A market-taking drill for IMC and Optiver trading-intern interviews

The market round in a trading internship interview asks you to work out a fair value fast and decide whether a posted price is off. At prop firms like Optiver, SIG, IMC and Flow Traders it sits next to the timed mental math test, and most candidates lose points on speed, not on the math.

Fruit Market drills exactly that. Two bags of apples and oranges are worth total apples times total oranges, and you buy, sell or skip a bid and ask before the board expires. You score for the edge you take, the boards you call right and how fast you decide, and the results screen reviews every board.

What is the market making round in trading intern interviews?

An interviewer asks you to price something uncertain, like a dice total, a card sum or an estimation question, then trades against your quote or posts a price for you. It tests fast mental math, a steady fair value and the judgment to trade only when a price is off.

How does the Fruit Market game work?

Two bags of apples and oranges are dealt, and the value is total apples times total oranges. A bid and ask appear and you buy, sell or skip before the board expires. You score for the edge you take, right calls and speed, with a board-by-board review at the end.

Is this practice game free?

There is a free sample run: a full 3-minute run at Medium with the board-by-board review, and no signup or download. Easy and Hard and the 2 and 5 minute runs are part of QuantVault Pro.

Which firms use this style of assessment?

Market games and timed mental math are standard in trading intern processes at firms such as Optiver, SIG, IMC, Flow Traders and DRW, in online assessments and live rounds. Formats vary, but pricing fast under time pressure is common to all of them.