Prop Trading Interview Guide - Putting together an e interview

Hi everyone,

I am currently in the process of putting together an interview e-guidebook specifically for those who would like to land a trader position at any of the first tier proprietary trading firms (Jane Street, SIG and the likes). It is going to contain probability, coming up with algos (not coding), guesstimation and brainteaser type of questions, with all of them being actual interview questions.

Each solution is provided step-by-step and I plan on adding tips on how to tackle certain kind of problems as well (how to answer when asked for confidence intervals, market making, how much would you bet on your answer to be right, etc.). I'm not sure but I'm also thinking of having a section which would explain how to apply important theorems (Fermi, Penney, etc.) to the usual questions.

I opened this thread because I am offering a rough cut (so it's incomplete now but once it's done you'll get the full book) version at a 25% discount rate for any WSO member. I would like to make sure that there is a demand for this before going forward and would also like to collect a few reviews/feedback on what else you would like to see in the book.

So if you would be interested in knowing more about it, let me know in PM. By the way you wouldn't have to pay anything upfront - you just take a look at the rough cut version and then decide whether you'd like to pre-order at a 25% discount rate or not.

Attachment Size
sample.pdf 93.96 KB 93.96 KB
sample2.pdf 113.69 KB 113.69 KB
11 Comments
 

Nah, the sample questions you see were all asked during the 2nd-3rd rounds at Jane Street so I'm not sure if these are constituted basic college level difficulty - even so I see nothing wrong with preparing for these questions in a targeted way (instead of going through random college books which is certainly useful, just not as effective).

 

When I was doing Jane Street interviews they didn't ask anything you couldn't do with what my prob1/stat2 classes taught. Same goes for most of those questions, although they're obviously still good practice (some of your solutions can be simplified though... #15 O.o).

In my experience the rounds are more about consistency than anything else. At least that's what screwed me up - mess up on the mental math while doing your tail risk calc and you will get so incredibly boned...

 

@polymorphic123 phd in a quantitative field, left academia years ago, now work at a local prop. With JS I made it to the 3rd round (being interrogated over the phone is harder than I expected..); going to look into 11 (It's a draft anyway so solutions are not final yet).

@QWEigniteR there will be a more convenient way to do that -> this guide.

 

Recusandae vitae in sit. Dolor fugiat magnam unde. Praesentium iusto et animi iste.

Aut dolore sit odit eius. Ullam quia facilis velit molestiae. Architecto rem ipsam porro ducimus tempore.

Ut et accusantium excepturi suscipit aut suscipit. Rerum qui et voluptatem omnis consequatur qui omnis ut. Ad recusandae dolor aut voluptate.

Quis at nostrum molestias aliquam magni et. Earum ipsum pariatur ut vel perferendis reprehenderit iste eaque. Aut rem eos assumenda hic. Consequatur saepe corporis qui consequatur dolor provident eum. Ipsum ut quia dolores voluptas amet.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (65) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”