SIG Interview: Process, Questions and How to Pass the Trader Test 2026

What to Expect from a SIG Interview

Susquehanna International Group, almost universally called SIG, is one of the most distinctive interview processes in trading. The firm built its reputation on probabilistic thinking - their internal training programme famously uses poker as a teaching tool for game theory and decision-making under uncertainty - and the interview reflects that culture exactly. You will be asked questions where the correct answer matters less than how you reason about expected value, edge, and information.

This guide walks through the full SIG process for trader, quant and developer roles, the question types that come up most often, and a six-week preparation plan you can run in parallel with the Quantt coding tests. For the broader landscape of comparable employers, see our quant interview questions guide which covers the wider field.

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SIG at a Glance

• Founded: 1987 by Jeff Yass and his Wharton classmates
• Headquarters: Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania (with major offices in London, Dublin, Hong Kong and Sydney)
• Size: 2,500+ employees globally
• What they trade: Virtually every listed equity options product in North America, plus equity, fixed income, commodity and ETF market making worldwide
• Roles they hire: Quantitative Trader, Quantitative Researcher, Software Developer, Quantitative Systematic Trader
• Application route: SIG careers page or via the Susquehanna firm page on Quantt

For broader context, our prop trading firms guide compares SIG to Optiver, IMC, Jane Street and others in the options market-making space.

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The Interview Process - Stage by Stage

The full SIG interview pipeline typically takes 4 to 8 weeks from application to offer. There are usually four stages.

Stage 1: The Online Assessment

Once your CV passes the initial screen you will be sent a timed online assessment. For trader and research roles this is the SIG quant test, which runs 60 to 75 minutes and contains roughly 30 to 50 questions across:

• Mental arithmetic under time pressure (multiplication, division, percentage and compound calculations without a calculator)
• Probability and expected value problems
• Pattern recognition and sequences
• Short estimation questions

Pass rates at this stage are not published but are widely understood to be in the 20 to 30% range. Speed is the deciding factor for most candidates - if you can do the maths but not within the time limit, you fail.

For software developer and quant developer roles the OA is closer to a HackerRank-style coding challenge, typically two algorithmic problems in 90 minutes.

Stage 2: First-Round Interviews

A 30 to 45 minute interview, usually conducted virtually, with one or two SIG team members. Trader and research candidates can expect a mix of probability brain teasers, expected-value problems and a short market-intuition discussion. Software candidates will face live coding in a shared editor along with one or two short systems questions.

You will hear back within a week. Strong candidates are sometimes advanced directly to the Super Day after a single first round.

Stage 3: The Super Day

This is where SIG genuinely diverges from other firms. The Super Day is a full day of interviews held at one of SIG's offices (London, Bala Cynwyd, Dublin, Hong Kong, Sydney). It typically includes:

• 4 to 6 back-to-back interviews of 30 to 45 minutes each
• A group game session - usually a card game, dice game or trading exercise - where you are observed for how you reason about probability and information in real time
• Lunch with traders, which is part of the assessment even though it does not feel like it

Each interview slot focuses on a different dimension: probability, mental maths, market intuition, behavioural fit, and (for some roles) coding.

Stage 4: The Poker Round (Trading Roles)

Almost all SIG trader candidates do at least one round that involves poker. This sometimes happens on the Super Day, sometimes as a separate evening event. You are not expected to be a card-counter - SIG is testing whether you can reason about expected value, position sizing and information asymmetry under social pressure.

If you have never played poker, you do not need to learn at a tournament level. You do need to understand pot odds, expected value, Bayesian updating, and how to think about variance versus edge.

Offers usually arrive 1 to 2 weeks after the Super Day. SIG is competitive on compensation - graduate quantitative traders typically receive a first-year package between $200,000 and $300,000 in the US, with comparable euro-denominated packages in Dublin and London.

