Sales and trading interview questions, banks and trading firms
Banks test market sense, a trade idea and how you think under pressure. Trading firms like Jane Street, Optiver and SIG test probability and quick math instead, and say you need no finance knowledge.
Updated
- Banks want market sense. Goldman looks for quick-thinking self-starters with a real passion for the markets.
- Bring a trade idea. Citi and JPMorgan summer analysts pitch trade ideas, so expect to be asked for one.
- Trading firms test odds. Jane Street, Optiver and SIG test probability, quick math and puzzles.
- Sales is about people. Goldman calls building client relationships crucial on its markets desks.
- Pressure is part of it. Optiver says it checks how you decide and stay calm all through its process.
Bank desk or trading firm?
Both hire traders, but the interviews are different. Here is what each firm's own pages say, read on October 15, 2026.
Bank sales and tradingGoldman, JPMorgan, Citi
Banks trade for clients. Sales covers the clients, traders make the prices.
The job
Clients first
Goldman's sales force keeps client relationships, takes orders and passes on research, trade ideas and market information. Its traders make markets on exchanges worldwide.
The internship
Rotations across desks
Barclays starts with training, then rotates summer analysts through desks across asset classes. Citi's London program is 10 weeks with three rotations after a week of training.
The interview
Fit, markets and a trade idea
Banks don't publish desk questions. JPMorgan and Citi interns pitch trade ideas, so expect why markets, what you follow and a pitch of your own.
Simulations
Making prices under pressure
Morgan Stanley's AmplifyME simulation (2022) had students quote prices that cut the bank's risk through market shocks. Top performers were fast-tracked for summer roles.
Trading firmsJane Street, Optiver, SIG
Market makers trade their own capital. Their interviews test how you think about odds.
The job
Decisions under uncertainty
SIG says trading is all about making decisions under uncertainty, and its traders learn probability, odds and expectancy through games with senior traders.
The interview
Probability, not finance
Jane Street says you need no finance knowledge. Its final round may cover problem solving, probability and statistics, coding and data analysis.
The tests
Assessments and puzzles
Optiver starts with an online assessment of logic and reasoning, then behavioral and technical interviews. SIG uses puzzles to show what trading there is like.
What wins
How you think
Jane Street cares how you approach hard problems, take hints and respond to being wrong. A right answer alone is not enough.
A worked market-making questionFrom Jane Street's guide
Jane Street's Probability and Markets guide lists this prompt. The answer below is ours.
The prompt
One die, one reroll
You roll a fair die and may roll again once, keeping the second roll. Make a market on the result.
Step 1
Price the reroll
A fresh roll is worth 3.5 on average. So keep a 4, 5 or 6 and roll again on a 1, 2 or 3.
Step 2
Expected value: 4.25
Half the time you keep an average of 5, half the time you get 3.5. So 0.5 × 5 + 0.5 × 3.5 = 4.25.
Step 3
Quote around it
Say a bid and an offer around 4.25, such as 4 at 4.5. Widen it if the size is large or you're less sure.
Follow-up 1
Two rerolls: about 4.67
With one reroll left the roll is worth 4.25, so on the first roll keep only a 5 or 6. That gives 1/3 × 5.5 + 2/3 × 4.25 = 14/3, about 4.67.
Follow-up 2
Someone buys at your offer
Ask why they wanted it. Jane Street's guide calls this adverse selection: trades you get can be worse than they look, so update before you quote again.
From Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citi, Morgan Stanley, its jargon buster, SIG, Jane Street, its Probability and Markets guide and Optiver.
What desks say they look for
No firm publishes a scorecard. Their careers pages say this much:
A real interest in markets
Goldman wants quick-thinking self-starters with a real passion for the markets. Citi asks for a good understanding of finance and an interest in markets.
Relationships
Goldman calls communicating well and building relationships with clients and colleagues crucial. Barclays lists building relationships among its strengths too.
Fast decisions, calmly
Barclays wants people who thrive on fast-paced decision making. Optiver assesses quick decisions and staying cool under pressure throughout its process.
Numbers and risk
JPMorgan lists analytical and quantitative skills, with Python or similar a plus. Citadel Securities wants a sharp sense of risk taking when outcomes are uncertain.
From Goldman Sachs, Citi, Barclays, Optiver, JPMorganChase and Citadel Securities.
21 sales and trading interview questions
Our own wording unless a firm is named, in four groups. Banks lean on the first two, trading firms on the third, and both ask the last.
