D. E. Shaw & Co. - Investment Firm Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process for the Corporate Development Intern role was pretty challenging but in a good way. It started with some background questions, but quickly moved into deeper discussions about strategy, acquisitions, and how you would think about evaluating companies or potential deals. The interviewer asked a lot of follow-up questions, which made it clear they really wanted to see how you think through problems rather than just hear rehearsed answers. Overall it felt fast-paced and analytical, and they definitely pushed you to explain your reasoning clearly. Case study included as well

This interview process felt really long and frustrating. First, I had to do a 75-minute case study before even talking to anyone. It's a lot for an EA role, especially since I didn't know how it would be graded or how much it mattered. The interviews themselves were actually good though – really interesting and focused on practical stuff like decision-making, real situations, and teamwork. I felt good after each one. But then it just ended with a rejection and no feedback, which was weird given how much they asked me to do and how well I thought the interviews went. What was really odd was how they say they like elite academics, but the EAs there don't seem to have that, and they seemed uncomfortable with people who did. It made things tense. The people were professional and the company seems high-class, but the lack of clear info, mixed signals about culture, and insecurity about qualifications made it a bummer. Basically, they expect a lot but don't give much clarity, feedback, or consistency back.

I went through 5 out of the 7 interviews for this role. Each interview was with a team member, and they weren't necessarily in order of seniority. The interviews were mostly non-technical, focusing on situations like handling competing stakeholders. There was also a case study where I had to write an executive memo. It was pretty frustrating to go through such a long process only to be rejected without any clear explanation, especially when they said everyone enjoyed talking to me but still wouldn't proceed.

The interview process had three rounds. They asked behavioral and technical questions about my past experience, situation handling, Linux, and Python. It appears they don't consolidate interview feedback until the final round, which could be a waste of time if you mess up early on. They initially scheduled a three-hour interview, so I used my PTO, but they ended up cutting it short to only one hour. My advice is to not use your PTO for their interviews and be ready for detailed questions. The technical questions weren't too hard, but I'm not great at live technical questions.