Axis Bank Interview Experience for Internship | IIT Kharagpur

Today, I’ll be talking about my virtual internship experience in summer 2020 at Axis Bank as a Business Analyst, which took place amidst the global pandemic. I’ll also share what I learned from the internship season, my experience with work-from-home, and a few internship tips that may help you out!

Pre Intern Time: Going back to late-July 2019, the 5th sem begins with the internship season over your head. A decent amount of nervousness and fear as well, but also there’s excitement in the air. Few weeks into the semester and the deadline for resume submission starts closing in. Soon enough, there are introduction sessions of a few companies. And before you know it, you’re waiting outside a room, sweating in your formals. Of-course, things will be different this time(2020-21).

At the end of my second year, I interned at IBM, Pune in IT profile(It was through referral). After that, I was sure that either I will go for a Software or Analyst profile in my 3rd-year internship.  

At the start of the internship season, I was disheartened as many of the big firms don’t allow non-circuit department students to apply(Except Mathematics) in On-Campus Selection but still, there are some which allow every department student to apply like GS, JP Morgan, etc. Getting an On-Campus internship is a tough Job for non-circuital department students. I was also not able to avail of any internship until September. Axis bank came to our campus a little bit late around mid of October and this was the first time I was able to grab the opportunity.

The Selection Process: The selection process was in two parts, an online test based on Machine learning MCQ and one coding question followed by two rounds of interviews, one technical and one HR round. But they also consider your CV before shortlisting for the interview round. I had a good internship beforehand and also had some good projects on my resume which helped me a lot in getting shortlisted for the interview round.

In interviews, the technical questions were based on machine learning basics, Logical reasoning, situation-based questions, and some questions based on CV. The HR round involved questions around my motivation, my strengths and weaknesses, and some situational questions. Going through a standard set of HR questions and preparing them in advance helps a lot. It was around one and half hour interviews. The results were declared on the same day in the evening.

Virtual Internship: Due to the ongoing pandemic, we were forced to shift to the online mode of the internship. In those unprecedented times, at least doing the internship was our main priority. The first day of my Virtual Internship on the Microsoft team started with an introduction session with all the students interning at Axis Bank followed by which we were given individual projects. I was a part of the Business Intelligence Unit(BIU) Team. I was given a project based on “Framework building capabilities on Cassandra”, in which I had to analyze data collected from various sources like social media, product feedback, etc. I was new to this platform, so they gave me ample time to learn about it. My mentor on this project was also very friendly with me, and he helps me a lot during the entire internship. I had created a utility using Python which would be consumed by multiple teams like developers, analysts, Data Engineers using CQL or Spark and can be processed further.  

Work Culture: Talking about the work-culture, I would say it was pretty good. The entire team was very supportive, and the work environment encourages collaboration. We used to have VCs in two weeks with the team to stay connected even in a WFH mode and also to discuss the status of the project.

Tips: To get a good internship you must have a few projects or internships or both in the relevant areas. You should have a deep understanding of your work and should be able to answer any questions related to it. Some companies shortlist on the basis of CGPA, so try to keep CGPA as high as possible.  

With the current situation, the recruitment levels might fall but don’t take it hard on yourselves keep trying. Times like these are a golden opportunity to learn and implement something new.