D. E. Shaw Interview ProcessTier 1

Quantitative Hedge Fund · New York

D. E. Shaw runs a research-deep, notoriously slow process (often 2-3 months) with NO trading-game or market-making round. Every loop, even for engineers, opens with a ~20-minute research/resume deep-dive, then layers probability, statistics, open-ended modeling, and (for SWE) hard CodeSignal algorithms. Quant and software question pools overlap heavily; offers gate on a code/writing sample plus reference and background checks.

76 practice questions → Apply at D. E. Shaw → Learn more about D. E. Shaw ↗ Report a question from your D. E. Shaw interview

problems

12 easy 48 medium 16 hard

hires: Quant Researcher / Analyst, Software / Quant Developer, Prop Trader

CodeSignal OA (SWE)

D. E. Shaw's SDE screen is a CodeSignal coding OA - 90 minutes, 4 problems, harder than most peer OAs, from a well-corroborated recurring bank. The Quant-Research / Quant-Analyst track is instead phone/video interviews (research deep-dive + probability brain-teasers, e.g. heaviest-of-N balls, E|U-V|=1/3, draws-to-exceed-1 = e), and the Data-Engineering & Visualization analyst track is a pandas + chi-squared take-home case - those are live, not on the bank. The auto-graded SDE problems (plus the Arcesium spin-off OA) are below.

Practice this round 7 problems Pro

Software Engineer

current

2021 -> 2026

SDE CodeSignal OACodeSignal, 90 min, 4 problems6 problems

The recurring SDE bank (corroborated across 6+ sittings): count pairs with a target difference under online insert/delete, pairs equal after a digit transposition, planting/cutting trees by empty-segment length, the 1000x1000 largest plus/cross, subset-sum coin selection closest to a target, and suffix-pair counting. All auto-graded below.

Count Pairs With a Given Difference (Online)Replay insert / delete / query operations, answering after each how many pairs differ by exactly k (hashmap of counts).CodingMediumSolve →Pairs Equal After a Digit TranspositionCount pairs (i,j) where one number becomes the other after swapping a single pair of its digits.CodingMediumSolve →Planting Trees: Empty Segments of Min LengthSegment-count plantable gaps of at least minLength along a row of occupied/empty slots.CodingMediumSolve →Largest Plus / Cross in a GridFind the largest centered plus whose four arms are all valid - the 1000x1000 max-plus query.CodingMediumSolve →see all 6 problems →

Arcesium (D. E. Shaw spin-off)

current

2023 -> 2026

Post-trade-tech OAPython 31 problem

Arcesium (the DE Shaw post-trade-technology spin-off) gives a separate OA. The captured problem is a FIFO Tax Calculator: parse a trade tape, match lots FIFO (with short selling), and compute the tax on net realized gain in accounting notation.

FIFO Tax CalculatorMatch buys/sells FIFO across the trade tape, net the realized gain, apply the flat tax (negative net -> $0.00), and format in accounting notation.CodingHardSolve →

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56 firmsEvery stageMust-do problems

First-Round Technical Phone

45–60 min · video Round guide →

~20 min research/resume dive ('what makes a good project' too), then 2-3 problems. QR: probability, statistics, brain-teasers (pick-the-max, draws until sum > 1, two-scales MLE, Y~X vs X~Y). SWE: any-language DS&A coding, 'describe the algorithm + complexity, then optimize' (library-free integer sqrt, monotonic-deque streaming max).

Practice this round 22 problems →

#253 Expected Maximum of Two Dice expectation easy #278 Optimal Guess in a Dice Payout Gameseen 2022-02 expectation medium #2030 OLS Regression of X on Y vs Y on Xseen 2026-02 regression medium #1031 Python List vs. Hash Map: Internals and Performanceseen 2021-09 coding easy #2357 Two Bullets in a Revolver: Conditional Survivalseen 2021-09 probability easy #895 C++: const Pointer Declarationsseen 2021-09 coding easy #1950 Effect of Demeaning Variables in OLSseen 2023-09 regression easy #1043 Search in a Sorted Matrixseen 2023-08 coding medium

Virtual Onsite 1

3 rounds · ~1 hr each Round guide →

Three rounds (the third often conditional on passing the first two): typically one probability/stats round, one coding round, and a VP/modeling round. Interviewers are IMO medalists and math/physics PhDs. Expect open-ended modeling (predict a baseball team's season wins; combine simple models) alongside the hard probability.

