Quantitative Trader Intern

Status
Group/Division/Type
Prop Trading
City
Chicago
Interviewed
August 2025
Overall experience
Positive
Difficulty
Difficult

General Interview Information

Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months

Interview Details

What did the interview consist of?
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Please describe the interview / hiring process.
After applying and passing resume screen (high marks, appropriate degree, some relevant projects or past internships), an OA is sent. OA is very standard, with Bayes and LOTP questions with some brainteasers and statistics questions.
Got back to me very quickly (1-2 days) after submitting OA, and organised a recruiter 1-1 via Calendly. Recruiter call was standard behavioural, with questions about why trading, why IMC and some stories about showing resilience, leadership and being competitive. They say they will get back to you about next steps at the start of the next week, which they honoured.
Got an email for a technical interview, which is 2 back-to-back 1-on-1 interviews with traders asking open ended questions. While I can't share specifics, no preparation is really needed (aside from some game theory ideas) as questions mainly assess how you make bets / decisions and how you justify them / react to being wrong. There is no pressure to be quick - you can write everything down and take your time. Both interviewers weren't particularly happy to be there, but they were nice and happy to answer questions and didn't put any pressure to answer quick or anything.
The next day, a recruiter called to schedule a final round, which requries >0.5 business days at the office. If you are not based in the city, they will provide transport and hotel. The final superday consists of lunch, trading-desk shadow (more of a Q&A with a trader on the floor), 2 technicals and 1 behavioural. Behavioural is similar to first round, but they restrict topics you can talk about and ask follow-up questions. Some q's include "what would you do if trading doesn't work out", "what makes a good trader" and multiple stories of past failure and how you dealt with it. Technicals included a trading simulator and a more classic QT interview but very open ended. Both of these cannot be prepped for and you will make loads of mistakes, but they are testing how quickly you can recover from these mistakes and how you respond to feedback. Desk shadow they put a lot of emphasis on asking questions - try to ask questions specific about the intern process, as the trader you meet is an ex-intern. In this superday, everyone I met was exceptionally nice. Everyone was happy to chat about their roles and seemed very interested in getting to know me. The recruiters also look after you, giving you a tour of the office and providing you with snacks throughout the day and encouraging you. I think this is a better reflection of the office culture, as the traders from the previous round were probably tired of video calling so many interviewees.
Received a phone call the next week with an offer, with paper work following a few hours later.
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