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American Express HireVue Mock Interview

Question 12 of 30 for our American Express HireVue Mock Interview

American Express was written by on August 30th, 2022. Learn more here.

Question 12 of 30

Tell us about a time you had to explain something complex to someone.

"I was helping a customer who had previously set up a payment plan for several months past due balance. The nature of the payment plan was that it was set up to pay their past due balance, not the next bills that would come due. They'd set it up as an auto debit. Then they tried to pay it off the remaining balance ahead of their auto debits, but since they didn't designate their payment towards their past due balance, it paid on their next bill and the overage was retained as a credit balance on their account. When they got their next auto debit, they called in pretty upset. There was a lot of confusion there. But eventually I was able to explain it all, and we got it figured out."

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How to Answer: Tell us about a time you had to explain something complex to someone.

Advice and answer examples written specifically for an American Express job interview.

  • 12. Tell us about a time you had to explain something complex to someone.

      Focus Your Answer On

      The assessment vendor is evaluating how comfortably you communicate with others. The key to this question is in how you relay your information, taking a difficult concept and communicating it effectively with ease. Your example is less relevant than how effectively you are able to communicate. It should seem like second nature. The more comfortable you are, the more confident in your own abilities you'll seem.

      Written by Kevin Downey on August 30th, 2022

      What You Need to Know

      Everyone has their own style of communication. The more you can adapt your communication style to others, the better positioned you'll be. Key points to touch on are your non-defensive communication skills, being an active listener, and your ability to mirror, validate, and empathize. Choose a topic you have had a high success rate in explaining in the past. Try to steer clear of super complicated topics. You want your skills to seem transferrable. Find a topic or concept that will be relatable to their environment.

      Written by Kevin Downey on August 30th, 2022

      Answer Example

      "I was helping a customer who had previously set up a payment plan for several months past due balance. The nature of the payment plan was that it was set up to pay their past due balance, not the next bills that would come due. They'd set it up as an auto debit. Then they tried to pay it off the remaining balance ahead of their auto debits, but since they didn't designate their payment towards their past due balance, it paid on their next bill and the overage was retained as a credit balance on their account. When they got their next auto debit, they called in pretty upset. There was a lot of confusion there. But eventually I was able to explain it all, and we got it figured out."

      Written by Kevin Downey on August 30th, 2022

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