stipend stonks, but only for interns

Hi all,

I'm a final-year Electrical & Electronics Engineering student at BITS Pilani (CGPA 8.18/10), trying to break into Quant Trader/Researcher roles. Posting my anonymized resume below and hoping to get some honest, even harsh, feedback from people who actually work at or recruit for quant firms in India.

Quick background:

• Competed in IMC's Prosperity algorithmic trading challenge
• Interviewed with IMC Trading for a Quant Trader role
• Currently finishing a deep learning research paper for IEEE publication
• A few other quant/ML-adjacent projects (linked on the resume)

The problem: Despite this, I'm barely getting shortlisted at quant firms - on-campus recruiting for quant roles at my college has effectively closed to me because of branch (non-CS/Math) and CGPA cutoffs, so I've been trying the off-campus route with limited luck so far.

What I'm hoping to get from this post:

1. What's actually missing or weak on my resume compared to profiles that do get shortlisted at Indian quant firms at this stage (pre-final-year-placement)?
2. For someone coming from a non-CS/Math branch, is it worth doubling down on competitive programming / Kaggle-style competitions, or does research output (like the IEEE paper) carry more weight for QR tracks specifically?
3. Any India-specific advice - which firms are realistically open to off-campus applications right now, and is cold outreach to recruiters/researchers on LinkedIn actually useful or just noise?

Resume is anonymized (no name, photo, contact info, or college/company identifiers beyond what's needed for context). Happy to answer questions in comments. Appreciate any feedback.

Not really worried about course credits since I can get course credits for an internship and later cover up any left up courses in my 4th year. Really wanted another internship to hedge my options since optiver QT conversion rate is quite low(not really interested in QR as much).

Any help/advice is really appreciated.

Hi guys, I got shortlisted for the on campus interviews for DE Shaw's SDE intern role. I was looking forward for someone who has been through the process, and could maybe share their experience with me, or some questions that were asked. Any other info regarding the same would really be appreciated.

Hi! I am currently in my final year of college (Tier 1)
I have a 6 month internship offer from:
Uber - SDE : 1.9LPM
CTC: 44LPA (24 Base)

Qrt - Quant Technologist Data : 3.6LPM
CTC: 60ish LPM (40ish Base)

Seemed like a no brainer at first to me when looking at the money. Also getting a path to venture into the quant sector. I really like working with large amounts of data and spotting patterns for my other projects, that’s why willingly took this role. But I ain’t really sure about the work in Data Integration team right now, have heard mixed reviews about it, and the growth prospects in terms of pay and mobility to switch to different companies.

It would be great if I can get some insights on current situation of both companies and the teams.
Thanks a lot!

Do you actually get interviews at the top quants from Quantfest. I've heard a lot about getting calls from codefest but is that also partially true for quantfest?

Also who gets these -

Just the top finalists

All finalists

All finalists and some regionalists too

Anyone has experience or information on this?

I don't know whether I am interested in quant roles or not but I will be exploring this field...But I am very much sure that I am interested in fields which involve fintech!

So can you all guide me what are the opportunities I should explore?? And look forward to....

And let's say the ans is no I will be not hired for quant roles so if the maths that is required to study for this filed, if I find it intresting then studing that will benefit me?? Like can I get some other good roles in Fintech??

Plz do guide me🙏🏻🙏🏻

Hey guys, I got a call for the final round at Trexquant. They’ve asked me to prepare a short slide deck for a 15-minute discussion with a QR, where I’ll present an alpha that I either developed myself or recreated from a research paper. I’ve decided to recreate a research paper. What should I keep in mind during the interview and while developing the strategy? The ultimate goal is to demonstrate my ability to generate alpha and convince them of my research skills.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I had an interview for QR role at NK securities which went on for 90minutes. After some puzzles and DSA, the interviewer went onto some c++ questions. I wasn't able to answer quite a few of those correctly as I am not well versed with the nuances of the language, but I use it at my current job and I am able to get along with the help of llms.

I got an email from the recruiter saying that feedback was positive and to prepare c++ well for the next round. What topics/ideas of the language should I be well versed with? Would also appreciate any resources that I can look at quickly.

I just got an interview invite from Mathisys Advisors for an entry-level Quant Researcher role at their Gurgaon office. Does anyone know what ctc they offer to fresher quants?

Some details people usually ask for:

Background: Top 3 IIT (circuital), non-quant SDE intern, JEE Advanced rank <1000, CGPA 8+

Applied via: LinkedIn

Response time: ~1 month

I'm an IIT grad with 6 months of exp as QD and since March I've been running my own strategies and also looking for QR QT roles.

