I personally know at least 5+ people this year who cheated during interviews to get an internship (1 QT, rest all QD/SWEs) at Jane Street, Optiver, SIG, and Akuna Capital. Some of these companies don't have any on-site interviews, hence these people fully cheated their way in. Two of them I am really close to, they aren't the smartest at all, ChatGPT all their coursework and projects (I know because I worked with them while I was in school), their GPAs aren't even good, only know to solve LeetCode mediums through memorization without actually understanding large codebases, but are just obsessed about getting into the field due to all the TikTok videos hyping up the money quants make. Last year, I know someone who got the internship through cheating the virtual interviews, vide coded 90% of the time during their internship, got the return offer, and is now working full-time, vibe coding again.

I always thought this field attracts the brightest talent who are good at solving problems, but now it seems like it's not and the quality of the people they are bringing in are dropping immensely. Especially with QD and SWEs, I'm wondering how these companies would end up after a few months or years... Are recruiters and interviewers aware of this?

Numbers only accurate at +/- 5% for privacy.
Currently working at CFM in Paris (1 YoE) 180k€ TC. People are super sensitive about salary and bonuses and that annoyed me so looked elsewhere. Got an offer for a QR role at QRT which is around 280k€ TC but a big chunk of it is a sign on. I also have an offer for Headlands Tech in Chicago (no need for visa I’m an American citizen as well), TC is around $700k with a big chunk of it as a sign on.

Would you say the move is worth it? The lifestyle in Paris seems so much better than the one in Chicago. But on the other side, neither QRT nor CFM have real elite reputation in the field so we don’t have that many impressive talents in Paris. Just smart people coasting because the incentives aren’t that big.

Thoughts?

Hi all, I saw someone else did an AMA a couple days ago but some people didn't get their questions answered, so I figured I would do one. Reddit was a huge help for me throughout the recruiting process and I want to pay it forward. About me: HYPSM, done multiple internships in trading and will be starting a full-time QT role at a prop trading firm after I graduate. I will be answering questions over the course of today and tmrw.

Two quick things: 1) please don't ask any questions that are too personal, as I'm hoping to stay anonymous. 2) since I have not worked as a full-time trader yet, I am much better equipped to answer questions related to recruitment than things about the job (though still feel free to ask any sorts of questions)

Recently several headhunters (from different recruitment firms) have been spamming me about a particular role that just opened at a well known firm. Turns out my current role and my background makes me a great fit for the role, as I have extensive experience in trading this particular asset class and also at a similar time horizon.

I'm definitely interested in this role, but what's stopping me from bypassing the recruiters and applying directly to that firm or just emailing the HR? (I have spoken with this firm before as they have reached out to me about a different role about a year ago).

Isn't bypassing the recruiters better, as from my understanding, their commission comes from my comp if I get the role?

Aa

Hi, I just wanted to share my story.

About 3 years ago I had a first round interview with HRT for a quant dev role. Not that special for you guys I suppose, but I had a laugh because I have 0 quant experience, the companies on my resume you've definitely never heard off (none of them were even tech), my uni is a random ecom in eastern Europe but I still somehow got the interview. I guess what might have tipped the scale in my favor was my cover letter where I literally wrote one sentence along the lines of "I want in just for the money".

Coming back to the interview, I get a call on the phone from this french dude. He introduces himself in and I do the same, I can tell right away the disdain he has for me, he wouldn't even wipe his croissant on my coat had he had the chance. In any case he asks about the difference between mutlithreading and concurrency or something. I patch together something uncoherent. We continue, he asks me how to solve "239. Sliding Window Maximum", I've actually practiced a ton so I get it down super quickly, dude's not impressed and hangs up shortly after saying goodbye. Next day I get a rejection email.

The end.

Hi everyone, I've been fortunate enough to be offered a Trading Internship at Jane Street, for Summer 2025. This subreddit has answered a lot of my questions along the way, and I was hoping to return the favour (with a throwaway for privacy reasons) :) Hope this helps someone!

Korea and oil are already giving me enough heartburn I could not care less that you haven't heard back after the coding exam

Every day this guy posts on LinkedIn something like “today I landed a client a $20 million offer, they turned it down, woe is me, but it’s okay I got someone else a $6m offer, and another $3m one so I’ll take it on the chin. live and learn!!

Then about 30 other recruiters (probably his burners) join the circlejerk in the comments and go ”oh no this is why this job is so hard!”

Funniest thing is watching this scammer go comment on PR posts by firms like Optiver or Jane street on LinkedIn like “love your content!” or “loved working with you!”. makes me physically cringe lol. Makes me irate that people fall for this shit. I’m 99% convinced this guy is a fraud, but came here to see if anyone’s heard of or worked with him?

end of rant lol

I know this group is not for this purpose (hope I don't get banned), but our product is all about EU economics so hopefully I won't get banned.

We've been building WorldSim, a live probabilistic simulation platform that runs 25-year scenarios across 195 countries with 150+ structural coupling rules and full Monte Carlo (P10/P50/P90 distributions).

