Chimera Securities Interview Questions

15 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (84%)

The Interview Experience is a score from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the donut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire dataset.

3.7
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (81%)

The Interview Difficulty is a score ranging from very difficult (red) to very easy (green) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more insights, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire data set.

2.7
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (45%)

The % of Interns Getting a Full Time Offer chart is meant to provide a realistic estimate of the hiring practices of the company based on the reviews at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few reviews). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to the simple company average and away from the average of the entire data set.

35%
  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%
  • 80%
  • 90%
  • 100%

Interviews at Chimera Securities

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2023
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Prop Trading
Location New York
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Very Easy
Junior Trader
Year 2019
Job Title Junior Trader
Group/Division Prop Trading
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Easy
Trader
Year 2017
Job Title Trader
Group/Division Prop Trading
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Sales and Trading
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
N/A
Year 2017
Job Title N/A
Group/Division N/A
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Trader
Year 2015
Job Title Trader
Group/Division Prop Trading
Location New York
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
Trader
Year 2013
Job Title Trader
Group/Division Sales and Trading
Location New York
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Easy
Junior Trader
Year 2014
Job Title Junior Trader
Group/Division Equity Capital Markets
Location New York
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Junior Trader
Year 2014
Job Title Junior Trader
Group/Division Generalist
Location New York
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Other
Year 2014
Job Title Other
Group/Division Prop Trading
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Difficult

Interview Questions & Answers - Chimera Securities Examples

Equity Trader Trainee Program Interview - Prop Trading

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: March 2023
Date Submitted: Jul 13, 2023
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
I met the recruiters in my university's career fair. They asked me to apply online. So I applied online for their September 2023 training program. First I received a 15-minute phone interview, in which they asked me following questions:

1) Why do you want to do trading/become a trader?
2) Why do you want to join chimera securites?
3) [I forgot question number 3]
4) Are you okay with not being paid?
Then they said, if selected, their will be two more rounds of interview in-person, in their office. I think I did really well in the first interview, but they still rejected me.
Interview Questions
I didn't face any unexpected questions, they asked all basic questions like: Why do you want to do trading? Why chimera securities?, etc.
Sample Answer

Trader Trainee Interview - Prop Trading

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: September 2019
Date Submitted: Oct 21, 2019
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Interview
I applied online and got a phone interview a week after. Then I was invited to their office 2 times for onsite interview.
Interview Questions
Mostly fit questions, temperament questions, and experience questions. I was asked to answer following questions: Why Trading? Why chimera? Have you applied to other companies? Do you have trading experience before? What platform did you use to trade? How did you get interested in trading? What do you do outside of work? What are the challenges to be a trader? Why do you think you will be a good trader? What is the non-financially riskiest thing you have done in the past? What type of trader do you think you will be?
Sample Answer

Equity Trader Trainee Interview - Prop Trading

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: November 2017
Date Submitted: Oct 20, 2019
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Started off by applying online through a LinkedIn job posting and followed up with an email to the poster. She then reached out a couple days later asking to set up a phone screening interview. After that there were two in person interviews - first with a trader and then with the head trader.
Interview Questions
1.) You have two ropes and a lighter. Each rope has the following property: If you light one end of the rope, it will take one hour to burn to the other end. They don't necessarily burn at a uniform rate. How can you measure a period of 45 minutes?

2.) There was a big conversation on why do you think most prop traders fail (
Sample Answer

Equity Trader Interview - Sales and Trading

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: October 2018
Date Submitted: Nov 06, 2018
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Started off with application online. Got a phone call from the HR director. She started off with some basic behavior questions.

Then when I said I would like to move forward, after the directive if the 4 month unpaid part, she set up a formal phone interview- went over training and applicable stuff during the internship side.

Set up a technical interview with a trader there.
Interview Questions
Expected Value questions from a die. I don’t remember the exact questions- more or less: what’s the EV if rolling 2 odd numbers with 2 die... not hard, but stuff like that.

Another was describe your strategy as if I were an entry level trader. Makes you simplify sophisticated concepts. More or less behavioral since they want to know how you’re thinking about your strategy and style.

They also ask some questions about current market conditions specific to equities since they only trade equities- they also have some option traders, but entry level traders aren’t allowed to trade equities.
Sample Answer

Equity Trainee Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: October 2017
Date Submitted: Oct 27, 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
I did a twenty minute interview with the HR hiring representative. It was a brief overview. In addition, met with a trader one on one.
Interview Questions
What was the greatest risk you ever took?
What do you know about technical analysis?
Why do you want to be a trader?
What is you academic background, how do you think it is applicable to trading?
Are you comfortable with a unpaid four month internship and the chance you might not be hired as a full time trader?
Although you don't trade currently, what type of trader do you think you would be?
Do you currently trade at the moment?
What type of competitive background do you have? How do you think this is applicable to trading?
Sample Answer

Prop Trader Interview - Prop Trading

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: August 2015
Date Submitted: Nov 06, 2016
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
It's about three interviews-- phone and then two in-person interviews.

