American Express Data Analyst interviews, as candidates describe them, combine resume walkthroughs, applied SQL, puzzles or guesstimates, and behavioral questions tied to company values, across roughly 2-4 rounds.
$94K
Avg. Base Comp
$113K
Avg. Total Comp
2-4 rounds
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Candidates describe the American Express Data Analyst interview as a mix of applied SQL, resume-driven discussion and behavioral judgment rather than a pure coding screen. Several reports mention an early HR or recruiter conversation covering background, why Amex and, in some cases, visa status, followed by a hiring manager round that blends technical and behavioral questions.
SQL is the most consistent technical thread. Reported questions include WHERE versus HAVING, finding the second-highest transaction, ranking top customers by monthly spend with ties handled, and identifying high-value customers above a transaction threshold. One candidate described a harder round that moved into nested window functions. Interviewers reportedly cared about the reasoning behind a query, not just the final answer.
Puzzles and estimation come up in several accounts, including the three ants puzzle, 25 horses, jug problems and city-scale guesstimates. Some candidates also met machine learning questions such as XGBoost choices and F1 optimization, plus Python or Tableau topics, so match your preparation to your own resume. Company-specific questions appear too: a few candidates were asked how American Express makes money, about Blue Box values, or how they would investigate high delinquency in a credit product.
Outcomes were mixed, with both offers and rejections reported. A few candidates also noted slow communication between rounds, so plan for some uncertainty on timing.
Synthesized from 20 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Featured question at American Express
Select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Bagging vs Boosting | |
| Variable Error | |
| P-value to a Layman | |
| New Partner Card | |
| Xgboost vs Random Forest | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Holiday Airport Traffic Surge | |
| Success Measurement | |
| Lasso vs Ridge | |
| 85% vs 82% | |
| Assumptions of Linear Regression | |
| Z and t-Tests | |
| User Event Data Pipeline | |
| Loan Model | |
| Overfit Avoidance | |
| Open Source Reporting Pipeline | |
| Optimize Model Performance | |
| Rider Acquisition Target | |
| Decision Tree Evaluation | |
| Different Card | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Stakeholder Communication | |
| Random Forest from Scratch | |
| Why Do You Want to Work With Us | |
| Your Strengths and Weaknesses | |
| Fast Food Database | |
| Singly Linked List | |
| Credit Card Outreach | |
| Regularization and Validation |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report an opening call covering background, why American Express, why the role, and sometimes visa status. One candidate described it as about an hour, while another described a 30-minute screen with a behavioral question. Have a clear career narrative and a concise motivation story ready.
Several candidates describe a manager conversation that combines resume deep-dives with simple SQL and behavioral questions, such as handling team conflict, stakeholder distrust of analysis, or Blue Box values. Expect to explain projects in plain language, and be prepared to defend tools listed on your resume.
Candidates typically report SQL such as joins, GROUP BY and HAVING, window functions and top-customer queries. Puzzles and guesstimates appear in several accounts, and some candidates also mention Python, ML or statistics. Interviewers reportedly listen for how you reason, so talk through assumptions as you work.
Some candidates report final conversations with a panel, director, VP or senior managers. These are described as mostly behavioral, with questions on projects, STAR-style examples and how American Express makes money. This stage may not appear in every process, since reports range from two to four rounds.
