DRW Trading Interview Questions
Got a superday with DRW Trading this weekend, so looking for quick responses from anyone who has experienced 2nd round there or at another fixed income prop trading firm. Questions I got in 1st round were:
Expected value of coin flip game (easy) How many (5-card) hands are there that give you four of a kind? Same as above but for full house.
I've heard their interviews tend to be pretty math/probability heavy so I'd appreciate any tricks people could share.
I was actually asked what the square root of 1000 was in an interview with them last year. It's a huge decimal... so that was interesting.
I was also asked something along the lines of this.
"You have 1000 seats in an auditorium, 1 of them has a red card under it. What are the chances you pick a seat with the red card? Obviously 1/1000.
Then assume 990 of the chairs are removed, none of which had the red card under them. What are your chances of getting the card now?"
I'm still baffled by this question, as I thought past events had absolutely no effect on a future events probability. I said 1/10, but apparently I was wrong. The recruiter said it was still 1/1000. I still don't know what the hell he was talking about.
I was also asked "You are playing russian roullete, 4 of the 7 chambers have bullets in them. The three empty chambers are all side by side. Your opponent goes and nothing happens. Do you spin the clip (or whatever it's called) or do you go again without spinning? ie - what gives you your best odds of not getting shot."
I've heard that they ask a lot of conditional probability questions, so I would brush up on that. I've only had a first round with them, but I was also asked some basic mental arithmetic questions: multiplication of 2 2 digit numbers, division up to a certain number of decimal places.
For the seats in the auditorium question, I think it really depends on how the chairs are removed. If the 990 chairs are removed randomly, then the probability remains 1/1000. If the chairs are removed knowing where the red card is (ie. don't remove the chair where the red card is located), then the probability would change. This case would be similar to the Monty Hall problem.
Has anyone else heard about the interview?
Hey, I got a phone interview for a SA position next week. Does anyone have anything else to add? Common questions, teasers? Things you've been asked?
the seats in the auditorium question sounds like a variation of the Monty Hall problem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_hall_problem)
DRW Trading 2nd Round Interview for Summer TA (Originally Posted: 01/27/2010)
Fortunate enough to get 2nd round interview at DRW for summer TA role, expecting the usual probability, brainteaser, mental math, game theory, why do you want to be a trader/ why at DRW type questions.
Hoping to get confirmation/rejection of my expectations, I know there have been previous posts on the same subject but the ones I saw were dated.
I understand not wanting to give up information but if anyone is in the mood it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time.
What was your first round like?
1st Round: The interview alternated between a lot of fit questions and brainteasers. My fit questions were: 1. Why do you want to be a trader? 2. Why DRW? 3. Stuff about my research experience.
I thought I did okay on the fit questions..... I wasn't really expecting them, to be honest, so I kind of stumbled over them..... (didn't do terrible, though.)
The other interviewer asked me probability questions/brainteasers:
Overall, about 30 minutes. Got to the second round (I think because I answered all my brainteasers correctly).
2nd Round (on-site): Toured headquarters in morning. Had 4 interviews right after another in the afternoon. Had a casual conversation about teamwork, DRW, and trading with one interviewer. Lots of probability/brainteasers/ mental math from two interviewers, and intense grilling by the last interviewer.
Hope that helps!
My first round was pretty similiar to IntoFinance's, some fit questions about why I wanted to be a trader and why at DRW (sorry to be redundant).
Quant-ish questions involved cards and combinations.
Interviewer was very nice and laid back guy, it lasted for about 40 mins but that was due to my questions at the end and his willingness to elaborate.
Thanks IntoFinance for the insight on the 2nd round, I'm looking forward to the grilling haha.
any technical questions like what is an option/ future/forward stuff?
That is the most technical you are going to get at DRW for summer TAs and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't ask that (what is an option/future/forward). Those aren't hard to answer, so you should be fine. The probability/expected value/etc. type questions are the hardest you're going to get and you can't really study for those anyway.
Thanks for the insight.
Seems like a Statistics major provides optimal preparation for these interviews.
You don't need to major in statistics to understand these basic mental math and probability questions. Many of them are fairly intuitive, the main issue being that you need to understand the basics well enough to apply them on the fly without pen/paper/calculator.
Thanks for the clarification. I guess the ability to blitz through mental math is an acquired skill. I've now set a goal to break free from the shackles of my Casio and TI83.
