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You have 13 minutes to answer 10 questions. Each question describes a workplace situation and four possible responses. For every question, select the response you believe would be MOST effective and the response you believe would be LEAST effective. There are no trick questions; judge each response on how well it would work in the situation described.
About this test: this is one of a set of practice tests covering the areas American Express’s assessment process typically includes. It is written by us: it is not American Express’s own assessment and these are not American Express’s questions.
Question 1 of 10
You are an audit associate. A colleague is meeting the client’s financial controller tomorrow to ask for a schedule. Last week the same controller told you sharply that she had already sent it and would not be sending it twice. Your colleague does not know this and has not asked. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: C. Tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive before he goes and asks for it again.
Least effective: D. Let him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said, since he has not asked and she may well be in a better mood about it tomorrow.
A: Times it too late to act on: checking whether the schedule arrived takes longer than the walk to the meeting room.
B: Duplicates the approach: she now hears from two of you about the same schedule, which is precisely what annoyed her.
D: Lets a colleague walk into it: a two-minute warning would have changed how he opens the meeting, and the client's goodwill is spent for nothing.
The most effective response is to tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive: it gives him the warning while there is still time to check, and checking is what prevents the second ask altogether. It beats messaging him tomorrow morning just before he goes into the meeting, because that leaves no time to look. It beats going to ask the controller yourself whether she ever sent it, because a second approach from a different person is the thing she objected to. The least effective response is letting him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said: he walks in without a fact you hold that would have changed how he ran it. That is withholding it rather than giving it late or acting on it clumsily. The principle: warn the person early enough that the warning is still useful.
Question 2 of 10
You are a client services associate. A client emails at 9am insisting that a routine quarterly statement is sent to her today rather than next week, and will not say why. Producing it early takes about forty minutes. Your other work today has no fixed deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: D. Produce the statement today, and when you send it ask whether there is a deadline behind the request so the timing can be built in from next quarter.
Least effective: A. Reply that the statement will follow on the usual date next week, and assume that a client who will not explain the urgency does not really have any.
A: Declines to find out: forty minutes of uncommitted time is available, and the reason she will not explain is treated as evidence that there is no reason.
B: Makes help conditional on an explanation: she has already declined to give one, and forty minutes of your time is not worth the standoff.
C: Solves today and not next quarter: the same scramble happens again because nobody ever asked what sits behind the date.
The most effective response is to produce the statement today and ask, when you send it, whether there is a deadline behind the request: she gets what she asked for inside a day that has room for it, and the question is asked at the point where it costs nothing. It beats replying to ask why she needs it today before producing anything, because forty spare minutes is not worth a standoff over an explanation. It beats producing it today and sending it without any covering message, because asking once prevents the same request arriving urgently every quarter. The least effective response is replying that the statement will follow on the usual date next week: a client is refused something the day plainly had room for, on an assumption about her motives that nobody tested. That is avoidance rather than an unhelpful way of helping. The principle: do the cheap thing, and ask the question that stops it recurring.
Question 3 of 10
You are a purchase ledger clerk. A colleague asks you to sign the second approval on eleven invoices, saying he has checked them all and is late for a train. The second approval exists so that a different person checks the amounts. You have not looked at any of them. Checking properly takes forty minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: D. Tell him you will check them properly this evening and approve them then, so the invoices move tomorrow morning with the second check actually done.
Least effective: C. Sign the eleven invoices off on his word that he has already checked them, since he is reliable, he is late, and the amounts will almost certainly be right.
A: Moves the same pressure to a colleague: whoever he finds in the next ten minutes is being asked to do exactly what you have just declined.
B: Applies the control by value: the amount on an invoice is not what makes a second check meaningful, and four of them are now approved unchecked.
C: Certifies a check that was not carried out: your name says a second person looked at the amounts, and the control the firm relies on is now a signature with nothing behind it.
The most effective response is to tell him you will check them properly this evening and approve them then: the check gets genuinely done, the delay is one night, and nobody is asked to put their name to something they have not looked at. It beats signing the four smallest now and checking the rest this evening, because the value of an invoice has nothing to do with whether a second check is real. It beats refusing and telling him to find somebody else to approve them before he leaves, because refusing without a route just relocates the pressure. The least effective response is signing all eleven on his word that he has already checked them: eleven approvals are recorded as second-checked when nobody has checked them, so the control is gone and the record says otherwise. That is certifying something untrue rather than applying the rule inconsistently. The principle: your signature is a statement of fact about what you did.
