Indeed Quant Interview Questions
Interview questions by the Indeed editorial team
Unlike our other collections, this section doesn't follow the typical question-and-answer format. These are behavioral and general interview questions commonly asked during quantitative analyst interviews. We've gathered them to help you prepare your responses ahead of time.
General questions
These questions assess your work style, motivation, and fit for the role. They're often asked first, so prepare specific examples that connect to the position. Common ones include:
- What motivated you to apply for this position?
- Why did you leave your previous company?
- What is your ideal work environment?
- How might classmates or colleagues describe your work style?
- What is your greatest strength when working on projects or teams?
- Where would you like to improve professionally?
- Tell me about a time you overcame an obstacle in school or the workplace. What did you learn from the experience?
- Do you prefer to work alone or as a part of a team? Why?
- Where do you see yourself working in five years?
- How do you approach learning new technical concepts or tools?
Background questions
These questions help interviewers understand your background and qualifications. Expect questions about your education, technical skills, internships, and relevant projects. Common ones include:
- Why did you choose the school or program where you studied?
- Tell me about your experience in the field. Did you complete any internships or programs while pursuing your degree?
- What finance-related roles or internships have you held?
- What finance experience do you have (internships, coursework, projects)?
- Do you have any relevant certifications or are you working toward any?
- Which coding languages do you know?
- What excites you most about quantitative analysis?
- Tell me about a time you encountered a challenge in your quantitative analysis work. How did you overcome the challenge?
- How would you approach leading a team on an important project?
- Describe a time when you either wrote code for a project or worked closely with coders. What did you learn from the process?
In-depth questions
In-depth questions assess your finance and quantitative knowledge. You're not expected to know everything as a recent grad, but familiarizing yourself with these topics shows initiative. Examples include:
- What is the Black-Scholes mathematical model? What is it used for?
- What do "the Greeks" refer to in the Black-Scholes mathematical model? How do they differ from each other?
- What is realized volatility and how does it differ from implied volatility?
- What is volatility arbitrage?
- How would you estimate the number of cups of coffee consumed in this state every year?
- If I gave you a custom stock option, what would your process for valuing it be?
- Describe a time when you developed a predictive model, either independently or on a team. What did you learn from the process?