Common Math Interview Questions
- Thread starter TM1982
- Start date
1. how many pennies can you fill in the room you're sitting in right now? you cant estimate, u have 30 seconds
2. imagine a cube, made of 1000 of small cubes so it's 10 by 10 by 10. how many of these cubes are facing the outside?
3. there 3 are hats with a apple under one and you meant to pick which one. once u made you're selection, I remove one of the other two and ask you if you want to stick to your first choice or switch. what do you do and why?
4. i have a call option maturing in one year with 0.5 delta. what's the probability it will expire in the money?
5. you have 18 coins, one of which weighs twice as the others. you have two-side balance scale which you can use only 3 times to identify it. how do u do it?
I've been asked all the above in interviews. they might not appear that tough, but it's a different story when you walk into a room and someone jumps on u askin what do u understand by "LTCM", "VAR", where is today's US/EUR FX is it lower than 5 months ago, whats the rate at all central banks..
and honestly the hardest: why do u want to be a trader and why, and what makes u think u'll be good at it. - basically checking how clueless u are.
2. imagine a cube, made of 1000 of small cubes so it's 10 by 10 by 10. how many of these cubes are facing the outside?
3. there 3 are hats with a apple under one and you meant to pick which one. once u made you're selection, I remove one of the other two and ask you if you want to stick to your first choice or switch. what do you do and why?
4. i have a call option maturing in one year with 0.5 delta. what's the probability it will expire in the money?
5. you have 18 coins, one of which weighs twice as the others. you have two-side balance scale which you can use only 3 times to identify it. how do u do it?
I've been asked all the above in interviews. they might not appear that tough, but it's a different story when you walk into a room and someone jumps on u askin what do u understand by "LTCM", "VAR", where is today's US/EUR FX is it lower than 5 months ago, whats the rate at all central banks..
and honestly the hardest: why do u want to be a trader and why, and what makes u think u'll be good at it. - basically checking how clueless u are.
I don't think this is possible with six sided cubes unless you allow six and nine to show in the same face, which would be cheating as digits, qua digits, have orientation.
I also see little connection between any of these questions and trading ability.
More of a trick to allow the interviewer to feel smarter than the interviewee, IMHO.
