IMC The QR interviews are intense, fast-paced, and extremely broad in scope, which is a model of "full coverage of the striking surface". Today, I'd like to share the three rounds of real interview experience of my students, with super hardcore questions and thinking demolition, suitable for students who are preparing for quant positions to read and collect!
Round 1: OA Not easy, difficulty pulls full
Programming two questions (45 minutes)
The first question is a classic ternary increment ...... Try it with two levels of for loops + a tree array to maintain the suffix minimum.
The second question is to implement a data structure that can dynamically add prices, delete prices, and check the median ...... heap + balanced counts, simulating MedianFinder.
Stuck at the heap element lazy remove and double heap size balance, and finally realized double heap + remove table logic, successfully passed.
Math (20 questions / 30 minutes)
The questions are mostly classic probability questions plus financial scenarios such as:
- How many times do you expect to throw two consecutive fronts
- The stock price obeys a geometric Brownian motion, and the probability that it will be greater than 120 one year from now is calculated.
Some of the questions were tricky, and the last two questions were unfinished, but there were standard templates for quickly building systems of equations to push expectations.
psychological testing
Example of a situational question, "There is a bug in a trading strategy, and the fix requires suspending trading for a day, what would you do?"
It is recommended that high-pressure scenarios be dealt with by "identifying risks + making quick decisions + communicating with the team in a timely manner".
Round 2: Phone Interview (one-on-one with QR)
Project Deep Chat
Follow up with volatility smile, model calibration and accuracy verification for the option pricing program on your resume.
Market knowledge visits
- Put-call parity formula writing and arbitrage portfolio design
Probability & Logic
Example: two dice, probability of sum 7 and conditional probability under sum > 5.
quick-fire brainteaser
25 horses to find the 3 fastest, and a variant of the "5 fastest" extra race program.
Round 3: Technical Interview
Mental Math (10 minutes / 20 questions)
- 17 x 23
- $10,000 annualized 8%, how much after three years
- √128 Approximately equal to how many
Probability & Modeling
- What is the expectation for three consecutive positives
- Expected number of times 52 cards are drawn with full coverage
- Probability that the stock price is <90 after one year under the GBM model
Market Making simulation
Setting up bid/ask, price adjustments and sizing, how to manage inventory and risk in the face of large orders.
Game Theory & Strategy
Nim Game variant with the "Market Surge 5% Judgment Signal or noise" five-point method.
Programhelp What was the assist?
- OA phase code guidance and optimization, with a focus on heap structure + boundary handling
- Detailed simulation of pre-electronic projects, digging deeper into volatility / calibration / arbitrage, etc.
- Consecutive mental math and strategy problems before the Final
- Three full simulations in advance of the Market making session
To prepare for high pressure quant interviews like IMC / Jane Street / HRT / SIG / Optiver, it is recommended to mock + familiarize yourself with the real pace in advance.