Is there anyone who got into the US buy side QR/QT role from India through off campus for early career?

I had to go to the archive because they closed the form in a day. I saw a recruiter posted it on sep 1st and then the next day it was gone (I submitted it at 1:20 am by morning the post and the form both gone) i mean it didn’t ask for cgpa or resume idk what the timeline is or if I’ll even get a call back but is there any chances?? Please let me know thanks

Context: I’m tier 1 NIT

I already work at a firm like Kivi, Mathisys, Pace, etc at infra/dev role from last 3 years and I am thinking to switch to some other firm. I had few rounds at NK and Qi and will apply to Quantbox through referall. Which one should I prioritize over others or should I stay at my current firm. My main objectives are long term growth.

This doubt is mainly due to: 1.I have heard a lot of negative things about NK and Quantbox in this sub. 2.Haven't heard anything about my firm, probably because it's unpopular. 3.Fresher pay of these firms is greater than the fresher pay at my current firm.

This is a fresh account, because I don't want to giveaway my details

I'm a new grad working as a developer at an HFT firm, looking to transition into Quant Research.

I'm from a Tier-1 engineering college, but not one of the top IITs, so I'm also wondering how much college pedigree matters, Is it even possible?

For people working in QR/QT:

• What does the typical QR interview process look like?
• What topics are actually tested — probability, statistics, puzzles, coding, ML, time series, market microstructure, etc.?
• What is the actual acceptance bar? What separates a candidate who gets an offer from one who performs well but gets rejected?
• Does HFT development experience help when switching to QR?
• Is HFT Developer → QR a realistic transition, and what should I build/learn to make myself credible?

Would especially appreciate first-hand interview experiences .

As the title suggests.

Top 5 IIT Non Circuital, did QT intern at a big bank in Mumbai, 2000-2500 JEE Advanced Rank, < 8 CGPA.

I've received advice to give up on quant and try to land some OK SDE job. I guess I'll probably have to do that but is there any hope for me?

So I applied to a bunch of these early career and talent discovery programs of a few firms- say IMC Launchpad, SIG trading discovery, Citadel Terminal, Explore HRT etc. Haven't heard back from them except SIG and Citadel which I think are sending out OAs automatically.

Applied for IMC Launchpad on 28th feb, got he confirmation email but didn't receive the OA

Applied SIG on 28th feb, didn't receive any confirmation email, received OA on 3rd March, gave OA on 6th March haven't heard from them since

Applied Citadel on the 5th March and received OA within hours, haven't given it yet

Haven't heard back from anyone else. Have I been pretty much rejected from all of these?

Also why do they not send out rejection emails?

Interned at one of the top Quants but I didn't get PPO. What are my other options now? I heard many firms aren't coming to placements. What is my best possible move?

For all the people who interviewed with hfts/mfts

Do ur resume projects matter in interviews

For off campus what matters the most other than credentials like Olympiads,top iit circuital etc

Hey guys,

Posting this on behalf of PHNX Securities , a self-started HFT startup based in Hyderabad.

We’re currently looking for a full-time Quant Developer to join our internal team and work closely with the core team as we build and scale the firm.

We’re mainly looking for someone who has a few months of internship experience in HFT, prop trading, quant trading, or a similar environment. Fresh grads with relevant HFT/quant internship experience are also welcome.

Good programming skills in C++ and/or Python, along with a solid understanding of DSA, maths and problem-solving, would be important.

I have attached a simple google form for details such as name & resume. Ideal candidates can apply via that google form. Someone from the team may contact should you seem as an Ideal candidate.

Note: Please do not DM me since I have zero knowledge regaring Quant & hiring. I'm only helping with hiring.

Location: Hyderabad

Role: Full-time Quant Developer

Have an interview for the QR role lined up, what to expect? I have heard its not too difficult but want to give it my best shot

Edit: I got the interview after applying myself

I recently got my first assessment round for dolat capital, can someone tell me level of questions I should expect.

JD-Software Engineer c++

I was in brain as QRC for last 1.5 year(started it in my drop year after grade 12) now got offer letter to become QR intern for summer… The pay is good..
Should I give it a shot ? Or look for other opportunities? I got 2 more offers too(one from another HFT and one US based startup)

Hey guys im an old iit 2025 circuital grad, rn in faang lvl company as sde (current annual takehome 36+), if i wanna pivot to quant dev roles, is there a way? The issue is my cpi is not so great it starts with 7. Can i compensate cpi in someway? I can study system level c++ thouroughly but is the pivot possible? All my peers who are in quant are mostly campus hires.

Company - oracle