What to Expect at a HAP Capital Interview
HAP Capital's interview process runs three to five rounds over roughly four to six weeks, and it is shaped by what the firm actually does: proprietary trading in listed equity and index options. Expect a numerical assessment early, options and probability questions all the way through, and - for trader-track candidates - a market-making simulation where an interviewer trades against your quotes. HAP is smaller than the household-name market makers, which means individual interviewers carry more weight in the decision than at firms running large structured graduate loops.
This guide covers the stages candidates report, the question types that actually come up given HAP's options-focused business, and a preparation plan. For the wider set of options market makers HAP competes with, see our Maven Securities interview guide and prop trading firms guide.
HAP Capital at a Glance
HAP Capital is a New York-headquartered proprietary trading firm founded around 2010 that transacts in US and international equity and index options. It is registered as a broker-dealer and quotes as a market maker on major US options venues, and it competes with firms such as Susquehanna, Optiver, Akuna, Maven and Five Rings on the options side rather than with pure systematic hedge funds. The firm is deliberately lean relative to its larger competitors, which shapes both the culture and the interview process: expect fewer, longer conversations with senior people rather than a highly standardised graduate loop, and expect the technical bar to sit specifically on options intuition rather than on general software engineering.
HAP hires primarily for three tracks - Quantitative Trader, Quantitative Researcher and Software Engineer - and the trader track is the largest by headcount, consistent with a firm whose edge comes from pricing and hedging options rather than from long-horizon signal research.
The Process, Stage by Stage
Stage 1: CV Screen and Numerical Assessment
Applications go through a CV screen followed by a timed numerical assessment - typically mental arithmetic under time pressure combined with a small number of probability questions. This is the same kind of test the other big options market makers use, and it filters aggressively: candidates who cannot hit high accuracy on quick two- and three-digit multiplication rarely progress, regardless of role.
Stage 2: First-Round Interview
A 45 to 60 minute conversation with a trader, researcher or engineer from the team you have applied to. For traders and researchers, expect a mix of options theory (how Greeks behave, how implied volatility relates to expected moves) and one or two probability puzzles. Software engineering candidates typically face live coding at this stage, focused on data structures and correctness rather than exotic algorithm problems.
Stage 3: Onsite or Virtual Assessment
The core stage is a longer session covering several components: further mental maths, a market-making or trading simulation where you quote two-way prices and the interviewer trades against them, and a technical interview specific to your track. Because HAP is smaller than firms like Optiver, this stage tends to involve fewer interviewers but more time per interviewer, and the trading game is treated as a serious signal rather than an ice-breaker.
Stage 4: Final Round and Offer
A final round with senior traders or the hiring manager focuses on risk mindset and fit - how you think about a losing day, how you decide when to widen a market, and why you want to trade options specifically rather than working in a broader quant research role. Offer decisions typically arrive within one to two weeks of the final round.
Question Themes You'll Actually See
Mental Maths
Every track sees the numerical assessment, and traders see mental maths at multiple stages beyond that. Two- and three-digit multiplication, percentages of round numbers, and quick division under a stopwatch. The bar is calibrated for near-perfect accuracy at speed, not for solving unusually hard problems slowly.
Options and Volatility Intuition
Given the firm's business, later-stage interviews for trader and researcher candidates concentrate on how the Greeks behave and how volatility feeds back into option prices. You should be comfortable explaining why an at-the-money option has the most gamma, what happens to vega as time to expiry shrinks, and how skew and term structure show up in a real options market. Our Greeks and volatility guide covers the underlying material.
Market-Making Games
The trading simulation is where trader candidates are most differentiated. You are typically given an uncertain payoff and asked to quote a bid and ask; the interviewer then trades against you and reveals information as they go. What HAP interviewers watch for is whether you widen when you are being picked off, tighten when you have real information, and update your fair value estimate calmly under repeated trades - not whether you land on the theoretically perfect price on the first quote.
Coding (Software Engineer Track)
Software engineering candidates face standard algorithmic problems (arrays, hash maps, graphs, basic dynamic programming) plus questions about the mechanics of an options trading system - order book design, quoting infrastructure, and correctness under concurrent updates. C++ knowledge is a real advantage on the engineering track given HAP's low-latency options-market-making context.
Two Sample Questions
Market-making a synthetic payoff. I roll two fair six-sided dice and will pay you the sum in pounds. Make me a two-way market.
Approach: E[sum] = 2 × 3.5 = 7. A reasonable opening market is 6 at 8: wide enough to protect against adverse selection before you have any information about which side the interviewer wants to trade. If they lift your offer at 8 repeatedly, shift your fair value estimate upward and narrow the spread - they are giving you information about which tail of the distribution they think is more likely, and a good market maker updates on that rather than defending the original theoretical fair value.
Options intuition. An at-the-money call option is trading at £5 with 30 days to expiry. The underlying is £100, volatility is 20%, rates are 5%, no dividends. If implied volatility falls from 20% to 18% and nothing else moves, what happens to the option price roughly?
