[Sticky] How to prepare for Trading Interviews (S&T and Quant/Prop Trading)?

Brief Overview

Trading interviews can be very difficult and they vary a lot depending on the company you are interviewing at. However, the interviews are composed of behavioral questions (talk about your life, and different experiences you've had) and technical questions (usually some combination of market-based questions, math questions, brain-teasers, programming questions).

If you are interviewing at a Sales & Trading (S&T) role, there tends to be more emphasis on behavioral and market-based questions than at a quant trading/prop trading role (which is mainly math, brainteasers, and programming). Below are some good resources to help you get started.

Good Interview Guides

S&T Guide: Here is a link to a good interview prep source (most useful for S&T roles but a good place to start for any trading role if you have enough time): https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/non-target-sales-trading-recruiting/

Quant Trading/Prop Trading Guide: These interviews consist mostly of:

1. Mathematics Questions
   • Typically these questions focus on basic Probability & Statistics Questions (especially Bayes Theorem and Combinatorics). However depending on the company you might be asked some more advanced questions (like stochastics, calculus, linear algebra). 
   • A good source for practice questions are the following books (for both, likely don't need to read the entire book and can skip to the necessary sections):
     • "A Practical Guide To Quantitative Finance Interviews" by Xinfeng Zhou 
     • "Heard On The Street: Quantitative Questions From Wall Street Job Interviews" by Timothy Falcon Crack 
2. Brainteasers
   • These are harder to prepare for, but the books mentioned above have good practice as well.
3. Mental Math
   • Improving your mental math just comes with practice and repetition. This is a pretty good source to get some practice, but any mental math site should do the trick: https://rankyourbrain.com
4. Programming Questions
   • Typically tested on the "python" programming language.
   • You can get good practice on leetcode. If you can master the "medium" level problems you are likely in decent shape for entry-level positions.

If you have any further questions or comments on the trading interview process, preparation, or anything similar reply below!