PEAK6 hires Trading Associate (new grad), Trading Intern / Bootcamp, Quant Researcher and Quant Developer. Candidates report 4 interview stages. Below: what each round tests and how to prepare, the timeline, roles and a 4-week prep plan, drawn from candidate reports and PEAK6's own recruiting pages.
PEAK6 interview: quick answer
- Stages4
- Online assessment~1 hr timed test after you apply; HackerRank coding for software roles (reported)
- Final roundLeadership + Fit Conversations: Part of the final; decision in about two weeks (per PEAK6)
- RolesTrading Associate (new grad), Trading Intern / Bootcamp, Quant Researcher, Quant Developer, Software Engineer
Preparing for PEAK6? Work the rounds in order in the free PEAK6 interview funnel.
The PEAK6 interview process at a glance
| # | Round | Format and length | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Online Assessment | ~1 hr timed test after you apply; HackerRank coding for software roles (reported) | Practice |
| 2 | First Interview Technical + Behavioral | 1 hr - Zoom, with a trader (per PEAK6) | GuidePractice |
| 3 | Final Round Trading Case + Market Making | Half day - Zoom (per PEAK6); older reports describe an in-person Chicago superday | GuidePractice |
| 4 | Leadership + Fit Conversations | Part of the final; decision in about two weeks (per PEAK6) | GuidePractice |
Stages are listed in the order candidates report them. Formats come from candidate reports and change between cycles, offices and teams; not every candidate sees every stage.
Every PEAK6 round: what it tests and how to prepare
1Online Assessment
PEAK6 follows every application with an assessment. Trading candidates report a timed test of arithmetic, probability, basic finance, number series and logic puzzles, about a minute per question; one report adds personality questions. Software roles: about two HackerRank problems in around 90 minutes (interval/scheduling-style). Drill: mental math, number sequences, probability. No PEAK6-tagged problems yet; the list fills as reports arrive.
Question types: mostly brain teasers. Latest candidate report for this round: Sep 2026.
How to prepare
- Speed beats depth. About a minute per question means you should skip and return rather than grind one item.
- Warm up on mental math daily. Short timed sets of multiplication, fractions and percentages pay off here and again with the trader.
- Know the classic patterns. Number series, dice and coin probability and simple expected value cover most reported items.
2First Interview: Technical + Behavioral
PEAK6 lists a one-hour Zoom interview with a trader. Candidates describe a behavioral half (why trading, why PEAK6, what is happening in markets) and a technical half: mental math, probability, expected value, brainteasers, estimation such as sizing a market or setting odds. One report: about 30 mental math problems in four minutes. Practise: mental math, Fermi estimation, expected value.
- About an hour, usually two 30-minute halves with traders: one behavioural, one technical with expected value, bet sizing and estimation.
- The mental maths sprint (about 30 questions in 4 minutes) is usually read aloud. Practise with someone reading questions to you.
Question types: mostly brain teasers. Latest candidate report for this round: Sep 2026.
How to prepare
- Answer out loud. Traders want to hear the estimate, the check and the correction, not silent working.
- Have a sharp why-trading story. Tie it to options and to PEAK6's teaching-heavy programs.
- Follow the markets. Expect a question on recent market moves or an asset class you care about.
Full First Interview guide →Practice this round (1 question) →
3Final Round: Trading Case + Market Making
PEAK6's final: half-day Zoom with leadership and future teammates; software finalists report live coding (parsing a CSV or quote feed).
Candidates report back-to-back trader and manager interviews (probability, brainteasers, mental math), a trading case study and market making. In one account you quote the sum of six dice rolled one at a time, updating as they land and tracking position and P&L (reported); others play as a group. Rehearse: Make a Market, card market table, market-making guide, options Greeks guide.
- Expect dice and coin markets, a card betting game and a structured case, plus fit questions.
How to prepare
- Track your position every trade. Losing count of inventory and P&L is the most common way to look shaky in a dice market.