Approach: Vega for an ATM 30-day option on a £100 underlying with 20% vol is roughly £0.11 per 1% change in vol. A 2-vol drop reduces the option price by roughly £0.22, so the option falls from about £5.00 to about £4.78. Interviewers care less about the exact number than about whether you can identify vega as the right Greek and produce a defensible order-of-magnitude estimate quickly.
How the Three Tracks Differ
| Dimension | Quantitative Trader | Quantitative Researcher | Software Engineer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numerical assessment | Mental maths and probability | Probability, statistics, some coding | Algorithmic coding |
| Assessment stage focus | Trading simulation, options intuition | Statistical case discussion, options theory | Systems and coding rounds |
| Options theory depth | High | Moderate to high | Low to moderate |
| Typical background | Maths, physics, engineering | Maths, statistics, physics, often a master's | Computer science, strong C++ or Python |
| Brainteaser frequency | High | Moderate | Low |
Candidates without a finance background should not be put off the software engineer track in particular - the bar there is engineering strength and comfort in a low-latency environment, not prior options knowledge.
A Four-Week Preparation Plan
Week 1: Mental arithmetic. Daily timed practice on two- and three-digit multiplication, percentages of round numbers, and quick division. The goal is high accuracy under a stopwatch, not perfect answers at a leisurely pace.
Week 2: Options and Greeks. Read carefully through how delta, gamma, vega and theta behave for ATM and OTM options at different times to expiry. Practise producing rough magnitudes for each Greek from memory rather than deriving them from Black-Scholes each time.
Week 3: Market-making practice. Find a study partner and quote two-way markets on simple uncertain payoffs - dice sums, coin sequences, synthetic asset values. Have them trade against you and force yourself to update your fair value based on their behaviour rather than defending your first quote.
Week 4: Mock full loop. Run a mock assessment day back-to-back: numerical test, options question, trading simulation. Fatigue is part of what HAP is testing, and treating each component in isolation misses that.
What HAP Capital Looks For Beyond Technical Skill
Composure while being traded against. The trading simulation is designed to see whether you widen sensibly under adverse selection or freeze up. Interviewers care about temperament as much as arithmetic.
Options-first thinking. Candidates who explain moves in terms of delta, gamma and vega without prompting stand out; those who reach for "the price went up" without linking it to the underlying Greeks tend to struggle in later rounds.
Comfort at a smaller firm. HAP is deliberately leaner than Optiver or Susquehanna, and the firm favours candidates who see that as an upside - more direct ownership of a book, less standardisation - rather than as a downside relative to a larger, more corporate employer.
Compensation & recruiting notes
HAP Capital does not publish its interview format or hiring criteria publicly, and this guide is assembled from candidate reports, recruiter commentary and public sources. Because HAP hires fewer people per year than the major options market makers, the exact stage order and interviewer mix vary more between candidates than at firms with a standardised graduate loop. Nothing here guarantees any specific interview format, question or outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many interview rounds does HAP Capital have?
Typically three to five rounds over four to six weeks: a CV screen and numerical assessment, a first-round technical interview, an onsite or virtual assessment covering mental maths and a trading simulation, and a final round focused on risk mindset and fit. Because HAP is smaller than Optiver or Susquehanna, exact structure varies more by candidate.
Does HAP Capital hire graduates?
Yes, alongside experienced traders and engineers, though the overall hiring volume is small compared with the larger market makers. Graduate applicants are assessed primarily on quantitative reasoning speed and options intuition rather than on prior trading experience.
What does HAP Capital test candidates on?
Mental arithmetic, probability, options and volatility intuition, and - for traders - performance in a market-making game. Software engineering candidates additionally face algorithmic coding and questions about the mechanics of an options trading system.
How does HAP Capital compare with Maven, Optiver and Akuna?
All four are options market makers with broadly similar interview content: heavy mental maths, options intuition, and a market-making game for traders. HAP is smaller and NYC-native, which tends to mean fewer interviewers per candidate but longer, more open conversations with each of them. Our Maven Securities interview guide covers the closest analogue on the London side.
Do I need to know Black-Scholes for a HAP Capital interview?
You need to be comfortable reasoning about options prices in terms of Greeks and implied volatility, but you are not expected to derive Black-Scholes from scratch. What matters more is being able to say roughly how much an option should move when vol, spot or time changes, without reaching for a formula sheet.
How long does the HAP Capital hiring process take?
Most candidates report four to six weeks from application to offer, with the trading simulation stage typically the slowest to schedule because it involves senior traders. Decisions after the final round usually land within one to two weeks.
Practise the questions HAP Capital Interview: Process & Questions 2026 actually asks
Reading about the interview is one thing - sitting one is another. Open your free Quantt prep workspace for a real course lesson plus interview-style coding tests modelled on firms like Jane Street, Citadel, Hudson River and Optiver.
Free lesson + interview practice · No credit card required