Frequently asked questions

Proprietary trading firms, known as 'prop shops,' use their own capital to trade financial instruments like stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and derivatives. Noted for their sophisticated strategies, advanced algorithms, and technological infrastructure, they are actively involved in market making, arbitrage, and various speculative activities. Unlike hedge funds and investment banks, these firms do not manage external assets or provide advisory services. Instead, they take calculated risks with their own capital, making independent trading decisions and bearing the outcomes solely for their accounts. Explore our list of proprietary trading firms to understand the scale and scope of these unique entities within the financial landscape.

Trading firms are typically driven by three core functions: Quantitative Trader, Quantitative Researcher, and Quantitative Developer (Software Engineer). Traders manage and execute positions, often based on mathematical models and signals. Researchers develop and back-test new trading strategies and analyse market data. Developers build and maintain the systems that run those strategies in production. Each role demands a distinct mix of skills, but almost all of them share one thing in common: an application process that tests your speed and accuracy under pressure, which is exactly what Tradermath helps you prepare for.

Tradermath offers firm-specific assessments that are each designed to prepare you for a particular firm's application process, including Mako Trading, Maven Securities, Da Vinci Derivatives, SIG (Susquehanna), Akuna Capital, Citadel Securities, DRW, Flow Traders, and All Options, with more added over time. Rather than generic practice, each assessment mirrors the kind of questions, format, and time pressure you can expect from that specific firm, from mental-math and probability tests to sequence, coding (Codility), and video-based grid games. You can browse the full online assessments catalogue or our list of proprietary trading firms to find the ones relevant to you.

A firm assessment is designed to prepare you for one specific firm's recruitment process. It replicates the question types, format, and timing of that firm's real test so there are no surprises on the day. A trainer, on the other hand, builds the underlying skills you'll rely on across every test, letting you drill one ability at a time and track your progress as you improve. Most candidates use both: trainers to build raw speed and accuracy over weeks of practice, and firm assessments to rehearse the exact experience shortly before an interview. Explore our trainers and firm assessments to see what fits your timeline.

Tradermath covers the full range of abilities trading firms screen for. Our trainers let you drill mental arithmetic, number sequences, probability and expected value, fractions-to-decimals conversion, and Fermi (order-of-magnitude) estimation, alongside cognitive games for working memory, attention, and task-switching that mirror the psychometric portions of many assessments. To build deeper theory, our courses work through probability and statistics (from fundamentals to advanced inference), the basics of quantitative finance, markets, trading and risk, asset classes and trading products, and digital assets. You'll also find a large library of interview brainteasers, trading simulators for practising market making and execution, and coding practice for the technical rounds. Whatever a firm throws at you, there's a focused way to practise for it here.

Start early. Most applicants underestimate how hard trading math tests are and overestimate how quickly they can improve. Becoming genuinely fast (not just accurate) takes consistent practice over weeks, so build a daily habit well before your interview. Familiarity matters just as much: knowing the exact format and question types in advance means you won't be thrown off on the day, which is why we recommend rehearsing with the relevant firm assessment once you've built a base with the trainers. During the test itself, stay calm and manage your time. If a question is eating up too many seconds, move on, since the next one may well be easier. On tough multiple-choice questions, eliminate the options you can to improve your odds. The candidates who stay composed under pressure are usually the ones who've made practice a routine.

Yes, there's plenty you can do for free before deciding to subscribe. The free experience varies by test, but most assessments include an example test so you can get a real feel for the format and start preparing, most of our trainers have free modes you can practise with, and all of our interview guides (plus a selection of interview questions) are free to read. To unlock everything, including full question banks with fresh questions on every attempt, you'll need a subscription.

We offer flexible plans so you can match your subscription to your interview timeline: 2 weeks, 1 month, and 6 months, plus an annual option. Pricing is shown in your local currency where supported (EUR, USD, GBP, and several others). Subscriptions renew automatically so your access isn't interrupted, and you can manage or cancel yours at any time from your account. If you have a question about a plan, just contact us.

We currently accept the following payment methods: credit card, Apple Pay, PayPal, SEPA bank transfers for the European Union, iDEAL for the Netherlands, Bancontact for Belgium, and SOFORT for Germany. Would you like to see another payment method? Please contact us.

If you're a student at Imperial College London, Warwick Business School or Lehigh University, discount codes are readily available. Please reach out to your Master's program manager to obtain one. For students from other institutions, we encourage your program manager to get in touch with us for further details.

Yes. Beyond our candidate preparation tools, Tradermath also offers a screening platform purpose-built for trading firms. Test any skill relevant to trading, from numerical, quantitative, and cognitive ability to coding, technical, and market-making skills, with proctored online assessments you can white-label with your own branding and detailed analytics to identify top talent. Results sync straight back to your ATS. We're already working with multiple trading firms across the US, Europe, and APAC, and are a certified Greenhouse partner. Visit our assessment platform to explore the features and book a demo, or contact us.