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How Interviews Differ by Role

Quantitative Trader

This is the role most associated with SIG. The interview leans heavily on probability, expected value and decision-making under uncertainty. Mental maths matters enormously - candidates report being asked to multiply two-digit numbers or compute percentages within five seconds throughout the day.

Typical question split:

• 35% probability and expected-value puzzles
• 25% mental maths and estimation
• 25% market intuition and pricing
• 15% behavioural and culture fit

Quantitative Researcher

More statistical and modelling-heavy than the trader track. Expect questions on hypothesis testing, regression, time series, and the design of statistical signals. Coding (Python) appears in most interviews, usually focused on data manipulation rather than algorithmic puzzles.

Typical split:

• 40% statistics and probability theory
• 30% Python and data manipulation
• 20% modelling and signal design
• 10% behavioural

Software Developer

Closer to a FAANG-style technical interview, with a finance flavour. SIG's technology stack runs on C++ and Python, so fluency in at least one is non-negotiable. Expect algorithm and data structure questions, plus systems design questions specific to trading infrastructure - order books, low-latency message passing, market data normalisation.

Typical split:

• 50% coding (algorithms and data structures)
• 25% systems design
• 15% language-specific knowledge (C++ memory model, Python performance)
• 10% behavioural

Quantitative Systematic Trader

A hybrid track that sits between the trader and research roles. Interview content covers all three: probability puzzles for the trader instinct, statistical modelling for the research dimension, and Python coding for the implementation side.

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Real Question Types

The questions below are representative - we have collected them from candidates and from SIG's own published practice materials. Your exact questions will differ but the shape will not.

Probability and Expected Value

Question 1: Two coins You have two coins. One is fair. The other is biased and lands heads with probability 0.75. You pick a coin at random and flip it three times, getting three heads in a row. What is the probability you picked the fair coin?

Approach: Bayes' theorem. P(fair | HHH) = P(HHH | fair) * P(fair) / P(HHH). The numerator is 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.0625. The denominator is 0.5 * 0.125 + 0.5 * 0.421875 = 0.273. The answer is roughly 22.9%. The interviewer wants to see you set up Bayes correctly, not just guess.

Question 2: Expected dice value with reroll I roll a fair six-sided die. You can either accept the roll or reroll once. What is your expected value if you play optimally?

Approach: You should reroll if and only if your first roll is below the expected value of a fresh roll, which is 3.5. So you reroll on 1, 2 or 3 (probability 0.5) and keep on 4, 5 or 6 (probability 0.5). E = 0.5 * 3.5 + 0.5 * E[X | X >= 4] = 0.5 * 3.5 + 0.5 * 5 = 4.25.

Brain Teasers and Estimation

Question 3: Estimation How many AAA batteries are sold in the United Kingdom each year?

Approach: Top down. UK population about 67 million. Estimate households (~28 million), average AAA-using devices per household (~3 to 5), battery replacement frequency (~once per year per device). That gives roughly 28 million * 4 * 1 = 112 million household batteries. Add commercial and institutional use (call it another 30 to 50%), and you arrive at 150 to 170 million per year. The number is not the point; the structure is.

Question 4: Trading game I will pay you the sum of three rolls of a fair six-sided die. How much would you pay to play, and at what price would you flip and become the seller?

Approach: Expected value is 3 * 3.5 = 10.5. You would buy at any price below 10.5 and sell at any price above it. The follow-up is usually about variance and risk aversion - the standard deviation of the sum is sqrt(3 * 35/12) ≈ 2.96, so a risk-averse trader would shade their bid down and their ask up.

Coding Questions

Question 5: Two-pointer maximum subarray product Given an array of integers (positive, negative and zero), return the maximum product of any contiguous subarray. Aim for O(n) time and O(1) space.

def max_product_subarray(nums: list[int]) -> int:
    if not nums:
        return 0
    max_prod = min_prod = result = nums[0]
    for x in nums[1:]:
        candidates = (x, x * max_prod, x * min_prod)
        max_prod, min_prod = max(candidates), min(candidates)
        result = max(result, max_prod)
    return result

The trick is tracking both the running maximum and minimum, because multiplying by a negative flips signs. Interviewers will probe edge cases (single element, all zeros, single negative) and ask you to argue complexity.

