Introduce Your Research and Explain Why You Chose Quantitative Trading

In a recruiter screen for a quantitative research role at a trading firm, after a check of your background, the recruiter asks you to introduce your research and to explain why you chose this industry. ### Clarifying Questions - How long should the research summary be, and how technical is the listener? - Does "this industry" mean proprietary trading specifically, or quantitative finance in general? ### Part 1 — Introduce your research Summarize your research for a listener who is not a specialist in your field. ```hint Translate the problem first Start from the question your research answers and why anyone should care, in words a non-specialist can follow, before any method or result. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - The problem and why it matters, in plain terms - Your approach and your own contribution, distinguished from your group's - A concrete result and how you know it is real - The skills it demonstrates that carry over to research on markets ### Part 2 — Why this industry Explain why you chose this industry. ```hint Specific and true Connect what you have actually enjoyed in your own work to what the job involves day to day, instead of reasons that would fit any industry. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Motivation grounded in your own experience rather than generic reasons - An accurate picture of what quantitative research at a trading firm involves - Why this path over the realistic alternatives, such as academia or a technology company ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Clear, concise communication of technical work to a non-specialist - A consistent story in which the research, the reasons for the move and the role fit together - Honesty that holds up under follow-up questions - Evidence of how you reason under uncertainty and with noisy data ### Follow-up Questions - What is one result from your research that surprised you, and how did you check that it was not an artifact? - Why trading rather than staying in research or joining a technology company? - Which part of the job do you expect to find hardest, coming from your current work? - Tell me about a decision in your research that you had to make with incomplete information.