Practice for quant trader interviews

Most trading processes start with a timed online test that cuts the majority of the field, then move to interviews where the questions are probability, expected value and a market you have to quote. The track takes them in that order, and every drill, game and firm assessment on it has a bar set at a firm's level.

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The track

118

items in 11 sections

Starts with
Speed on the online test
Time to complete
24 h
4 to 6 weeks · 1 h a day

The approach

How to prepare for a quant trader interview

  1. Step 1

    Start with speed

    Most trading firms open with a timed online test of mental arithmetic and number sequences, and it removes most of the field before anyone speaks to you. Ten minutes a day on the math and sequence trainers for two weeks, at the pace the tests run (Flow Traders asks 80 questions in 8 minutes), is the highest-return thing you can do.

  2. Step 2

    Then probability

    After the test, the interviews are built on expected value, conditional probability and counting: coin flips, dice, cards, balls from urns. Read the probability lessons on the track, then answer the same material fast in the probability trainer and the brainteaser sets, because interviewers weigh the reasoning you show under time as much as the answer.

  3. Step 3

    Learn to make a market

    An interviewer will ask for a two-sided quote on a coin toss or an event, then change the information and ask you to requote. The market-making lessons and the dice, ETF and event games rehearse exactly that. Finish with the firm assessments at full length.

The rules

  • Work from the top

    The sections follow the order firms test: the online test, then the interviews, then the firm assessments at full length. The last three sections are optional and do not count toward the track.

  • Clear the bar

    Every trainer, game and assessment has a bar set at a firm's level, shown as its goal. Clear it once and the item ticks. A lesson ticks when you complete it, an article when you open it.

  • Practise from anywhere

    A run, a lesson or a problem counts wherever you start it on Tradermath, not only from this page. Opening an item from the track gives you the session its bar asks for.

  • Free to follow

    Most trainers, the games on easy mode, the question sets and the beginner lessons are free. The later lessons, the strategy trainers and the full firm assessments need Tradermath Premium.

Sections [11]

  1. 01

    Speed on the online test

    6 items · 46 min

    The first cut in most quant trader processes is a timed arithmetic and sequences test. Read how to calculate fast, then build speed with short daily sessions at the pace the tests run.

    Prepares forOnline assessmentsTechnical interviewsFinal round

  2. 02

    Probability and expected value

    21 items · 2.5 h

    Expected value, conditioning and counting are the largest theme in quant trader interviews, in the online quiz and across the technical rounds. Learn the rules, then the tools the later rounds use, then answer them fast.

    Prepares forOnline assessmentsTechnical interviewsFinal round

    • 20 Lessons
    • 1 Trainer
  3. 03

    Brainteasers and mathematics

    7 items · 5.5 h

    Brainteasers and logic puzzles come up in almost every technical round, and breadth of practice matters more than depth. Some firms also mix school mathematics into these rounds: systems of equations, whole-number answers and a quick optimisation. Read those lessons, answer the puzzle questions, then solve a share of each set, in any order.

    Prepares forOnline assessmentsTechnical interviews

    • 2 Lessons
    • 1 Course questions
    • 4 Question sets
  4. 04

    Markets and products

    32 items · 5 h

    The market structure a make-a-market round assumes and the financial maths an interviewer asks in passing: how an order book works, why the spread exists, calls and puts, the greeks, futures and the cost of carry, and why an ETF trades away from its value. Then work a full market-making case in each of the four strategy trainers.

    Prepares forTechnical interviewsFinal round

    • 26 Lessons
    • 1 Course questions
    • 1 Question set
    • 4 Trainers
  5. 05

    Making markets

    15 items · 2.5 h

    An interviewer asks for a two-sided quote, then changes the information and asks you to requote. Learn how a market maker widens, skews and hedges a quote, then quote markets yourself on dice, an ETF, events and a full trading game.

    Prepares forTechnical interviewsFinal round

    • 1 Article
    • 10 Lessons
    • 4 Games
  6. 06

    Betting games and estimation

    17 items · 2.5 h

    Some firms play a betting game with you in the interview. Learn the game theory behind it: why you randomise, the winner's curse, reading a counterparty and sizing a bet. Then the card game, and Fermi problems as a check on structured guessing.