Question 4 of 10
You are a compliance analyst. A monitoring sample you signed off last week was drawn from the wrong month. The report went to your manager on Friday and nobody has queried it. Redrawing the sample takes an afternoon, and the quarterly summary that uses it is not written until next month. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: C. Tell your manager today that the sample was drawn from the wrong month, say it will take an afternoon to redo, and ask whether to start now or after the current work.
Least effective: B. Redraw the sample quietly this week and hope it will not be noticed that the report your manager already has was built on the wrong month.
A: Corrects without explaining: a second report with different numbers and no note leaves your manager unsure which is current or why.
B: Covers your own error: the report in your manager's hands is wrong today, and the person who could correct anything built on it is deliberately left out.
D: Delays the decision: a wrong report sits with your manager for a month and may be quoted somewhere before anybody looks at it again.
The most effective response is to tell your manager today that the sample was drawn from the wrong month, say it will take an afternoon to redo, and ask whether to start now or after the current work: he holds a report built on the wrong month, an afternoon fixes it, and the timing is a question about his priorities rather than yours. It beats redrawing the sample and sending the corrected report with no covering note, because a silently replaced report leaves the reader guessing. It beats correcting it when the quarterly summary is written next month, because a month is long enough for the wrong figures to be used. The least effective response is redrawing it quietly this week and hoping nobody notices: the error is put right where nobody can see it while the person holding the wrong report stays unaware. That is concealment rather than a poorly explained correction. The principle: a quiet fix is not a correction if the person relying on the old version never hears about it.
Question 5 of 10
You are an audit associate. Your section of the file will not be finished by Thursday as planned; Monday is realistic. Your manager is meeting the client tomorrow morning and will be agreeing the timetable for the rest of the audit. She has not asked you for an update. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: B. Tell her today that your section will be ready on Monday rather than Thursday, so she can agree a timetable with the client that she can actually hold.
Least effective: D. Leave it until Thursday without telling her, since the slip is only two working days and the position may look better by the time she asks about it.
A: Delays past the point of use: the timetable is agreed tomorrow, so a firm update on Thursday arrives after the commitment has been made.
C: Gambles her commitment on your own overtime: if the two evenings are not enough, she has already given the client a date.
D: Withholds the one fact she needs before the meeting: she commits to a date in front of the client tomorrow, and the first anyone learns otherwise is when Thursday arrives.
The most effective response is to tell her today that your section will be ready on Monday rather than Thursday: she is about to commit to a timetable, a two-day slip is easy to absorb before it is promised and awkward afterwards, and she cannot ask for what she does not know exists. It beats telling her on Thursday when the section is actually due, because Thursday is after the meeting. It beats working through two evenings to try to make Thursday and telling her only if you fail, because betting her commitment on your own evenings is a risk she has not agreed to take. The least effective response is leaving it until Thursday without telling her: she agrees a date with the client while the one person who knows it is wrong says nothing. That is silence rather than a badly timed update. The principle: bad news travels before the commitment, not after it.
Question 6 of 10
You are a relationship support assistant. A colleague criticised your file notes in front of your manager last week and you thought it was unfair. This morning you notice he logged a client call an hour after it happened. The team is supposed to log calls immediately and nobody has ever raised it with anyone. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: A. Leave the logging alone as you always would have, and ask him for five minutes about last week so the criticism gets dealt with rather than carried around.
Least effective: C. Report the late logging to your manager now that he has criticised you, and leave him to work out for himself why the standard has suddenly started applying to him.
B: Avoids the difficult conversation: the criticism sits unanswered, and the next time it happens it will be harder to raise than it is today.
C: Retaliates through a rule nobody enforces: the timing is a pretext, the whole team logs calls late, and he is the only person it has ever been raised about.
D: Uses a process point as cover: he is being tackled about the wrong thing, and the conversation that actually needs having is still not happening.
