It is quite similar to the previous one, the only difference being that you will be playing it against other peers, so things get more dynamic & competitive. This comprises a few group markets making games, 3–4 technical interviews, discussion on some economic topic & an HR round.Īmongst all, we feel group market-making games are the most important ones. It’s usually 6–8 hours long & pretty intense. Then comes the most consequential of all- The Interview day. Last but not the least, if you have any previous experience in the field then you may be asked a few conceptual questions based on them or maybe questions on recent economic activities and their impact on financial markets/instruments.
Being mindful & quick calculation is quite important for these games as you won’t be given any time to think about your answer or write anything & they can ask you about your previous trades, outstanding positions, PnL anytime. Apart from this, there are few market-making games where you need to trade on any given entity after estimating its value. Interviewers will put you under a lot of pressure, giving looks or sound dismaying even when you answer correctly. You need to estimate answers to these questions & also estimate how well you estimate them. Questions go from what’s 7/19 to 5 digits precision to how many times you need to fold an A4 sheet paper to reach the moon or weight of water on earth (you’ll have 10–20 secs at max. It’s generally a no pen-paper round, and you will be asked to calculate an abundance of things in your head like probability questions, mental maths, puzzles & guesstimates. The technical rounds are quite notorious for being extra competitive & stressful. Knowing about the business of these firms (generally Market-Making) beforehand always helps. Be honest with your views about the quant industry in particular. This is followed by an HR interview round where you will be grilled on your motivation for trading, which is of utmost importance to these firms. Probability questions are generally discrete probability problems or based on Expectation value concepts. Practice speed maths well before appearing for them as these tests are highly time-constrained(around 80 questions in 8 minutes) & are quite known for their ruthless labeling scheme(+1 correct, -2 for leaving a question or incorrect). There are various online tests conducted focusing mainly on Speed math, Probability & logical stuff. In the cover letter, they love to read about the motivation for trading, so mention specifically the attributes that describe your interest. The process commences with resume shortlisting, where displaying an experience in a competitive/stressful environment is more than enough (precedent experience in quant firms will get you brownie points but is not a must). There are five major stages that you can expect in the process for most of the firms, Resume shortlisting, Online tests on mathematics, HR interview, Technical interviews, Interview Day/On-site round. Thus, in lieu of testing candidates on complex derivative pricing theories, they prefer general problem-solving abilities, mathematics & how proficient you are at calculating things in your head quickly.
TOP QUANT FIRMS HOW TO
So, for graduate recruitments, firms rely on the conception that they can edify you how to trade but can’t teach you how to think. in financial engineering/STEM, the competition to get in is tremendous. Given that the number of firms in the industry is relatively small coupled with the massive number of applications from students having an M.S./Ph.D. We are here to share our experiences interviewing for some of the largest prop shops and hedge funds in foreign and Indian markets. Going into specifics of Quant Trading is not the main focus of this blog, we have already covered a few blogs on these lines in the past, and there are plenty of useful blogs on the internet. Markets are influenced by various factors, not only financial ones but also some behavioral factors such as greed, fear, and pride, that are extremely difficult to quantify. Why, though, you ask? Well, trading stocks or predicting market movements can be understood as just another mathematical modeling problem. The tide has been shifting towards mathematicians, physicists, and engineers since the 1980s, and probably, you will find more researchers in Wall Street compared to the top Ivy leagues. Gone are the days when to be successful in markets, either you had to be a Ken Griffin (Founder of Citadel) or Harshad Mehta :P But hold on a second, Quantitative Trading doesn’t need you to know all the things studied by your old school friends who took up commerce.