Trader Interview Questions

Trader Interview Questions

In a trader interview, the interviewer likely wants to see that you are knowledgeable about financial markets and have strong opinions about them. Further, you can expect hypothetical questions that test your sales skills and showcase your personality. Speak persuasively and with conviction about the latest news in stocks.

Top Trader Interview Questions & How To Answer

Question 1

Question #1: Pitch me a stock that you would buy or sell now.

How to answer
How to answer: This is an opportunity to demonstrate your sales skills and tell a convincing story about a stock. Choose a company you know well, and be prepared for follow-up questions. Defend your case without wavering.
Question 2

Question #2: What is the riskiest decision you have ever made?

How to answer
How to answer: While trading is a role that requires risk taking, you can use this question to prove that you are thoughtful and well-researched when evaluating risk. Talk through your reasoning, why you determined this was an appropriate risk to take, and what the outcome was. The interviewer might also want to see you confidently stand by your decisions.
Question 3

Question #3. Tell me about something that happened recently in the financial markets and your opinion of it.

How to answer
How to answer: This question is twofold. A successful answer would first prove that you have a genuine interest in stocks and keep up to date with market news, which changes daily. Stay informed by reading reputable financial newspapers regularly. Second, this question allows you to share your unique point of view. Try to show the interviewer that you see value where others may not.

8,651 trader interview questions shared by candidates

We have two candles. The one burns in 2 hours the other burns in 1 hour (I am not sure about the numbers). At which time should we burn simultaneously these candles in order the one candle to have double the length of the other at 4pm?
avatar

Quantitative Trader Intern

Interviewed at TransMarket Group

4.1
Apr 17, 2017

We have two candles. The one burns in 2 hours the other burns in 1 hour (I am not sure about the numbers). At which time should we burn simultaneously these candles in order the one candle to have double the length of the other at 4pm?

You have all the clubs from a deck, 13 cards, and you can choose 2 from the deck and get paid their product, where all face cards are considered to be 0. You can pay $1 to reveal the difference of any two cards you choose, how much would you pay to play this game?
avatar

Quantitative Trader

Interviewed at Jane Street

4.4
Jan 15, 2018

You have all the clubs from a deck, 13 cards, and you can choose 2 from the deck and get paid their product, where all face cards are considered to be 0. You can pay $1 to reveal the difference of any two cards you choose, how much would you pay to play this game?

2 mental math questions, two probability questions. (1) If you have 4 coins, you toss them, what the expectation value of get heads, not you have a chance to redraw four coins one more time, what is your expectation (2) Two team has equal win probability, What is the probability that they go to series 7.
avatar

Assistant Trader

Interviewed at Jane Street

4.4
Jan 21, 2014

2 mental math questions, two probability questions. (1) If you have 4 coins, you toss them, what the expectation value of get heads, not you have a chance to redraw four coins one more time, what is your expectation (2) Two team has equal win probability, What is the probability that they go to series 7.

let's assume you have a sequence of 36 integers consisting of just 1's and 0's (i.e. 01010101..., 10000100... ). Can you construct a sequence such that every subsequence of length 5 is unique? Let's assume that you start with 00000. How would you construct it? (For instance, if you start with 00000100001..., then it's not valid since you have two subsequences (00001, 00001) of length 5 that are identical).
avatar

Assistant Trader

Interviewed at Jane Street

4.4
Nov 14, 2013

let's assume you have a sequence of 36 integers consisting of just 1's and 0's (i.e. 01010101..., 10000100... ). Can you construct a sequence such that every subsequence of length 5 is unique? Let's assume that you start with 00000. How would you construct it? (For instance, if you start with 00000100001..., then it's not valid since you have two subsequences (00001, 00001) of length 5 that are identical).

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