Virtu Financial Interview Guide

Once your application is accepted, you are invited to complete a timed online test. This test serves as a filter for the most quantitatively capable applicants. The contents of this assessment seems to vary across applicants but typically contains one or more of the following components.

• Coding (most common): 3–5 problems in Python or C++ focusing on algorithmic thinking and logic.
• Mental Math (sporadic): Quick arithmetic without calculators. Expect basic operations, square roots, percentages, and multi-digit multiplications.
• Logic & Probability (sporadic): Problems involving dice, coins, urns, conditional probability, and expected value calculations.

Some trading-adjacent roles may additionally include an IQ-style pattern recognition or logic sequence test. Tests are timed and often adaptive in difficulty.

Preparation Tips:

• Work on your mental math and focus on both speed and accuracy.
• Review key probability concepts including Bayes’ Theorem, permutations, and combinatorics.
• Practice logic puzzles and technical questions.
• Prepare for coding with HackerRank, LeetCode (easy to medium problems), especially loops, arrays, and basic algorithms.
• Simulate timed conditions to reduce anxiety during the real test.

A 20 to 30 minute video or phone call with a recruiter. This stage evaluates your motivation, communication skills, and professionalism.

Common Topics:

• Why Virtu?
• Why trading?
• Walk through your resume
• How do you handle high-pressure situations?
• Describe a time you went above and beyond to achieve a goal
• Simple mental math or brainteaser to gauge composure

Preparation Tips:

• Practice a structured personal pitch covering academic background, interests, and career goals.
• Understand Virtu’s core business model and positioning as a global market maker.
• Prepare stories using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
• Review your resume for potential discussion points.
• Be ready to explain each project or experience.
• Convey enthusiasm for trading, while remaining concise and professional.

This stage includes 2 to 3 interviews with traders or quantitative researchers. Each session lasts between 30 and 60 minutes and combines technical challenges with resume-based questions. An additional logic or IQ test may also be administered.

Focus:

• Mental Math: Arithmetic drills, approximation, multiplication, division, percentages
• Probability Puzzles: Urn problems, expected value questions, dice games, Monty Hall variants
• Logic Brainteasers: Coin puzzles, pirates and gold, balancing scales, clock problems
• Market Making Exercises: Make a market on a random statistic, price a bet based on uncertain outcomes, react to a hypothetical trading scenario
• Resume Validation: In-depth questioning on any technical or academic claim

Preparation Tips:

• Practice articulating your thought process clearly, even when unsure.
• Simulate interviews with friends/peers who quiz you (with a healthy dose of pressure) on math and logic.
• Use whiteboards or paper for visual thinking.
• Avoid silent problem solving at all times, this is a big no!
• Avoid exaggerating skills on your resume. Interviewers at Virtu are particularly notorious for probing knowledge and skill gaps.

A full day (or virtual equivalent) of interviews with senior traders, team leads, and in some cases even executives. These sessions emphasize both technical depth and team fit.

Activities:

• Advanced technical questions (multistep probability, layered puzzles)
• Behavioral interviews with a focus on resilience, collaboration, and integrity
• Deep dives into previous answers or projects
• Market simulations or pricing discussions
• Informal conversations with high-level decision-makers

Preparation Tips:

• Review all prior technical questions and refine weak points
• Prepare new examples for behavioral questions to avoid repetition
• Demonstrate energy and consistency throughout multiple sessions
• Prepare thoughtful questions to ask each interviewer (about their role, team dynamics, or firm vision)
• If meeting executives or leaders, show curiosity and professionalism without overreaching

Key Considerations:

• At Virtu, each interviewer provides independent feedback so try make a fresh impression in every session you have regardless of the outcome of the previous session.
• The ability to bounce back from a tough question shows mental toughness. Virtu will try to push you towards your limits on this superday and every candidate will run into issues or limitations at some part. What sets you apart from others is how well you will be able to manage those limits.
• Final rounds focus more on your long-term potential rather than just your outright puzzle-solving skills. Virtu will assess whether or not you are coachable and have the potential to grow.

Virtu’s interview process is demanding, but highly rewarding for candidates who enjoy logic, numbers, and problem-solving under pressure.

You do not need to be perfect in every area. Virtu is looking for people who are curious, capable, and open to growth. The best candidates combine quantitative sharpness with honesty, composure, and genuine enthusiasm for trading.

Take every stage seriously, stay calm under pressure, and use each interview as a chance to show how you think. If you bring clarity, curiosity, and consistency, you will stand out.