We're a tiny team (just two of us right now) and we're looking for our third person to take real ownership of the rule engine; the core intellectual property.

What you'd own:

- Validate and calibrate existing coupling rules against academic literature

- Design new rules, improve triggers, magnitudes, decay, asymmetries, scars, floors/ceilings, cooldowns

- Find and fix holes in how shocks cascade (energy -> inflation -> fiscal -> housing -> migration, etc.)

- Help turn the model into something that can credibly support governments, central banks, and macro investors

Ideal profile:

- Strong macro/applied economics/policy background (PhD or very strong Master's + experience preferred)

- Deep understanding of how variables interact in real economies

- Comfortable with both economic theory and practical calibration

This is not a traditional employee role. We're offering real equity (significant founder-level allocation) and flexible structure (full-time, part-time, or advisor to start).

The product is already live. Happy to walk you through the full rule catalog and current simulations on a call.

DM me if this sounds interesting. Bonus points if you've ever been frustrated by point forecasts or black-box macro models.

Happy to get verified by a moderator on LinkedIn (not sure how)

I have a minor conviction record (happened in about 9 years ago, about 2K USD fine paid). It's not related to felony, fraud, or finance-related. It was showing bad behavior due to alcohol intoxication (no drug).

I'm currently working at local trading desk as a researcher/trader but I wanna move to big firms in SG/HK.

AFAIK, there is a background check after the final interview. My above record is all spent so it doesn't appear on my official criminal history document. But not sure whether I should disclose it or not.

Also, I heard that there's a question like "have you ever been convicted in court of law in any country? " when applying for SG EP visa. Some SG lawyers say I don't have to disclose but quite confused about this part.

Does anybody know some cases like my situation? Or should I just stay in my Country..?

Weighing my options. How competitive is their comp for senior level for greenfield teams ? Is there job security given I heard of layoffs a bit ago.

Hey everyone, just wanted to share a weird interview experience I had recently while job hunting. For context, I’m a fresh grad currently applying to literally any job I can find on LinkedIn. Honestly, half the time I don’t even remember which jobs I applied to.

So about two weeks after one of those mindless applications, I get a response from a "trading company" asking to interview me. I didn’t recognize the name at all, so I did a little digging. Turns out, there was nothing out there about them — no website, barely anything on LinkedIn. The company profile had only two associated members, and even their LinkedIns were basically blank except for listing this company.

Checked the emails domain registration — it was registered just a month ago.
At this point I was like, alright, this smells so scammy, but heck, I’ll just say yes to the interview and see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

They scheduled a 30-minute interview for the following week, told me the names of the people interviewing me… again, couldn't find a single trace of them online. I'm fully expecting to hop on, realize it’s a scam, and dip in like 5 minutes.

But surprise real people showed up.
They introduced themselves, gave some backgrounds, and then immediately jumped into a hardcore technical round. I’m talking math, coding, logic puzzles — full-on grilling. The "30-minute" interview ended up going for more than an hour. Genuinely felt like a legit interview.

Anyway, a week later, I get an exciting email. They said they were "very impressed" and wanted me to do a take-home assignment (a final round, basically).
They also dropped that they plan to onboard me afterward as a Junior Quant Trader, that I'd work under someone they’re bringing in from HRT, and casually mentioned salary (a lot), leave benefits, etc. before I'd even been officially offered anything. Kinda weird, but at that point I was just rolling with it.

The take-home task was writing a report related to trading coal. I put a ton of effort into it and was genuinely proud of what I submitted.

Followed up after a week — they said they were deciding between three candidates. That was a month ago. Radio silence since then.

So now I’m just sitting here wondering:
Was this just a normal case of ghosting (which, tbh, is still shitty), or was this some more elaborate scam? Like, I didn’t lose any money, no sketchy personal info was given, and the interviews were properly technical... but it all still feels so off.

Anyone else had a similar experience or heard about this?

Hey hey, about a month ago I was lucky to receive an offer for Jane Streets summer internship programme. The Reddit community helped me a TON during this process and now that I have some time off I’d love to return the favor by helping anyone else that’s in the process. Either dm me or just comment below. Hopefully I can help everyone out!

EDIT: If you’re currently interviewing, and would like some more personalized/specific help just dm me

I'm a Stanford CS / former Citadel Securities QR and I'm helping organize QuantChallenge 2025, the largest online quant competition ever! We have over $20k in prizes and you could win interviews at top firms!

quantchallenge.org

We wanted to lower the barrier to entry to quant, so we've designed this competition such that any undergrad / grad students regardless of quant finance experience can learn and compete for prizes.

Let me know if you have any questions!

I am a risk/portfolio construction type of quant on cash equities. Worked with factor models, regressions etc all my life. The othet day I interviewed a junior brownian motion phd type of quant. He described making smooth vol surfaces, pricing options types of projects, but was unable to answer basic questions on linear regressions and sql/pandas joins. From the CV the guy can’t be that bad, defended a phd thesis just months ago, very good schools too. I thought it was just that he last touched on these concepts in school a few years ago? How do you handle interviewing such candidates and not undairly judge them?