The most effective response is to leave the logging alone as you always would have, and ask him for five minutes about last week: the logging is a team-wide habit and not his failing, and five minutes is the only thing that stops the criticism sitting between you. It beats saying nothing about either the logging or last week, because silence guarantees a repeat. It beats raising the late logging with him as a process point without mentioning last week, because that is tackling him about something you would not otherwise have mentioned. The least effective response is reporting the late logging to your manager now that he has criticised you: a rule nobody enforces is enforced against one person in the week he criticised you, and he is left to work out why. That is payback dressed as process. The principle: deal with the thing that actually happened, and do not go looking for a rule to hit somebody with.
Question 7 of 10
You are a financial crime analyst. A colleague asks you to take twelve of her cases this week because she has “a lot on”. She asked the same last month and you agreed. Your own queue is full but manageable. Your team leader allocates cases and does not know about either request. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: B. Tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader rather than rearranging it privately.
Least effective: D. Send the twelve cases straight over to your team leader to reallocate, without telling your colleague that you have done so or that you were asked.
A: Refuses without a route: she still has a queue she cannot manage and nothing has been raised with anybody who could change it.
C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: a few cases move, the allocation stays hidden from the person who owns it, and the pattern is set for a third time.
D: Hands the request to a manager behind the colleague's back: she asked you directly, and the first she hears is a reallocation she did not expect.
The most effective response is to tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader: it helps a little, names the pattern honestly to her face, and takes the question to the person whose job it is. It beats taking a few without saying anything because you managed last month, since absorbing it twice hides a real allocation problem. It beats telling her you cannot take any this week and leaving it there, because a flat refusal leaves her exactly where she was. The least effective response is sending the twelve cases to your team leader to reallocate without telling her: the request is escalated over her head, so she is blindsided and the conversation you could have had is now a management one. That is going around a colleague rather than being too soft or too hard. The principle: say it to her, then take the allocation where it belongs, together.
Question 8 of 10
You are an audit associate. You overhear a colleague on your team planning to spend tomorrow building a schedule of the client’s fixed assets. You built exactly that schedule last week for a different section of the file and it is saved on the shared drive. She has not asked you. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: B. Tell her now that the schedule already exists, send her the link, and point out the one section you had to leave incomplete so she knows what is still missing.
Least effective: D. Let her build her own version tomorrow without mentioning that yours exists, since she has not asked and she may want it laid out differently anyway.
A: Leaves out the part only you know: the incomplete section is the thing that would mislead her, and a bare link does not flag it.
C: Delays the decision past its usefulness: she plans to build it tomorrow, so Thursday is after the day it would have saved.
D: Withholds something a colleague plainly needs: a day of the team's budget goes on work already done, and the reason nobody knew is that nobody said anything.
The most effective response is to tell her now that the schedule already exists, send her the link, and point out the section you had to leave incomplete: it saves a day, it arrives before the day is spent, and the caveat is the part she could not work out from the file. It beats mentioning the schedule at Thursday’s team meeting, because Thursday is after tomorrow. It beats sending her the file with no comment, because a bare link invites her to rely on a section you know is unfinished. The least effective response is letting her build her own version without mentioning that yours exists: a full day of a budget everybody is short of goes on duplicated work, because the one person who could have prevented it said nothing. That is silence rather than a badly timed handover. The principle: tell people what exists before they spend a day rebuilding it.
Question 9 of 10
You are a relationship support assistant. The weekly client report takes your team four hours because it is assembled by hand. A colleague in another team built a version that does it in twenty minutes but never rolled it out. Your team leader has asked for ideas to save time. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: D. Tell your team leader about the colleague's version, name him as the person who built it, and offer to help get it working for your team's report.
Least effective: B. Say in front of the team that the four hours are entirely down to whoever designed this report in the first place, and that somebody should have sorted it out years ago.
A: Offers the idea and withholds the asset: a suggestion to automate is worth far less than a tool somebody has already finished.
B: Blames an absent designer in front of the team: the twenty-minute version already exists, and none of the people in the room hear about the thing that would actually fix it.
C: Duplicates work that exists: the colleague has already built it, and rebuilding it quietly takes the credit with it.
The most effective response is to tell your team leader about the colleague’s version, name him as the person who built it, and offer to help get it working for your team: the fix already exists, she can act on it immediately, and naming the builder is both accurate and the thing that gets his help. It beats rebuilding his version yourself and presenting it once it works, because rebuilding a finished tool wastes time and credit. It beats suggesting the report ought to be automated without mentioning that a working version exists, because an idea is worth much less than a working version. The least effective response is saying in front of the team that the four hours are down to whoever designed the report: a real complaint becomes a public criticism, and the solution one team away never gets mentioned. That is personalising it rather than proposing it weakly. The principle: point at the fix that exists, and name whose it is.
