it to the canteen, I arrived in the last two in to the 'holding room', I was with the guy in the turban, the guy from Liverpool.

Bowen.

there were 8 on thursday.i guess 8 on wednesday as well??

hey Bowen, yea i remember seeing you lol, yea i was the one with the turban sitting opposit you....

yea well they said they get back to us next week monday i tink so lets see.

Hey My1024, yea there were 8 in our one aswell so that means they going to pick 4 out of 16!....hmmm just have to wait and see really..

@ Bowen, stealth and my1024

I am still waiting for your feedback from AC. Guys I have mine next week so please provide me with your valuable advise on the questions mentioned in my last post.

Thanks

Regards, rb1

Rb1,

The AC was fine. Straightforward. Competency interview was straightforward, and the case study was about a fictional product that you simply had to analyse and summarise to two people in a presentation. All straightforward.

Bowen.

Hei RB1 I agree with bowen... case study is straighforward..u might want to keep an eye on the timer...coz there are quit a lots of info..n u might not have time to think about details..

competency is even more straightforward..they really just want to know u, competencies abt movtivation, meet target, etc....n the interviewers r v nice actually.. good luck..

@bowen

thanks for your reply but can you please be specific and answer questions mentioned below. I will really appreciate your guidance.

What exactly were the questions (how many questions and around which competencies) and how long does the interview lasts?

How was the case study like (context , topic, objectives, powerpoint based)?

Who interviewed you (HR or finance team member) and who was present during the presentation?

Thanks so much for your help. Good luck.

Regards, rb1

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Rb1,

You seem very intent on finding out all specific details to do with the AC. You must however recognise the element of competition within this process.

The competency questions were all of the standards competencies that you would expect to come across during that kind of interview. They are an hour long, however, mine ended up around 1 hr 25 min with extra questioning. There were a few about Amex, Why Amex etc.

The case study is straightforward. A lot of info but easily summarised, which you then have to present. I presented to two people, one HR, one finance.

These kind of details are fairly irrelevant and shouldn't really improve your performance a great deal. Once you know what you have to do, the process becomes a lot less daunting and hence, a lot more manageable. Perhaps it would be beneficial to you to concentrate on your prep, rather than hounding people on here for specific answers to all of your questions.

Good luck to you, all the same.

Bowen.

@ bowen

Thanks for your guidance both on AC and other. I will make sure I am well prepared.

I asked the questions which I have answered for others in similar situation in the past.

By the language you use (hounding, competition etc.) you seem very unprofessional and negative thought oriented individual. Initiative can be better word to explain what we do here at Wikijob which some don't bother about doing.

Be tolerable or don't help rather than affecting people with negative energy of yours in form of unthoughtful and unprofessional posts.

Good luck with the result anyway.

Regards, rb1

Rb1,

May I ask how my use of "hounding" and "competition" make me sound like a "very unprofessional and negative thought oriented individual" ?? I think my use of 'hounding' describes your nature perfectly, with your specific demands, follow up posts if your requests are not met promptly and blank posts showing your discontent.

Also, "what we do here at Wikijob", I didn't realise that you were part of the Wikijob organisation?

Same to you.

Bowen.

During your little rant there, you didn't get round to explaining the purpose of the blank posts? Would you care to explain these unnecessary and annoying posts? Cheers.

@Bowen

Let me try to clarify your thought process. The problem with a personality like yours is you have very narrow and self focused thinking. Blank posts were done for a purpose and let me try explaining you my intention.

My intention was that people who may come on wikijob and also have Amex AC coming up can see the name of the forum 'American express Assessment Centre ' on the list of forums on main wikijob website and can benefit from the discussion.

Regarding the follow up posts. That was follow up communication. If I knew your personality in first place I would have never entered into a conversation forget about taking any advise from a person like you.

Hope that clarifies some of your thinking process and comes as a lesson for you to think positively out of your restricted thought process. A good sentence will be to say 'don't think everyone thinks like yourself, people have meaning behind things'.

There is a good saying 'one who is hesitant to share takes home nothing'. So learn to share, if not don't be at the place which is meant for sharing without any hesitancies.

Bye and good night. I won't reply any more to you. & lastly see the world as it is not the way you want it to be.

Regards,rb1

@ bowen

reality is bitter pal. you cannot run away from it. face it now or whenever you like. choice is yours.

RB1,

I am impressed that you have been able to decipher and thus make comments about my personality during our short exchange. You are obviously a very astute person in this respect, and that shall no doubt bode well for you in the future.

Perhaps I have not come across particularly well in my earlier posts, regarding the element of competition within this process. I am all in favour of having a forum on which to share thoughts and experiences regarding interviews and ACs. I myself have found most use from finding details such as what one might be doing during the course of an AC, as in, interview, presentation, etc. My only problem comes when individuals, such as yourself, try to find out every single detail about each and every process down to a tee. I find this counter productive and irrelevant. What does it matter to an individual to find out how many people are going to be interviewing them? Does is affect your prep? I doubt it. Do you see my point?

However, with your attempts at wisdom, you sound like a bit of a mental case and I do hope we don't cross paths at Amex or anywhere else for that matter, but good luck all the same.

Hey Bowen and My1021,

Did you manage to get any reply today??

@ RB1

Hi yeah I had my day on Wednesday and thought I would give you some help with the questions. I had six but cannot remember the last one.

competency questions: 1. one important thing at ammex is your ability to multi-task, give use an example of when you did this 2. one important thing at ammex is our employees ability to think out of the box and be innovative, think of a service that you think would be a great innovative addition to what we currently offer. 3. work to life balance is important at ammex, how do you manage to balance you social life with other commitments. 4. Staying focused and committed is very important, just how do you ensure you are committed to each project? 5. Teamwork is very important give me an example when you were in charge of a team that failed, what would you do differently this time round?

the case study: The case study was mainly qualitative data yet all they wanted really was numerical figures and answers. Its important that you make use of this data as much as possible. The case is about running a chain of gyms that American express has just purchased and whether you think that customers will like the addition to the new chain of services.

WELL..this is very different from what i had on thursday...so i guess those who are going to attend amex assessment centre, plz do not limit your preparent on the quesitos that other candidates have came across.. N i havent heard anything from amex.. good luck for all of us..

No news as of yet...

@huth

Many thanks for your help and initiative to provide me with valuable guidance. I will prepare well for the competencies mentioned in your post and thanks again. Will be in touch.

Good luck.

regards, rb1