Quant Trading MUST-KNOW interview questions
A career in quantitative trading will focus heavily on your analytical + numerical skills. If you interview for this, you’ll need to expect to be tested on your math skills and intuition.
You do not have to be a math prodigy to go into quant trading. Rather, you should be intellectually curious, hard-working, and enjoy problem-solving. For those of you looking for a quant trading internship or grad job in this field, here are some interview questions you might come across (note: questions may not be these exactly, but rather, along these lines):
➡️ Brain teasers
Q: How many streetlamps are there in Hong Kong?
Q: How many tennis balls can you fit into a taxi?
For these kinds of questions, you’re not necessarily required to provide the correct mathematical answer but rather show your reasoning capabilities. How logical are you? Being in quant trading is a lot about being highly analytical and using logic to determine the most effective solutions.
➡️ Programming
Q: What do you know about using Python?
For questions like this, you may need to tailor it to the company you’re applying to, as some companies may need you to be skilled in a different programming language (or multiple languages). When answering this type of question, talk about how long you have been using this program and WHERE you’ve applied it. If you have been able to apply it in the workplace, mention that as it will show you’ve been able to use it in a practical setting. Talk about if you’ve used particular libraries associated with the language and your specialties with it (e.g. you have a strong understanding of its syntax, you can do in-depth data analysis with it, etc.).
➡️ Mental Math/Probability
This can include advanced math questions so your ability to develop accurate answers will be important to demonstrate here. Remember though, you don’t need to be an absolute math genius, you just need to show that you are skilled in math and can work through complex questions. Some of these questions may include a ‘brainteaser’ element to them to try and throw you off but remember to focus on the numbers and show your reasoning.
Q: Hasan and Lauren attended a dinner party with 4 other couples. Since some people already knew some of the other guests, every person at the dinner party shook hands with every person they had not met before (the dinner party was not during a pandemic!). Lauren noticed that everyone else (excluding Lauren herself) ended up with a different number of handshakes! Can you figure out how many people Hasan shook hands with?
For anyone not mathematically inclined, this'll be a tough one but if you’re going for quant trading, expect to have questions such as these to show your ability to reason through mathematically challenging situations.
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