Trader Assistant Interview Questions

578 trader assistant interview questions shared by candidates

I did initially misunderstand this question and had to be helped along, but it is fairly difficult to do on the fly anyway: "We're playing a game with an unbiased 30-sided die. Before we roll, we both pick (distinct) numbers between 1 and 30, and then we roll the die. If the number that appears is closer to the number I picked, you pay me, in dollars, the number on the die; if it is closer to the number you picked, I pay you, in dollars, the number on the die; if it is equidistant we do nothing. What's the optimal strategy - do you go first or second, and how do you pick your number? What's your expectation?"
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Assistant Trader

Interviewed at Jane Street

4.4
Mar 25, 2014

I did initially misunderstand this question and had to be helped along, but it is fairly difficult to do on the fly anyway: "We're playing a game with an unbiased 30-sided die. Before we roll, we both pick (distinct) numbers between 1 and 30, and then we roll the die. If the number that appears is closer to the number I picked, you pay me, in dollars, the number on the die; if it is closer to the number you picked, I pay you, in dollars, the number on the die; if it is equidistant we do nothing. What's the optimal strategy - do you go first or second, and how do you pick your number? What's your expectation?"

You and I are going to play a game where we alternate saying a number. The rules are that the starting person must say a number between 1 and 10, and then the next person can say any number that is between 1 and 10 higher than the previous number -- i.e., if I start and say 5, you can then say anything between 6 and 15. The goal of the game is for you to say the number 40. What is your strategy and why?
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Assistant Trader

Interviewed at Susquehanna International Group

3.8
Nov 30, 2012

You and I are going to play a game where we alternate saying a number. The rules are that the starting person must say a number between 1 and 10, and then the next person can say any number that is between 1 and 10 higher than the previous number -- i.e., if I start and say 5, you can then say anything between 6 and 15. The goal of the game is for you to say the number 40. What is your strategy and why?

"You are a player in a basketball team.Your team loses with 2 points. You have the ball and the game ends in 3 seconds. You have 2 choices. Pass the ball for a 3 point shot or pass the ball for a 2 point shot. The 3 point shooter has 37% probability hitting the three (and winning the game) and the 2 point shooter has a probability of 77% probability hitting the 2 (and tie the game). In overtime there is 50-50% chance of winning/losing. What do you do and why?"
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Assistant Trader Internship

Interviewed at Susquehanna International Group

3.8
Jan 11, 2017

"You are a player in a basketball team.Your team loses with 2 points. You have the ball and the game ends in 3 seconds. You have 2 choices. Pass the ball for a 3 point shot or pass the ball for a 2 point shot. The 3 point shooter has 37% probability hitting the three (and winning the game) and the 2 point shooter has a probability of 77% probability hitting the 2 (and tie the game). In overtime there is 50-50% chance of winning/losing. What do you do and why?"

I own a car worth an amount between 0 and 1000 dollars. You can make a single bid on this car. If you bid higher than the value of the car, you pay that much and get the car. If you bid lower than the value, you don't get the car. 1)how much do you bid 2)how much do you stand to lose should you get the car (or something like this) 3) you have a mechanic who can increase the value of the car to a constant multiple of the cars current value. How much should this constant be in order to make bidding worthwhile...
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Assistant Trader

Interviewed at Jane Street

4.4
Nov 26, 2014

I own a car worth an amount between 0 and 1000 dollars. You can make a single bid on this car. If you bid higher than the value of the car, you pay that much and get the car. If you bid lower than the value, you don't get the car. 1)how much do you bid 2)how much do you stand to lose should you get the car (or something like this) 3) you have a mechanic who can increase the value of the car to a constant multiple of the cars current value. How much should this constant be in order to make bidding worthwhile...

Best of 7 game series between two teams, A and B. You get even odds on both teams for each game and you have to work out how much to bet on each game so that you win $100 if A wins the series and lose $100 if B wins the series and specifically how much you bet on the first game.
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Assistant Trader

Interviewed at Jane Street

4.4
Mar 5, 2013

Best of 7 game series between two teams, A and B. You get even odds on both teams for each game and you have to work out how much to bet on each game so that you win $100 if A wins the series and lose $100 if B wins the series and specifically how much you bet on the first game.

A survey is given to all passengers on a number of different planes. The survey asks each person how full their plane was. The people answer honestly. If 50% of people claim that their plane was 80% full, while the other 50% claim that their plane was 20% full, how full was the average plane?
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Assistant Trader Summer Internship

Interviewed at Jane Street

4.4
Feb 17, 2014

A survey is given to all passengers on a number of different planes. The survey asks each person how full their plane was. The people answer honestly. If 50% of people claim that their plane was 80% full, while the other 50% claim that their plane was 20% full, how full was the average plane?

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