Why markets5 questions
Every bank first round has these. Make each one specific to the desk you want.
Walk me through your background.
What a strong answer does
Two minutes, in order, ending on why markets. Pick the parts of your story that lead there. Practice it, see a model answer
Why sales and trading and not investment banking?
What a strong answer does
Tie it to the work itself: daily markets, quick feedback, clients or risk. Show you know what a day on the desk looks like.
- “What would you miss about banking?”
- “Who on a desk have you spoken to?”
Sales or trading? Which seat do you want?
What a strong answer does
Pick one and say why it fits how you work. Citi asks applicants to choose an area such as sales, trading or structuring.
- “What makes a good salesperson?”
- “What if we placed you on the other side?”
Which desk interests you most, and why?
What a strong answer does
Goldman splits FICC (rates, credit, mortgages, currencies, commodities) from Equities. Name one and what moves it.
- “What has moved that market this month?”
- “Who are the clients on that desk?”
What does a sales trader do?
What a strong answer does
Morgan Stanley's glossary says a sales trader executes client orders and links the firm's traders with clients, focused on short-term flow.
Markets and trade ideas8 questions
Banks expect you to follow markets every day. Have one trade idea you can defend.
Pitch me a trade.
What a strong answer does
The instrument, the direction, why now, what would prove you wrong and where you'd get out. Two minutes.
- “How would you size it?”
- “How would you hedge it?”
- “What would make you close it early?”
Pitch me a stock.
What a strong answer does
A clear thesis, two reasons, one risk and what would change your mind. Practice it, see a model answer
Where will the 10-year Treasury yield be in six months?
What a strong answer does
Give a number, the two things driving it and the data that would change your view. 'It depends' is not an answer.
- “What does the Fed do in your view?”
- “How would you trade that?”
What does an inverted yield curve tell you?
What a strong answer does
What short and long rates say about expected policy and growth, and why it has preceded slowdowns. Practice it, see a model answer
What happens to bond prices when interest rates rise?
What a strong answer does
Prices fall, by roughly the duration times the change in yield. Say why longer bonds move more. Practice it, see a model answer
Tell me about a market move this week and why it happened.
What a strong answer does
One move you can explain in depth beats five headlines. Say what you'd watch next.
- “Who lost money on it?”
- “Did anything surprise you?”
Explain delta, gamma, theta and vega.
What a strong answer does
What each measures, in plain words, and which one a trader worries about most near expiry. Practice it, see a model answer
What is put-call parity?
What a strong answer does
The relationship, then how you'd trade it if prices broke it. Practice it, see a model answer
Trading firm questions5 questions
Probability, quick math and markets on games. Think out loud, as Jane Street asks.
Make me a market on one roll of a die.
Jane Street's Probability and Markets guide (paraphrased)
What a strong answer does
The expected value is 3.5. Quote a bid below and an offer above, and say how much you'd trade.
- “Now I tell you it's even. New market?”
- “How would your market change for 10 rolls?”
Make me a market on the temperature an hour from now.
Jane Street's Probability and Markets guide (paraphrased)
What a strong answer does
Start from today's temperature and how unsure you are. The width of your market shows that uncertainty.
How many coin flips do you expect until the first heads?
Jane Street's Probability and Markets guide (paraphrased)
What a strong answer does
Two. Set it up as a recursion: E = 1 + 0.5 × E, so E = 2. Jane Street's guide uses it to show recursion.
Someone just bought from you at your offer. What do you do?
What a strong answer does
Ask what they know that you don't. Move your market up a little and trade smaller until you learn more.
What is 17 times 23?
What a strong answer does
391, said as 17 × 20 + 17 × 3 = 340 + 51. Optiver says mental math is necessary but not enough.
Pressure and judgment3 questions
Both kinds of firm ask these. Use real stories with a number in them.
Tell me about a decision you made without all the information you wanted.
What a strong answer does
What you knew, what you didn't, how you decided and how it turned out. Practice it, see a model answer
Tell me about a time you were wrong. How did you find out?
What a strong answer does
Jane Street says how you respond to being wrong matters. Show how fast you changed course.
Tell me about a risk you took. How did you size it?
What a strong answer does
Show you weighed the upside against what you could lose, and kept the loss small enough to survive.
More to prepare with
Mistakes that cost sales and trading candidates
Preparing a bank and a trading firm the same way
A bank wants market views and client sense. Jane Street, Optiver and SIG want probability and quick decisions.