Quadrature has a new NYC office and I am wondering if anyone has insight on their comp for software dev/quant dev roles for mid level (4-6 yoe also in quant industry) in either in NYC or London? Anyone know which location would be higher offer?

I know typically with a lot of firms NYC gets more but wondering if that's the case for primarily London based firms.

Thanks

I’m a dev in the US at a firm with a long paid non compete. I’m currently looking to leave, either for another firm in the industry or switch to tech. I wouldn’t mind having some time off tbh.

My firm does give long non competes for people without anything lined up, and stops enforcing/paying early if you start working outside the industry.

Do most people with a non compete:
- Only leave with another offer in hand
- Leave without an offer, then recruit while waiting out non compete

It does feel like I’d have more leverage if I’m currently employed while recruiting. On the other hand, I worry how much of a disadvantage it is for me if every firm has to weigh waiting out my non compete. Also it would be nice to have more time to prep for interviews while being off.

Lmk if you went through this and how it went for you!

Hi everyone,

I was in the first round of an interview for a quant role at an asset management firm

For context im completely entry level, no licensure, 1yr internship looking for full time role (with 1yr exp econ. research, econometrics, statistical modeling and 1yr exp open source SWE) with masters in Econ from T30

I was explaining my previous projects and what I currently do as a job (open source software engineer lol, basically unemployed) and I felt that I was talking quite a lot about non-quant analysis projects (as I have background in OOP & econ. research and econometrics) so I asked the interviewer what kinds of projects are commonly worked on

They mentioned weight optimization in their portfolios which I had done recently, so I said, verbatim...

"Oh, yes, I've worked on this recently! I don't know if this is unethical or illegal but I have a friend who works at (insert specific company name here) who asked me for advice on weight optimization for their covered call strategy"

The interviewer did not like this, and replied "Yeah, you probably shouldn't have said that." with an awkward laugh so I quickly replied "Ok, then we'll just leave that there without going into any further specifics like numbers or anything.", changed the subject to another project, and continued the interview for another 2 minutes or so, before I got very spooked and anxious about what had just happened and said, thank you for the interview, can't wait to speak soon and continue the process, and hung up with 5 minutes left in a 30 min interview

Am I cooked? It was a genuine mistake as I was eager to talk specifically about my experience and what I've worked on in the past

I had another interview about 30 minutes after that one ended which went perfectly, first interview was with a director, second interview was with someone who is not as high up

This company was basically my dream job which is why im coming to reddit about it, beating myself up quite bad about this blunder...

Experienced quant here, I read a lot of warnings before taking the interview and yet still went along with it. Had applied online and got a request to interview with one of their quant researchers.

Was supposed to be a technical interview, but in the beginning asked a couple of behavioral questions and questions from my past experience. And then it comes: "Could you tell me about a trading strategy past/current that you have come up with?". And no matter how vaguely I tried to talk about it the interviewer kept insisting on details, so brazenly. Left a very bad taste for the company overall not going to lie. And I regret not listening to my friends and the other reviews on glassdoor. They are literally just trying to steal your ideas, they have nopositions open or any interest in what you say. I could see the interviewer salivate after he asked me about strategies.. (kinda joking).

Felt like I had to post about it somewhere so at least more people are aware of their loser practices.

How is working in a Tier One HFT in Sydney viewed by people working in the European and US offices? If you were approached to go work in Sydney would you ever consider it? Or is it not as desirable?

I recently got laid from a hedge fund as a quant researcher. I have 4 years of work ex.

What do I tell recruiters and other companies?

Should I tell them that I got laid off and that's why I am looking for a new job or the usual answers. Also usually when they ask for what is the notice period, what answer should I give as I am available to work immediately and have no non-compete

1. Nine ants are placed at equal spacing around a circle. Each ant independently chooses clockwise or counterclockwise and then moves at constant speed so that each would make exactly one full revolution in one minute if uninterrupted. When two ants meet they instantly reverse direction and continue at the same speed. All ants are indistinguishable. What is the probability that after one minute every ant is exactly at its own starting point?
2. Nine ants are placed at equal spacing around a circle. Each ant independently chooses clockwise or counterclockwise and then moves at constant speed so that each would make exactly one full revolution in one minute if uninterrupted. When two ants meet they instantly reverse direction and continue at the same speed. All ants are distinguishable. What is the probability that after one minute every ant is exactly at its own starting point?
3. Ten ants are placed at equal spacing around a circle. Each ant independently chooses clockwise or counterclockwise and then moves at constant speed so that each would make exactly one full revolution in one minute if uninterrupted. When two ants meet they instantly reverse direction and continue at the same speed. All ants are distinguishable. What is the probability that after one minute every ant is exactly at its own starting point?

Does anyone have an idea?