Common Interview Questions Flashcards
Tell me about yourself
- Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be interviewed for this position today.
S. Recently completed my degree in CS focus on ML & QF; Crypto hype 2017; “investing” it turned out that there is no such thing as a free lunch once the crypto currency bubble burst
T. ETH/ICL developed strong problem solving and analytical skills. Find an educated and systematic way to invest
ST2: ETH/ICL developed strong problem solving and analytical skills. Handy during the OxAM internship, where I worked directly with the QR. Enjoyed so much so, I was inspired to follow in their footsteps
A. Interned in various financial companies: systematic hedge fund, crypto ETF, equity derivatives quant. Plus visited MFF (stochastic calculus), Financial engineering (exotic options)
R. took part in various alpha research hackathons (BlackRock 3rd); MSc thesis in DRL in market making;
Goal: Find job continuing this path and passion; this is why I’m here today
Weaknesses
Public speaking
Am aware of this and started actively to work and improve it. E.g. during ACE presidency (pitching to companies), and MSc thesis where I presented twice at each department
Difficult situations you had to deal with
ACE website
S. Was president, responsible for 8 board members; Website was difficult to work with
T. Attract more members; update website; my role manage team and project
A. Initial scope was too ambitious; hard to complete in time; board people were invested, loads resistance since already spent a lot of time when suggesting a new approach
R. Suggested a modular approach; deployed; easy to maintain and extend
Failures you had to deal with
S. Thesis in quant finance, i.e. coordinate between CS and math department. First found a finance supervisor and by the time I found a CS supervisor the finance supervisor went to JPM LDN.
T. Find a new finance supervisor and topic.
A. Found a new finance supervisor and new topic
R. MSc thesis in DRL in MM
Tell me about a group work you did (academic)
S. Part of a course; team of four
T. Generate new images of galaxies
A. Split work to find a model; my responsibility stabilise training behaviour; constant communication with the team members to coordinate
(difficulties: one member dropped the module, one member was running behind; once I finished I helped them)
R. Generated realistic looking galaxy images
Tell me about a group work you did (industry)
S. Part of the equity derivatives quant team at Julius Baer
T. Speed up exotic derivative pricing using ML
A. Filter promising exotic derivative candidates using ML and only run them on the cluster
R. Quicker pricing since they don’t have to price unviable exotic derivatives on the cluster
Why do you want to work for this company
I would like to be part of a team-driven, innovative, intellectually challenging and dynamic workforce.
Through this role, I am eager to bring a fresh perspective, creative ideas and contribute to your pursuit of driving positive change
Why did it take three years to finish your MSc?
- Explain the Swiss university system
- Did internships
- Extra courses in finance at UZH
- Master thesis
Why do you want to be a trader?
I enjoy following the market. As far as I know, trading is the closest thing to a meritocracy out there. Being able to take on risk, implement my own strategies and be rewarded for the money I bring into a firm is only a small part of my decision to become a trader. I also tend to work best in a fast-paced, very quantitative and collaborative environment.
Why do you want to be a quant researcher?
The reason why I want to be a QR is that so much of our life is based on perception rather than reality. QR is the closest thing to a meritocracy out there. Being able to implement my own strategies and be rewarded by the markets is only a small part of my decision to become a QR. I also tend to work best in a fast-paced, very quantitative and collaborative environment.
