Practice Practice Practice.
I've seen lots of posts here asking about how to pass Flow Traders math test, or Optiver, or Akuna or whoever.
Maybe there's some geniuses out there that pass these tests without effort. This thread isn't for them, and i certainly don't fall in that category, yet i've managed to pass all the barrier tests.
If you're serious about getting one of these jobs in the future, start going to (http://arithmetic.zetamac.com/game?key=a7220a92) and doing 15 reps each day, followed by one run through on easy of "tradertest.org" on the easy section. The first link will get your mental horsepower up with continuous practice, and the second link will prepare you for the conditions of the exams (negative marking, 8 minute time limit etc).
You have to treat it like exercise, and set aside 30-40 minutes a day for it.
Write down your scores each day. At first you might be rubbish, but you'll see improvement (and very rapidly at the beginning). Being able to see your continual improvement on a graph really helps to keep you motivated.
You need to practice enough so you're barely thinking when you do these. Eventually it all seems intuitive and you'll instinctively know the answer before you really even try to "work it out".
I've attached a graph of my last 15 hours of practice. I initially started out at about 20 and have worked up since then.
If you're looking to prepare for your interview, JobTestPrep has everything you need to know for Mathematical Reasoning Test interviews, including a myriad of questions with thoroughly explained answers.