- Quote around expected value. Six dice average 21; tighten the spread as each die is revealed and the variance shrinks.
- Know basic options intuition. Put-call parity and what delta and vega mean will help in a trading case at an options firm.
4Leadership + Fit Conversations
Several reviewers say PEAK6 weights team fit heavily, with more than one behavioral conversation and time with leadership during the final. PEAK6 says it may take up to two weeks to share a decision. Prepare with behavioral questions for trading firms and questions to ask your interviewers.
How to prepare
- Show coachability. PEAK6 trains new traders from scratch, so learning fast matters more than knowing options already.
- Bring examples of taking risk. Games, competitions or projects where you sized a bet and owned the outcome land well.
- Ask about the training path. The Series 57 timeline and desk rotations are good, specific questions.
Full Leadership + Fit Conversations guide →Practice this round →
Practice the PEAK6 rounds in order
Each round in the PEAK6 funnel has its own practice set, with worked solutions and progress tracking. A free account saves your progress across rounds.
A 4-week PEAK6 prep plan
Built from the order of PEAK6's rounds and the topics in each round's practice set. Compress it if your first interview is sooner.
| When | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Foundations | Review brain teasers, the topics that dominate PEAK6's practice sets. Start with Probability course. Work the easy and medium questions in the PEAK6 question set. |
| Week 2 | Early rounds: Online Assessment and First Interview | Practice brain teasers under time pressure. Add a daily mental-math drill. Talk every answer through out loud; interviewers score the reasoning. |
| Week 3 | Later rounds: Final Round and Leadership + Fit Conversations | Move to the harder final-round topics. Rehearse quoting markets with the Make a Market game and read the market-making game guide. Do timed coding sessions in your interview language. Read how quant superdays work. |
| Week 4 | Rehearse the full loop | Run each practice round in order, redo the questions you missed, and prepare two project stories plus a specific answer to "why PEAK6?" (see behavioral questions at trading firms). |
PEAK6 teams and what their interviews test
Campus hiring at PEAK6 Capital Management is trading-led: a new-grad Trading Associate program, a nine-week trading internship for women-identifying juniors, and a one-week Trading Bootcamp for juniors, all in Chicago. Software engineering interns and engineers are also hired. Quant Researcher and Quant Developer openings have appeared as experienced hires in Chicago or Austin.
| Tracks | What it does | What its interviews test |
|---|---|---|
| Trading Associate (new grad) Trader | An 18-month training program for graduating seniors: options theory, the Series 57 licence within about two months, then portfolio responsibility and possible rotations. | Timed quant and logic assessment, a one-hour Zoom with technical and behavioral questions, then a half-day final with leadership and the team. |
| Trading internships and Bootcamp Trading Intern | Trading Experience for Women+ and the one-week Trading Bootcamp (May or August sessions) covering equity options and a hands-on trading project. | Same shape as the new-grad loop per PEAK6; candidates report mental math, probability and estimation with a trader. |
| Quant Researcher / Quant Developer Quant | Turning trader intuition into models: derivatives pricing, volatility surface models, signals and risk measures, tested by simulation and backtesting, in Python. | Not well documented publicly; postings ask for a strong maths or statistics background and Python. Expect probability and options intuition plus modelling discussion. |
| Software Engineer Engineer | Trading systems and tooling built alongside traders. | Candidates report a HackerRank test (about two problems), a video technical round, then a final with live coding and some mental math. |
About PEAK6
| Firm type | Proprietary options market maker (PEAK6 Capital Management) |
|---|---|
| Trading style | Liquidity provision in US-listed equity options · Options inventory held from days to years (per PEAK6) |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL (trading desk); PEAK6 group HQ in Austin, TX since 2025 |
| Other offices | Austin, TX, New York |
| Assets under management | Private (trades its own capital) |
| Decision after the final | Up to about two weeks |
Founded 1997 by two options traders
Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer started PEAK6 in Chicago in 1997 after trading options at O'Connor and Associates. The group later built the OptionsHouse retail broker and in 2012 bought the clearing business that became Apex Fintech Solutions. Apex, Poker Power, Zogo, We Insure and other PEAK6 companies are separate businesses with their own hiring; this page covers the options trading side, PEAK6 Capital Management. The group moved its headquarters to Austin from January 2025, while the trading desk recruits for Chicago.
