A quantitative (quant) interview is designed to help the interviewer understand how you think, and may include specific industry references including financial terms, economic theories or established mathematical models. Interviewers assess these skills through computations, logic problems and brain teasers. What traits are firms seeking in quant candidates? A told you only the month of his birthday, and told your colleague C only the day. After that, you first said: "I don't know A's birthday, C doesn't know either." After hearing what you said, C replied: "I didn't know A's birthday, but now I know it." You smiled and said:"Now I know it too." After looking at the 10 dates and hearing your comments, your assistant wrote down A's birthday without asking any questions. So what did the assistant write? Books for Quant Finance Interviews. ( comments on the usefulness are based on the score of 0-5). Brain Teasers The quantitative hedge fund industry seems analogous to a highly abstracted game of poker where billions of dollars are on the line. Working in such an industry will allow me to merge my competitive drives (satisfied by poker) with my intelectual drives (satisfied by coding and math.) These jobs are certainly not easy to break into and demand a high degree of interview preparation. That being said, the skills tested in these interviews seem to cover the entire subject matter of my mathematics degree. Therefore, the act of preparing for these interviews will aid in the total assimilation of what I have learned these last 4 years and are a worthwhile activity regardless of my career outcome. Most Frequently Asked Questions on Quant Interviews, 2nd Edition (2019) by Dan Stefanica, Radoš Radoičić and Tai-Ho Wang

I have concocted a hybrid interview prep curriculum to ensure I am prepared for both interviews. The benefit is that practicing the mathematical brain-teasers along with algorithms and data structures will prepare me for machine learning engineer interviews at big tech companies. Therefore, I believe this interview prep curriculum to be a sound hedge that will increase my market value regardless of whether I make it into a hedge fund or not. Quantitative Developer Archetype At this point, I will wrap up my interview prep by finishing Grokking The Coding Interview, and aiming to hit level 99 on math-trainer. Materials The brain teaser section of both the quant prep books cover a variety of math topics. The questions test basic math but in novel and interesting ways. The two pointer technique questions on leetcode will aid in building my algorithm skills. Materials

What traits are firms seeking in quant candidates?

The interview process for a quantitative developer focuses heavily on algorithms and data structures with bits of math brain teasers dropped in. A quantitative trader interview is the complement of a quant-dev interview: math brain teaser heavy with bits of algorithm and data structures dropped in. Although each company will have its own interview protocol, here are steps you can take to prepare for quant interviews regardless of the organization: Month-knower knows for sure C doesn't know so month is not June or Dec. When month-knower gives this away, we are left with Mar and Sep. Then C says she knows for sure wich she wouldn't be able to if the day was 5 because then she couldn't decide betweeen Mar 5 and Sep 5.

I will likely need to refresh some of my stochastic processes knowledge from my previous coursework. Try writing C++ using only objects. Templates are nice to have as well. Use Design Patterns whenever you can. Through the use of AI, a firm can assess the speed and accuracy of your analytical skills and/or your interest in and knowledge of the field before considering your resume. Solid state physics Quantum theory Chemical bonds SCIENCE Physics Condensed Matter Física do estado sólido Mecânica quântica There's no real good book for R. Hadley's Advanced R is an excellent book, but it is only for advanced users.If you rarely program in C/C++, start with C++ Design Patterns and Derivatives Pricing. This is by no means a complete introduction, but it gives you an overview of the language. Also expect questions on current finance news, levels of major world indices, forex, major events that moved markets over the last year, what trade would you make in such and such situation etc. Based on my experience working and interviewing with these firms, I made a list of resources and some interview tips to help students prepare for Quant and Finance interviews. Many prop trading(eg KCG, SIG) , quant trading(Two Sigma, Jane Street, WorldQuant) and market making focused firms (Optiver, IMC, Flow, Akuna) follow this pattern.Please note, the pattern of interviews may change with time, it’s recommended to do your due diligence about the companies you are interviewing with. Math/Logic/Numerical tests: Organizations hiring for analytical roles seek candidates with logical reasoning processes, exceptional computational skills and strong statistical abilities. Because such organizations often operate at a fast pace and the decisions staff make can have far-reaching economic and financial impacts, interviewers seek to assess an applicant’s mathematical mastery, critical thinking skill and creativity, as well as the ability to perform under pressure. What does a quant interview look like? In this first module, I will do a comprehensive refresher of probability and statistics and practice sliding window algorithm questions on leetcode. My understanding of Probability is decent as I have taken multiple courses that have covered the subject matter. Materials

Try using a build system, do not use an IDE. I prefer the naive makefile and the advanced CMake. (My personal view is Autotools is unpretty and out-dated.) IDEs are nice to work with, but helpless for interview prep. Then when M's realisation gives D the answer, he know's it's June (else if Mar, Sep or Dec, then M would still be unsure). Read about the specific organization with whom you are interviewing to understand their clients and the services, and the philosophy that guides their practice Be prepared to devote time over a number of weeks to become fluent in financial terms and proficient with the different types of quant interview questions Quantitative Portfolio Management (Incredible book with interview questions scattered throughout which will also give you a highly developed ability to discuss statistical arbitrage and explain most of the core quant finance topics relevant to hedge fund/ asset management)

D can now work it out. He knows that M would still be uncertain if Mar, Sep or Dec. The fact M's worked it out means it must be June. D already knows the day, of course.

Optiver: Their first step is 8 mins , 80 questions MCQ math test made of simple arithmetic questions designed to assess your mental math speed and accuracy. I will be graduating in Spring 2022 with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Northeastern University. Despite having had more than a year’s worth of internship experience, I have been at a slight fork in the road in terms of knowing the exact job/career path I want to specialize in.

How should I prepare?

Brush up on prob stats from college and practice! There are a lot lot of online resources on this, attaching some below. If day-of-month would have been 7 C knows bday is June 7. If day-of-month would have been 2 C knows bday i Dec 2. Otherwise, C would not know. C could only know if month is June or Dec, it isn't.