Question 10 of 10
You are an accounts assistant. Two jobs are on your desk: a half-day reconciliation due Friday, and a five-minute approval that a colleague cannot start her own work without. It is Tuesday morning and she is waiting at your desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?
Most effective: B. Do the five-minute approval now so your colleague can get on, then give the reconciliation a clear run for the rest of the morning.
Least effective: C. Carry on with the reconciliation and leave the approval alone until Friday, since the reconciliation is the job with a real deadline attached to it and the approval has none.
A: Passes responsibility upward for five minutes of work: the approval is yours to give and moving it adds a step for no gain.
C: Leaves a colleague blocked for three days: five minutes of your time is holding up somebody else's whole task, and nothing about Friday gets easier for having started earlier.
D: Delays a trivial task at real cost: half a day of her time buys you an uninterrupted morning you did not need.
The most effective response is to do the five-minute approval now so your colleague can get on, then give the reconciliation a clear run: five minutes releases somebody else’s whole day, and the reconciliation still has three days and an uninterrupted morning. It beats asking her to come back after lunch, because making her wait costs her far more than it saves you. It beats sending the approval to your team leader to action on your behalf, because routing a five-minute job through him adds a step and an explanation. The least effective response is carrying on with the reconciliation and leaving the approval until Friday: a colleague sits blocked because a job with slack was treated as the one that could not be interrupted. That is avoiding the small task rather than ordering the work badly. The principle: clear what is blocking somebody else before settling into your own work.
The assessments depend on country and programme. UK undergraduate internships include a recorded video and assessment centre; UK technology apprenticeships include coding and a Virtual Discovery Day.
Use the route that matches your vacancy. The guidance below identifies the programme or location it covers.
Recorded video and assessment centre
The UK undergraduate route begins with a recorded video response to role-specific questions. Selected candidates attend an assessment centre with competency interviews, case studies and group discussions. Technology apprenticeships and MBA internships follow different routes.
Coding and Virtual Discovery Day
After applying, candidates receive a coding assessment to complete within seven days. Successful candidates attend a Virtual Discovery Day, including two consecutive 30-minute interviews. The seven days is a submission window, not the length of the coding test.
Process sources checked 11 September 2026 · Your invitation takes priority for role and location details.
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As an intern or recent graduate, if you join American Express you will work on important projects with real responsibility from day one. You’ll be able to make a direct impact on American Express teams and work with leaders who will inspire and support you as you create your unique career journey.
For roles involving commercial data, numerical reasoning practice can help you interpret graphs, percentages and tables. American Express’s student guidance does not specify a universal 20-question numerical test. Check the assessment assigned to your programme.
A practice diagrammatic reasoning test comprises of questions relating to sequences of shapes and patterns. In each question there will be a missing step and you will be provided with a number of answers to choose from. These are designed to test your logical reasoning as well analytical and problem-solving skills.
A practice situational judgement test presents you with a series of challenging scenarios that one might encounter in the workplace and then a number of possible responses to the scenario. You then chose which one you feel is the best way to describe how you would react. Read the information carefully and follow any timing instructions in your invitation. It is important to know the company values to ensure your answers are best matched with theirs.
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The UK undergraduate summer internship route includes a recorded video stage followed, for selected candidates, by an assessment centre with competency interviews, case studies and group discussions. Other programmes follow different routes.
You will be given a group task, usually involving a meeting or business scenario that you will be expected to provide solutions for within the team. You’ll be assessed on how you perform within the group, whether you show strong leadership skills or better support skills. You must be careful to strike a balance between dominating the group and being too passive.
If requested in your brief, you may give a short presentation on a subject provided. You will be given time to prepare and will be allowed to take prompts in with you. This will be assessing your public speaking and presenting skills as well as how you perform under pressure during questions following your presentation. This may also be in the form of a case study.
If your invitation includes a role play it will be based on a scenario provided and you will be assessed on your behaviour, your knowledge and the way you handle certain scenarios. It will be relating to a type of situation that you would be faced with in the job and you will be required to think quickly. Ensure you have a good background knowledge of the company and its values.
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