Guess the Number: what's a commonly cited average work week for a first-year investment banking analyst?

Breaking Into Quant: What Recruiters Look For

Quant recruiting leans heavily on raw problem-solving ability, expect timed math tests, probability brainteasers, and questions on statistics, calculus and sometimes coding, often before a single conversation about markets happens. A strong background in math, physics, computer science or a similarly quantitative field matters more here than a finance degree. Many firms also run their own summer internship pipelines as the main door into a full-time offer, similar to how banking recruits analysts.

Why is it generally fine to round numbers during a case interview calculation?

Case math is meant to test whether you can reason through a calculation clearly and land on a reasonable estimate, not produce a precise figure the way a spreadsheet would. Rounding, like treating 48 as 50, keeps the mental math manageable and fast, without meaningfully changing the conclusion you'd draw from the result.