No view of your own
Saying 'it depends' on rates or a stock. Give a view, the reason and what would change your mind.
Hiding a wrong answer
Jane Street's tips say to correct your mistakes. Catching your own error is a good sign, not a bad one.
Going quiet on a puzzle
Jane Street asks candidates to communicate clearly. Say your approach before you calculate.
A three-week prep plan
Built on what the firms' own pages tell candidates.
Week 1
Pick your seat and desk
Read the desk page of each firm you apply to. For a trading firm, read Jane Street's Probability and Markets guide.
Every morning
Keep a market journal
Write down three moves and why they happened. In a month you'll have stories for any desk.
Week 2
Build two trade ideas
One in rates or currencies, one in equities. Each with the instrument, why now, the risk and the exit.
Daily
Mental math and games
Optiver suggests mental math and strategy games. Ten minutes a day is enough.
Week 3
Mock interviews out loud
Pitch your trade in two minutes and talk through a probability question while you solve it.
What each firm publishes
From each firm's own page, read on October 15, 2026. Bank pages describe the desk and the internship, not the questions.
Goldman SachsFICC and Equities
Sales keeps client relationships and passes on research and trade ideas. Goldman wants dynamic, quick-thinking self-starters with a real passion for markets.
Goldman: FICC and EquitiesOur Goldman interview guide
JPMorganChaseMarkets Summer Analyst
Nine weeks, starting with five days of training. Interns join regular trading simulations and may propose trade ideas as part of a desk.
JPMorganChase: Markets Summer AnalystOur JPMorgan interview guide
Morgan StanleyAmplifyME simulation (2022)
A free trading simulation run at universities. Students acting as banks quote prices that reduce risk, and top performers were fast-tracked for summer analyst roles.
Morgan Stanley: AmplifyMEOur Morgan Stanley interview guide
CitiMarkets Summer Analyst, London
Ten weeks from June: a week of training, then three desk rotations. Summer analysts pitch trade ideas and learn to make prices, manage risk and execute trades.
Citi: Markets Summer Analyst 2027BarclaysMarkets internships
Training first, then rotations through sales and trading desks. Interns monitor markets to form trade ideas and attend client meetings.
Barclays: Markets internshipsJane StreetTrading interviews
Phone interviews, then a final round in person. Jane Street says interviews feel more like a conversation than a quiz and need no finance knowledge.
Jane Street: trading interviewsOptiverUS campus Q&A
An online assessment, behavioral and technical interviews, then a virtual final with the hiring team that needs no technical preparation.
Optiver: US campus recruiting Q&ASIGTrading careers
SIG uses puzzles to emulate trading, and its traders learn probability, odds and expectancy by playing strategy games with senior traders.
SIG: tradingCitadel SecuritiesMarkets and Trading FAQ
Prefers quantitative degrees. Its traders list systematic problem solving and taking in new information and acting on it quickly.
Citadel Securities: candidate FAQsTrading interviews are spoken, practice them out loud
Soreno's AI interviewer asks markets, fit and technical questions one at a time, follows up like a real interviewer and scores every answer. Free for 7 days.
Questions people ask
What questions are asked in a sales and trading interview?
At banks, expect why markets, sales or trading, which desk, a trade or stock pitch, a market story and some technicals like bonds and options. Trading firms such as Jane Street and Optiver ask probability, quick math and market-making questions instead.
Do I need finance knowledge for a trading interview?
For trading firms, no. Jane Street and Optiver both say no finance knowledge is needed. Banks expect more: Citi asks for a good understanding of finance and an interest in markets.
How is a Jane Street or Optiver interview different from a bank's?
Banks test market interest, client sense and a trade idea. Jane Street's interviews cover problem solving, probability, statistics and coding, and Optiver starts with an online logic and reasoning assessment.
Should I say sales or trading?
Pick one and give a reason tied to how you like to work. Citi asks applicants to choose an area after applying, and the choice sets which recruiting process you go through.
How long is a sales and trading internship?
Nine weeks at JPMorganChase and ten weeks in Citi's London program, according to their pages. Both start with about a week of training.
Do trading interviews include brain teasers?
At trading firms, often. SIG says it uses puzzles to emulate trading, and Jane Street's guide is built on probability puzzles. See our brain teaser guide for worked answers.
Is a sales and trading superday different from a banking one?
Banks don't publish desk-specific superday formats. Expect more market questions and a trade pitch, and the same fit questions as any superday.