Practice this round 50 problems →

#2358 Red-or-Pass: Optimal Score in a Card Color Gameseen 2020-01 game-theory hard #995 Median from a Data Streamseen 2022-08 coding medium #1324 Sliding Window Maximum and Minimum with Monotone Dequesseen 2024-08 coding medium #1681 Second Largest with Minimum Comparisonsseen 2022-12 coding hard #458 Median of Two Sorted Arraysseen 2024-08 coding hard #2353 Minimizing a Signed Sum of Square Rootsseen 2024-10 optimization medium #2354 A Coin-Flip Wager: Fairness, Heterogeneity, and Correlationseen 2025-10 probability hard #2355 Expected Number of Non-Dominated Studentsseen 2025-01 probability medium

Virtual Onsite 2 (Senior)

2 rounds · SVP / hiring manager Round guide →

Two rounds with more senior people (SVP / hiring manager): behavioral plus math/stats and an open-ended modeling question. Progression is visibly conditional: underperformers get rounds cancelled mid-loop. Statistics gets deep here: R² behavior, t-statistic under data duplication, designing an experiment to test a claim.

Practice this round 22 problems →

#2352 Pooled R-Squared from Two Separate Regressionsseen 2025-02 regression medium #2354 A Coin-Flip Wager: Fairness, Heterogeneity, and Correlationseen 2025-10 probability hard #1546 Convergence in Probability vs. Almost Sure Convergenceseen 2022-08 probability hard #2359 Pricing a Number-Guessing Payout Gameseen 2019-02 game-theory hard #2358 Red-or-Pass: Optimal Score in a Card Color Gameseen 2020-01 game-theory hard #345 Color Elimination Card Game expectation medium #734 Expected Hitting Time on a 3x3 Grid Random Walkseen 2022-12 expectation hard #1545 Constrained Least Squares Estimation of Triangle Side Lengthsseen 2022-12 optimization medium

Prop Trading: HR + Case Study

HR screen + ~2-day (48h) take-home write-up Round guide →

The Prop-Trading track (separate from QR/SWE): a ~30-min behavioral/situational HR screen ('why trading / why D. E. Shaw', decisions under pressure, keeping up with markets), then a ~2-day (about 48-hour) take-home case study, a 1-2 page quantitative + qualitative macro write-up (rates, elections, demographics), followed by a superday of behavioral + case discussion + light modeling. No coding, no game.

Practice this round →

Editorial round — no practice problems.

Closing Gates

Code/writing sample · reference · background check

Even after the loop, offers gate on a code sample and a writing sample, a reference check (itself a screening step), and a background check. The process is slow, so expect weeks between steps.

Practice this round →

Editorial round — no practice problems.

The day before

Research deep-dive: a tight, probing-proof story for every project
QR signatures: pick-the-max stopping, two-scales MLE, Y~X vs X~Y slopes
Sign-assignment to √1..√n; min comparisons to find max (+ proof)
SWE: integer sqrt (no lib), streaming max (monotonic deque), CodeSignal cross/plant-trees
Stats depth: R², t-stat under duplication, experiment design
Prop track: a sharp 1–2 page macro case study

Cheatsheet →

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D. E. Shaw round-by-round guides

D. E. Shaw interview guide: the firm, culture, roles and pay →

Stage guides for every firm: superdays · behavioral questions · market-making games

D. E. Shaw interview — FAQ

What is the D. E. Shaw interview process?

How many rounds does D. E. Shaw have?

6 stages in total, starting with the CodeSignal OA (SWE) and ending with the Closing Gates.

How do I prepare for the D. E. Shaw interview?

Work the stage notes above, then drill the D. E. Shaw interview-questions set and the D. E. Shaw online-assessment practice — each problem has a full worked solution.