Question 6: Order-book matching Design a class that supports add_buy(price, qty), add_sell(price, qty) and match() returning a list of trades. Limit orders only, price-time priority.

Approach: Use two sorted structures (heap or balanced tree) - a max-heap on the bid side and a min-heap on the ask side. On every add, check whether the best bid crosses the best ask and pop fills until the spread reopens. Time-priority is handled by tagging each order with an incrementing sequence number.

Market Knowledge and Pricing

Question 7: Put-call parity A non-dividend-paying stock trades at $100. A 90-day at-the-money call is priced at $5. The risk-free rate is 4% annualised. What does put-call parity say the put is worth?

Approach: C - P = S - K * exp(-rT). With S = K = 100, r = 0.04, T = 90/365, the right-hand side is 100 - 100 * exp(-0.04 * 90/365) = 100 - 99.014 ≈ 0.986. So P = C - 0.986 ≈ $4.01.

Behavioural

Question 8: Why SIG? Tell me why SIG over Jane Street, Optiver or IMC.

Approach: Generic answers fail. Specific things to point at: SIG's training programme is unusually structured and explicit (they teach poker, decision theory and game theory formally), the firm has a reputation for keeping traders for long careers rather than burning them out, and their options business is genuinely the broadest in North America. Tie one of those to something specific you have done or want to do.

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How to Prepare - A Six-Week Plan

This is the schedule we suggest to Quantt members preparing specifically for SIG.

Week 1 - Mental maths

Daily 30-minute drills using a tool like Zetamac (set to two-digit by two-digit multiplication, three-digit by one-digit division, and percentages). The bar at SIG is roughly 50 correct answers in two minutes. Most candidates start at 15 to 20. The gap closes quickly with practice.

Week 2 - Probability foundations

Work through chapters 1 to 7 of A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews by Xinfeng Zhou (the "green book"). Pair this with our probability for quant finance and statistics for quantitative trading guides for the underlying theory. By end of week 2 you should be comfortable with conditional probability, expected value, Bayes' theorem and the standard distributions.

Week 3 - Brain teasers and game theory

Work through Heard on the Street by Timothy Crack and the puzzle archive at Quant Net. Read or skim The Mathematics of Poker (Chen and Ankenman) to understand expected value in adversarial settings. You do not need to memorise poker theory - you do need the intuition.

Week 4 - Coding

If you are interviewing for a trader role, focus on Python data manipulation and one or two algorithmic problems per day. For developer roles, switch to LeetCode (medium and hard) plus a daily systems design exercise. The Quantt coding tests are calibrated to the type of problems SIG asks - they are a good way to time-box your prep.

Week 5 - SIG-specific patterns

Run mock Super Days. Three back-to-back 45-minute sessions with a study partner, alternating between probability, brain teasers and coding. Time yourself ruthlessly. The Super Day fatigues most candidates by interview four; the only way to inoculate yourself is to practise tired.

Week 6 - Polish and behavioural

Refine your answers to "why SIG", "tell me about a time you took a calculated risk", and "tell me about a mistake you made". Read SIG's recent press and any interviews with senior leadership (Jeff Yass occasionally appears in podcasts). Salary research using Glassdoor and the Quantt quantitative analyst salary guide.

Recommended Reading

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What SIG Looks For Beyond Technical Skill

The technical bar is high but the differentiating signal is rarely pure intelligence. Three traits separate offers from rejections at the Super Day stage.

Calibration. SIG cares more about whether you know what you do not know than whether you know more. A candidate who answers "I am 70% confident the answer is roughly 4.2, and here is why" usually beats one who answers "the answer is 4.2" with no uncertainty quantification. This is a direct legacy of the firm's poker culture, where overconfidence costs money in measurable ways.