Culture
PEAK6 frames its culture around tenacity and radical honesty. Its campus programs lean on teaching: the Trading Associate role is an 18-month training program with the Series 57 licence taken within about two months, and the trading internships include option theory projects, risk-taking exercises and, per one posting, weekly poker sessions.
What the interviews feel like
PEAK6 lists a short official process: an assessment after you apply, a one-hour Zoom interview mixing technical and behavioral questions, then a half-day Zoom final with leadership and future teammates. Candidates add the detail: a timed test of quick math, probability, number patterns and logic, a trader who drills mental math, probability, expected value and estimation, and a final with several back-to-back conversations, a trading case and, in some reports, a dice market-making game. Several reviewers rate the technical bar as moderate next to other trading firms and say team fit is weighted heavily.
Practice for PEAK6 on QuantVault
Practice
Courses
Games and drills
Further reading
- How quant superdays work
- Market-making game interview guide
- Behavioral questions at trading firms
- Mental math for trading interviews
- Fermi estimation questions
- The quant interview process, explained
Similar firms to compare
Firms with a similar business and interview style. Many candidates interview at several of them in the same cycle.
Sources and how this guide is built
- Updated October 20, 2026; firm data last reviewed October 3, 2026.
- Round detail draws on 1 questions candidates report from PEAK6 interviews (the most recent report across all rounds is from Sep 2026). A separate curated PEAK6 question set of 1 problems collects the most useful practice for this firm.
- PEAK6's own pages: PEAK6 campus.
- Public candidate reports and outside interview guides are cross-checked against each other. Where they disagree the page says "reports differ"; details from a single source are marked as candidate reports.
- No actual interview questions are reproduced on this page. The questions, with worked solutions, are in the practice rounds.
PEAK6 interview FAQ
How many rounds are in the PEAK6 interview?
Candidates report 4 stages: Online Assessment, First Interview, Final Round, Leadership + Fit Conversations. The exact number varies by cycle and team.
Is there an online assessment at PEAK6?
Candidates report one: ~1 hr timed test after you apply; HackerRank coding for software roles (reported). PEAK6 follows every application with an assessment. Trading candidates report a timed test of arithmetic, probability, basic finance, number series and logic puzzles, about a minute per question; one report adds personality questions.
What happens in the PEAK6 final round?
Leadership + Fit Conversations (Part of the final; decision in about two weeks (per PEAK6)). Several reviewers say PEAK6 weights team fit heavily, with more than one behavioral conversation and time with leadership during the final. PEAK6 says it may take up to two weeks to share a decision.
How should I prepare for the PEAK6 interview?
Prepare round by round over about four weeks: foundations first, then the early rounds (Online Assessment, First Interview, Final Round), then the later rounds, then a full rehearsal. Each round has its own practice set on QuantVault.
What does PEAK6 do?
PEAK6 is a proprietary options market maker headquartered in Chicago, IL (trading desk); PEAK6 group HQ in Austin, TX since 2025. Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer started PEAK6 in Chicago in 1997 after trading options at O'Connor and Associates. The group later built the OptionsHouse retail broker and in 2012 bought the clearing business that became Apex Fintech Solutions.
Is the PEAK6 final on Zoom or in Chicago?
Both are reported. PEAK6 describes a half-day Zoom final, while some recent intern candidates had an in-person final in Chicago.
What market-making game does PEAK6 use?
A market on the sum of six dice, quoted as the dice are revealed one at a time.
Start preparing for PEAK6
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