    Prepares forTechnical interviewsFinal round

    • 14 Lessons
    • 2 Games
    • 1 Trainer
  7. 07

    Cognitive games

    3 items · 30 min

    Several firms open with gamified tests of task switching, reaction under conflict and working memory. They are easy to understand and hard to do fast. Most people score low on a first attempt and improve quickly with practice. Play each game until a short session is both accurate and quick.

    Prepares forOnline assessments

    • 3 Trainers
  8. 08

    Firm assessments

    18 items · 5.5 h

    The firm online assessments at full length and under their real time limits: arithmetic, sequences, probability, estimation and aptitude tests. Each counts once a full run clears its pass mark. A full run needs Tradermath Premium; a free account can sit a shorter example.

    Prepares forOnline assessmentsFinal round

    • 16 Assessments
    • 1 Article
    • 1 Question set

Interview ready

Optional extras [3]

For some desks and firms only. They tick as you clear them, and they do not count toward the track.

  1. 09

    Data and coding

    Optional18 items · 3 h

    Some HFT and proprietary trading firms add data work or a short coding test. Read how to answer "what data would you use", then the inference and pandas lessons, then solve the problems. This section is optional and does not count toward the track.

    Prepares forOnline assessments

    • 11 Lessons
    • 7 Coding problems
  2. 10

    Rates, FX and commodities

    Optional9 items · 1 h

    Final rounds ask how the desk's own market works. Read the section for the desk you are interviewing with: rates, FX or commodities. Options, futures and ETFs are already on the track. This section is optional and does not count toward the track.

    • 9 Lessons
  3. 11

    Calculus

    Optional1 item · 7 min

    Trader interviews rarely test calculus, but an options or research-leaning desk may ask for a derivative, a Taylor expansion or a quick optimisation. Read this after the options lessons. This section is optional and does not count toward the track.

    • 1 Lesson

How quant trader interviews run

The stages in the order firms run them. Select a stage for its rounds and the track sections that prepare them.

Stage 02 of 05

Online assessments

One or more timed tests early on, testing quantitative skill and composure under the clock. Usually the first elimination round and where most of the field is cut; at many firms a fail locks you out of reapplying for a period.

The roundsPrepared by

Full process The Ultimate Guide to Quant Trading Interviews

Then zoom in on a firm

The track gets you to level in general. Each firm runs its own version of the process, and its page has the assessments, questions and guide for it.

Quant trader interview preparation: questions

What do quant trader interviews test?
Speed and composure first, then reasoning. The early rounds are timed arithmetic, sequence and probability tests. The interviews are probability and expected value, brainteasers, and making a market on a coin toss or an event. Later rounds add a case study or a trading simulation and a fit conversation with senior traders.
What maths is in a quant trader interview?
Arithmetic under time, probability and expected value, and a little financial maths. The online tests ask fast calculation, percentages and number sequences. The interviews ask coin, dice, card and urn problems, conditional probability and the expected number of trials until an event, plus the odd Fermi estimate. Financial maths stays basic: what a call and a put are, a payoff diagram, why an ETF can trade away from its value. Calculus and linear algebra rarely appear; SIG's systems-of-equations puzzles are the exception.
Is the quant trader online test hard?
The questions are not hard; the clock is. Flow Traders runs 80 arithmetic questions in 8 minutes, about six seconds each, and Mako's probability quiz runs 37 questions in 15 minutes. Most candidates who fail run out of time rather than get stuck, and at many firms a fail locks you out of reapplying for a period. Sit the practice tests under their real time limits before the real one.
How long does the Quantitative Trader Role Track take?
Around four to six weeks at an hour a day. The track counts about 24 hours of sit-down time, and that figure is a floor: a bar set at a firm's level takes more than one session to clear, and a firm assessment often a second attempt. The trainers and games are short sessions you can repeat daily; the lessons and firm assessments take longer sittings. Progress is saved as you go, so the track picks up where you left off.
Is the track free?
The track itself is free to follow. The trainers, the market games on easy mode and the beginner course lessons are free. Intermediate and advanced lessons, some brainteasers, the strategy trainers and the full-length firm assessments are part of Tradermath Premium; a free account can sit a shorter example of each assessment. Each item shows its own access.
How is progress tracked?
From what you have already done. A lesson counts when you complete it in the course. Every trainer, game and firm assessment on the track has a bar, and the item counts once your best run clears it. A question set with a target counts once you have solved that many, and an article once you have opened it while signed in. The last three sections (data and coding, rates, FX and commodities, and calculus) are optional: their items tick as you go, but they do not count toward the track.