IMC Trading Quantitative Analyst Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 32 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at IMC Trading.
IMC Trading
Quantitative Researcher
Entry Average Positive experience No offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Take home Recruiter call Onsite
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral
It started with an online assessment that wasn't too hard, mostly asking about conditional probabilities and expected value. After that, there was a behavioural interview where they asked why I wanted to join the company and about a time I had to make a decision with uncertainty.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- Can you share an instance where you had to make a choice without having all the necessary information?
- Tell me about a time you had to make a decision without complete information.
IMC Trading
Quantitative Analyst
Entry Average Neutral experience No offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral Coding Case
So, they had this interview process. First, it was a recruiter call, then a technical screen where they asked some questions like Big O notation, Bayes and combinatorics, a brain teaser about an airplane and drunk passenger, and to judge some logical statements. Finally, there was an onsite interview, I think it was for the onsite, they asked about my motivation.
Confirmed questions5 questions
- What is Big O notation?
- Bayes and combinatorics mostly.
- The classic ‘Airplane’ brain teaser problem. A drunk boards an airplane and sits down in a random seat. Each passenger boarding after the drunk sits in their assigned seat or picks at random if their seat is taken. What is the probability that the last passenger boarding will be able to sit in their assigned seat?
IMC Trading
Quantitative Researcher
Mid Difficult Positive experience No offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Phone screen Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Coding System Design Behavioral Case Presentation Group
I applied online. The whole recruitment and application process took 3 months. Step 1: Numerical and inductive reasoning aptitude test. Step 2: First phone interview: Easy chat. Why apply to IMC? What's your take on high-frequency trading? What do your colleagues at your current job think of you? Step 3: Second phone interview: Technical chat. What's a European option? What is Vega? Is a Put spread Vega long or short? What are your current research activities? Step 4: Final interview at the Amsterdam HQ: i) First chat with the director: Soft skills chat: “Do you have siblings?”, “What are your hobbies?”, “who are our competitors in High-frequency trading?” ii) Soft skill chat with HR business partner: Review of a psychological questionnaire to be completed before the final interview. iii) Technical chat with quantitative researchers: “How many zeros are at the end of 100?”, “What’s the maximum number of intersection points for four circles and three lines? Generalize to n circles and m lines.” “How many times do you need to fold a piece of paper to reach the moon?” For this question, I made an estimate and they asked me to make a market, meaning, make offers based on my own estimate. This “make me a market” game is very popular at IMC. iv) Second technical chat with systems engineers: Technical background related to High-Frequency trading. They discussed a scenario with me from the book “flash boys” and besides questions, I had to know Huygens law, the speed of light in fiber optics, etc. v) Third technical chat with the traders: Guess the number of goals in the UK's premier league in one season. Make me a market from your guess, etc.
Confirmed questions1 question
- I felt uncomfortable with the “make me a market” questions
IMC Trading Quantitative Analyst Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from IMC Trading interview reports.
“In an n*n grid, how many total segments are there?”
Read reports →“What's the expected number of coin flips for 3 consecutive heads?”
Read reports →“For an n*n grid, what's the count of points on the edges?”
Read reports →“If you toss a fair coin, what is the expected number of tosses to get HHH?”
Read reports →“Given a coin flip where heads increases your score by 1 and tails decreases it by 1, starting from 0, what is the probability of reaching -100 before reaching 50?”
Read report →“What is the density function of an underlying asset?”
Read report →“If individuals located on the edges of an n*n grid relocate to the center, what duration would it take?”
Read report →“What does a market maker do and how does it make money?”
Read report →“The classic ‘Airplane’ brain teaser problem. A drunk boards an airplane and sits down in a random seat. Each passenger boarding after the drunk sits in their assigned seat or picks at random if their seat is taken. What is the probability that the last passenger boarding will be able to sit in their assigned seat?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 32 IMC Trading interview reports.