Curiosity under questioning. Interviewers will push back on your answers, sometimes when you are right. They are testing whether you treat new information as a signal to update or an attack to defend against. The candidates who do well treat the pushback as data.

Genuine interest in markets. SIG hires people who would think about expected value problems for fun. If you cannot name a market structure question that genuinely interests you, the firm is unlikely to be the right fit, and the interviewers will pick up on that quickly.

For more on the broader skills firms across the quant industry are looking for, see our quantitative analyst career guide.

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Compensation & recruiting notes

Pay ranges in this guide are illustrative estimates from publicly discussed bands and anecdotal reports - not official figures from the employer. Packages vary widely by desk, office, performance, and year. Hiring processes change; nothing here guarantees an interview, assessment format, or offer.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How hard is it to get a SIG interview?

Very competitive. SIG hires roughly 80 to 120 graduate traders globally each year and receives tens of thousands of applications. The strongest route in is through campus recruiting at target universities (Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, Imperial, Warwick in the UK; MIT, Princeton, Penn, Carnegie Mellon, NYU in the US) or via referral from a current employee. Online assessment scores are taken seriously regardless of school - many candidates from non-target universities make it through on OA performance alone.

Does SIG hire from non-target universities?

Yes. SIG's online assessment is genuinely meritocratic and many of their best traders did not come from Ivy League or Oxbridge backgrounds. The realistic path for a non-target candidate is to absolutely crush the OA and have one or two demonstrable signals - a strong showing on Codeforces or ICPC, a competitive poker or trading record, or a published research project.

What programming languages should I know for a SIG interview?

For trader roles, Python is the only language tested and even then only at a basic data-manipulation level. For quant research roles, Python plus enough R or MATLAB exposure to read code in those languages. For software developer roles, C++ is heavily emphasised - expect questions on memory management, move semantics and performance characteristics. Familiarity with kdb+/q is a significant plus for some teams.

How does SIG's compensation compare to other quant firms?

SIG sits in the upper tier but typically below the very top (Citadel, Jane Street and Hudson River). Graduate quantitative traders in the US receive a first-year total package between $200,000 and $300,000, including signing bonus and first-year guarantee. In the UK and Ireland, the equivalent is roughly £130,000 to £180,000. Senior traders and partners earn substantially more, with the firm's profit-sharing structure giving high upside for top performers. For a comprehensive breakdown across firms see our quantitative analyst salary guide.

How many interview rounds does SIG have?

The standard process has four stages: an online assessment, one or two first-round interviews, a Super Day with 4 to 6 back-to-back sessions, and (for trader roles) a poker round. The whole process from application to offer typically takes 4 to 8 weeks, though it can compress during peak campus recruiting season (September to November).

Do I really need to know how to play poker for SIG?

Not at a tournament level. You do need to understand pot odds, expected value, Bayesian updating from new information, and how to size bets relative to your edge. SIG provides a tutorial round at the start of any poker session, so the firm itself does not assume prior knowledge. What they are testing is whether you reason about probability and information naturally, not whether you have memorised poker strategy.

Can I reapply if I'm rejected?

Yes. SIG's general policy allows reapplication after 12 months, and the firm does take repeat candidates seriously, especially if you can show specific improvement in the area where you fell short. If you were rejected at the OA stage, focus exclusively on speed - the OA bar is mostly about working through 50 questions in 60 minutes, not about being able to do harder problems.

What is the difference between SIG and Jane Street?

Both are options-heavy proprietary trading firms with strong probability cultures, but they diverge sharply on technology and culture. Jane Street is OCaml-everything with a famously academic and engineering-driven culture. SIG is more market-maker-traditional, uses C++ and Python, and leans much more heavily on poker and game theory in training. Compensation is broadly similar at entry level. We have a dedicated Jane Street interview guide covering Jane Street's process in detail.