Wealthfront Quantitative Analyst Interview Questions
& Process

Started with a recruiter phone screen, then a technical phone screen with the director of research. She had a PhD in computer science but seemed to have less expertise in finance and statistics than I expected, and I also had some issues with her English. Next was a data analysis exercise with a 24-hour deadline, which was poorly designed and communicated. The person who wrote it didn't seem to understand the problem domain well. I thought it might be a waste of time, but I did it anyway because I was interested in the company. Several days later, the recruiter sent a brief message saying they weren't moving forward, with no feedback on my exercise.

A friend introduced me to someone on the growth team, and we had breakfast. Then I met with the VP of engineering, Avery Moon, for about two hours over coffee. He explained Wealthfront's mission and vision. A few days later, I went back to the office and met with several research and engineering team members. I completed a programming task and worked through some math problems. The following week, I met with the CEO, Adam Nash, in a friendly meeting. The week after that, I met with Avery again to discuss the role details. After I said I'd accept an offer, it was extended the next day.

So first I had to do a written application, then a take-home assignment with 6 different exercises. These included things like figuring out what product to add, some coding problems, and some theoretical stuff. After that, I had a call with the research department. It was about an hour long and involved being challenged with some theoretical modeling exercises.