Citadel Interview Guide
High intensity, high reward. What to expect from the finance giant.
Citadel is one of the most successful hedge funds in history, and Citadel Securities is a dominant market maker. The firm is known for its intensity, its meritocracy, and its incredible compensation. Unlike the "academic" vibe of Jane Street, Citadel feels like a professional trading floor from day one.
The Roles
- Quant Researcher (QR): At Citadel, QRs are deeply embedded with PMs (Portfolio Managers). You aren't just writing papers; you are finding alpha that will be deployed immediately. Strong Python and statistics are required.
- Quant Developer (QD): You build the execution systems. Citadel Securities processes billions of trades. Speed is everything. C++ proficiency must be elite.
- Trader: Execution traders or semi-systematic traders. Requires fast decision making and deep market knowledge.
What They Test
1. Large Scale Data Analysis
Expect a "Take Home" or live coding session where you are given a massive messy CSV (e.g., weather data vs stock prices). You need to clean it, normalize it, and find a correlation signal in Python (Pandas/NumPy) within 45 minutes.
2. Low Level C++
For dev roles: "How is a virtual function implemented?" "What implies a cache miss?" "Implement a lock-free queue." They care about the hardware.
The Behavioral Round
Citadel's behavioral round is notorious. It's not just "tell me about a time you failed." It's a stress test.
- "Why Citadel?" Do not say "I like math." Say "I want to be at the place with the best infrastructure and the smartest people to maximize my impact/P&L." They value ambition.
- "Why not Jane Street?" Be honest but strategic. "I prefer Citadel's meritocractic 'eat what you kill' model over a flat structure."
- Resilience: They might challenge your resume. "Your GPA is only 3.8, why?" Stand your ground.
Compensation
Citadel pays for performance.
- Interns: $120/hr + Housing + Sign-on. Monthly income > $20k.
- New Grad TC: $300k - $400k is standard. Top offers (competing with HRT/JS) can hit $500k.
- Upside: PMs at Citadel can make 8 figures. The ceiling is higher than almost anywhere else.