Interview at DE Shaw....

Hi guys, Quick question for those in the know... I m having an finance interview with DE Shaw for an intern position. Has anyone been through this, what kind of questions will they ask and how should I prepare? Many thanks guys and gals!

36 Comments
 

Was clearly my worst interview ever! Not to say that is the norm, I know people who had a good experience, but when I think of it, I just remember the dude sitting across from me telling me how smart he was, and me wanting to plant a left hook on his jaw, get over urself! But great firm if you are quant minded, and their pay is amazing

 

Thanks a lot... I just dont understand what kind of position they could potentially offer me...I will be a graduate from business school, nothing to do with rocket science maths...I have done previous internships in ECM (corporate finance), and equity derivatives sales...What kind of positions may I fit in at DE Shaw? Even in global macro or Special Situations driven strategies, maths are that important??? Thanks guys...

 

congrats on the getting an interview at d.e.shaw. i envy your position :).

a good way to impress the interviewers is by acing the quant math questions and brainteasers. i interviewed for another trading internship and seriously believe that i got called for the next round because i ate the brainteasers up. and interviewers believe that how you handle brainteasers is a good measure of your raw intellect.

google around. here's a good place to start. http://www.techinterview.org

good luck, let us know what happens.

 
agoyalHey I am majoring in maths... can anyone suggest the positions for which I could apply?

Trading, they like tech and math guys.

 

Four rounds - starting with lower level positions and ending with a senior VP. Interview was more laid back than front office roles - mostly walking through your resume, asking why you want to work here, etc. but they do throw in a couple of (relatively easy) technical questions and brain teasers. I was asked to describe a finance topic in detail (as if I was teaching a class) and also asked a simple probability brain-teaser type question. Overall people were laid back and helpful - good luck!

actually the strategic growth dept emailed me saying i should expect a call within the the week. that was after a few emails back and forth in which they asked for more information.

agree with ideating..dont mean to discourage you..DE Shaw normally does this procedure of asking for more information but they are highly selective in recruiting...good luck though..

 

First - you have a few licences? As a soph/junior in college? What type of licenses are those?

Second - buy-side firms don't have S/T, only T.

Third - you had your resume passed through by an insider for an internship, but you don't know whether you are applying for a trading or quant role? Which info sheet did you fill out? They are different, you know.

 

which division, quantitative or qualitative strategy? I have no idea what to expect on the latter, but for the former, you WILL be asked a few programming questions (last year I BSed it and just talked about how I would go about designing the algorithm.. didn't get the job) and maybe something about finance theory

 

Does anybody in general know how many rounds of interviews follow the first on campus found? The first round seemed to be a general fit/background in finance round. Is the second more of a test of mathematical aptitude, etc? Is there something particular I should do to prepare for second round interviewing (ie. refresh my stat knowledge, etc?)

 

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