DRW Trading internship interview (Originally Posted: 01/25/2010)
Would anyone like to tell me what the first round interview is like? What are some good resources I can look into?
Thanks.
What's your profile?
It consists of a few brain teasers and a few fit questions. Make sure you do some background reading on DRW. I recommend checking out their website.
DRW Trading Interview (Originally Posted: 02/25/2009)
I have an on-site interview with DRW Trading for a summer internship Trader assistant position. Any advice ? Thank you.
normal brain teasers, some mental math, maybe some simple stuff about hedging in black scholes if you have the background... pretty typical trading interview
Thanks
Yep, know your probabilities.
DRW Trading (Originally Posted: 10/24/2010)
Anyone heard bac from Drw superday last weekend? Have they given out any offers?
.
also curious to hear about this superday.
what's the way to think about the question "if you have 60% odds to win an even money bet, how much would you wager?"
What specifically do you want to knoW?
It's to see your approach to risk. They obviously don't want you to say "well I'm getting a solid edge so I would bet half my money." Just think in terms of what's highest percentage of your money you could wager on the bet if you did it an infinite number of times and want a near zero risk of ruin.
hinvestor: are you going there for another superday? you can email the HR for details of the game. it might not be the same as the one we played.
i didnt do well in the superday..just curious who got the offer?
trader: yes i am... and thanks for the advice, i'll email hr now and see what they say
So what game are you playing? When is your superday? Good luck to you!
this weekend, havent heard back on the game yet
was that the only brainteaser they asked? sounds unusually easy for DRW
T3h:
There's a good mix. Depends on your interviewers but I think they did a great job in putting together a combination of interviewers that will give each applicant some fair amount of fit/math/technical questions.
Programming? Depends on the position you applied to . There's no programming question for Trader Assistant.
You're attending the upcoming superday too?
As mentioned in my other thread I got an offer from the NYC office, heard back a few days ago. Haven't heard anything about the Chicago office offers though.
The superday was a lot of fun - Friday was all getting to know the company/fun events such as dinner and Whirlyball.
Saturday was the actual interviews. I had four interviews in total, and they were a good mix of brainteasers/probability, technical (options theory, pricing, etc.), and fit.
To be honest I didn't get many fit questions. Brush up on your technical knowledge and brainteasers/probability would be my best advice.
Also do NOT miss the Friday events just to get some extra sleep or whatever. They were a lot of fun and you get to meet a lot of the employees. In fact, at dinner, Don Wilson (the CEO) sat down next to me for a good 30 minutes.
Good luck!
Yeah I'm going to the superday on Saturday. I have to miss Friday, sucks.
Option pricing....pffff please...I mean what is that?
I guess "too" means you're going -- PM me if you want trader 8
^ If you miss Friday, most likely your chance of getting an offer diminishes to near zero. It goes for any type of events anywhere you interview. Just gives off a bad first impression that you don't care about the company enough to attend.
Haha thanks for the vote of confidence. I have a midterm Friday, I told HR and they said no problem, I think it's forgivable.
Has anyone heard back for Chicago office positions since this last superday?
i haven't heard back yet either, post yeas and nays here if you want
anyone heard back yet? especially if you went to the first superday ^_^
just heard back... got dinged
Much schadenfreude and condolences my good friend. Don't let the bastards keep you down.
Happens to all of us dude...I just got dinged at Jane Street final round. That shit was hard.
ahh, i got it, think i'll be going. HR told me theyre gonna send out another round of acceptances after they hear matriculation (which is why they told me to hurry up and answer) so if you havent heard keep watch
Hi guys,
I'm new on this forum. Just wanted to know after how long you usually hear from DRW recruiters when you submit your resume for trader assistant position.
Thanks in advance,
Jacopo
DRW Trading - Assitant Trader Interview (Originally Posted: 01/27/2008)
Anyone been through the process? I have an interview in a couple of days!!
Any info would be greatly appreciated!!
I realized that my comments would not be useful for you since it is one year later, just figure it would be useful for other people.
I have interviewed with DRW last year for intern position, all probability and some option-related questions. Did not get an offer though.
Just finish interviewing with them this year for full time. Got passed the first round. Some behavior questions and got to play a "game" with the interviewer. Really interesting and fun interview.
What "game" did you play in the end? Did you end up getting the job?
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