First phone is to just check interest and then others are with traders.
Interview Questions
Pretty basic overall interview process. They want you to demonstrate a strong interest in trading because first four months are unpaid and so you have to be committed to the program. Then they try to get to know you because a lot of the process is just trying to gauge if you'll be a good fit in the company culture. It's a pretty tight knit group of about 100 traders and it's like a professional fraternity-- in the least douchy sounding way possible. They don't ask too difficult of technical questions. They want to make sure you can handle pressure so they ask you a couple brain teasers.
Sample Answer

Trading Interview - Sales and Trading

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: June 2013
Date Submitted: Jan 16, 2015
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Applied during junior year. The interviewing process typically begins with a phone screen. The phone interview is entirely behavioral. There is a large emphasis on why trading and why Chimera. Not difficult. Later stage will have you meet with the head of trading and a director, this is more technical but easy to handle if you have a good accounting/finance background.
Interview Questions
Will you be able to take the series 56 within the next few weeks and commit to training? My school schedule is "xyz" I can commit to the exam as soon as I complete the training program. Additionally I have studied xyz to prepare.
Sample Answer

Junior Trader Interview - Equity Capital Markets

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: April 2014
Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2014
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
2-3 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
After submitting your resume, Chimera will email you asking to set up your first phone interview. Don't sweat the first phone call because it usually last for 5 minutes. One of the receptionist are just calling to ask you when you would like to schedule your first real phone interview. Then, you will receive a second phone interview. Here, you will be asked why you are passionate about trading, have you ever traded before (doesn't matter if you have or not), 3 strengths of a trader, and a chance to ask questions. If they like you, they will have another trader conduct a phone interview with you. Including the first phone call by the receptionist, I would expect to go through 3 to 4 phone interviews before being called to interview at their main office. Between each phone call, you should expect a 1-2 week delay (Chimera is very slow / inefficient at conducting interviews).

Finally, if they are interested enough you will have a final interview at their office. They once again ask you why you are passionate about the market and what you consider to be 3 strengths of any trader (Ex. 1) minimize and control risk 2) control emotions 3) hard work ethic). However, be prepared to answer mathematical questions. For example, I was asked if there were 20 socks in a drawer (10 black and 10 white), how many socks would need to be pulled out (1 sock at a time) to guarantee there will be at least one pair? ANS- 3 socks. Or, how many socks would need to be pulled out to guarantee at least one pair of black socks? ANS- 12, because theoretically the first 10 socks could be white.

This is more than enough information regarding Chimera's interview process.
Interview Questions
3 Strengths of a Trader?
Why are you interested in trading?

-Convey that you are passionate.
I have 3 cups. One cup has $10,000 inside of it. If I offered you $1,000 up front, would you take the money or take a chance at winning $10,000 by picking out of one of the cups?

-I would take a chance at picking the $10,000 inside of a cup, because my expected outcome (based on probability) is higher than taking $1,000. I have a 1/3rd chance at sellecting the correct cup, which translates into an expected winnings of approximately $3,333. This is greater than receiving $1,000.
Sample Answer

Trader Interview - Generalist

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: May 2014
Date Submitted: May 28, 2014
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Group Interview
IQ / Intelligence Test
Interview
This consisted of two phone calls and one in person interview, all of which were fairly standard. The two phone interviews consisted of prototypical personality questions, and the in person interview, which was with a senior trader and a partner, consisted of both personality and logical/mathematical questions. All interviewers were friendly and personable.
Interview Questions
Question: If you have 9 marbles and one is heavier than the other 8. How can you use only a balance beam to figure out which is the heavy one if you can only use the balance beam twice?

Answer: You simply just split the 9 marbles into groups of 3. Put two sets on each side of the balance beam, and this will tell you which set has the heavy marble. After that, just take the heavy set of 3 marbles and put 2 of them on the balance beam, and you'll know which marble is the heavy marble
Question: What is the riskiest thing you've ever done?

Answer: I struggled to answer this question at first, because I wanted something that was applicable to the position. I ended up talking about my abroad experience after college, saying how it forced me to go outside of my comfort zone and try new things
Sample Answer

Trainee Interview - Prop Trading

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: May 2014
Date Submitted: May 27, 2014
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Began with brief HR phone screening mostly detailing job description with emailed description to follow. followed by one on one interview with mid-level trader that asked the usual stuff and lasted ten minutes. A week later I was contacted to set up the final interview with head trader and partner.
Interview Questions
Tell me about yourself. This question is simple but one must know to keep it somewhat in context of the job. I did not want to summarize my resume again nor did I want to get too personal with someone I had just met.
What is the riskiest thing you've ever done... This one took some thought.
Sample Answer