D. E. Shaw Research Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 115 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Which role are you interviewing for?
30 roles · 115 reportsCandidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at D. E. Shaw Research.
D. E. Shaw Research
Research Associate
Entry Average Positive experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral
So, there were 2 rounds. The first round was like an initial screen with a junior person on the team and HR. Then the second round was with 5 people from the team, like 2 junior people and 2 senior people.
Confirmed questions3 questions
- What kind of ground or experimental data would you use to test your MD simulations approach or methods?
- Can you explain the Lennard-Jones potential and how it is utilized in force field design?
- Could you tell us in detail about a project that related to the work being done at DESRES?
D. E. Shaw Research
Quantitative Trader
Intern Average Positive experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral
The interview process involved technical questions where I had to provide answers or estimate bounds, along with my reasoning. These questions covered topics in probability, combinatorics, mathematics, statistics, and computer science.
Confirmed questions8 questions
- What is your motivation for joining this firm and pursuing this particular role?
- Could you elaborate on your reasons for your interest in this specific position?
- Please provide your answer or estimate the bounds for this problem and explain your thought process.
D. E. Shaw Research
Postdoctoral Fellow
Entry Average Negative experience No offer 1 round
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical
I was very excited for this interview so I prepared as much as I could. I ended up interviewing with a guy who had the same position I was applying for but had only been doing it a few months which seemed odd. He introduced his background which was quite different from mine and when I began talking about my background and research I seemed to lose his interest. When he asked me to speak about the project I was most proud of he literally starred at the ceiling the whole time. Left the interview feeling let down and pretty insulted.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Could you tell me about the project you are most proud of?
D. E. Shaw Research
Operations Associate
Entry Average Positive experience No offer 7 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Take home Group Technical screen Panel Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Group Behavioral
After applying, there was an online aptitude test. Then we had GD rounds (2), where 110 candidates were cut down to 28 after the first, and then to 14 after the second. After that, there were 2 rounds of personal interviews. The first round cut the pool to 7 candidates, and the final fit interview selected 3 people. Then background checks and an offer.
Confirmed questions3 questions
- Can you tell me what you understand about this role and our company?
- Have you visited Hyderabad previously?
- What would you say is your biggest weakness?
D. E. Shaw Research Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from D. E. Shaw Research interview reports.
“What is the number of possible protein sequences of length n?”
Read reports →“Write C code that, given number n in the range [0,32], generates an integer with the n least-significant bits set to 1 and others to 0 (like a decoder).”
Read reports →“Write C code that counts the number of bits set to 1 in a given integer n.”
Read reports →“Write C code to transpose a given rectangular matrix of numbers in-place, using O(1) additional storage.”
Read reports →“If the weights derived from the previous problem are too sensitive to certain parameters and are larger than desired, how could you modify the approach to ensure the average weight is approximately g?”
Read report →“Can you explain the mechanism of protein denaturation in response to both high and low temperatures?”
Read report →“What experiment would you perform to test if a given compound is aromatic?”
Read report →“Regarding algorithms, how would you go about sampling tau for a given time step?”
Read report →“Could you explain why certain proteins denature at low temperatures, and conversely, why the majority denature at high temperatures? What are the primary thermodynamic forces driving this denaturation?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 115 D. E. Shaw Research interview reports.