commodities or fx/rates entry level interview advice

I have two interviews coming up. Both are for junior trader roles. One at a commodities desk and another at a fx/interest desk. I just graduated from college a month ago. I was an engineering major. Any advice on what kinds of questions to expect/ways to prepare those interviews?

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Best Response

I had an interview with a BB commodities desk some time back. Beyond the conventional competency questions, I had my share of options pricing questions (anything from general knowledge of put-call parity to specifics relating to Black Scholes). That aside, know the global macro trends well for the major commodities (precious/base metals, energy).

As for FX, I was grilled heavily on technicals (then again, this particular bank is famous/infamous for being heavily quant/technical). So know your stochastics/MACDs/Bollinger Bands/Fib inside out as you'd invariably need to use them in explaining the macro trends (especially if they ask very specific questions on a strategy).

Briefly, that's about it for now, but I reckon they tailor the questions to fit your background/experience. I, too, am an engineer btw.

Let me know which banks you're interviewing with and I'll see what I can fill you in...

 

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