I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Jane Street in Sept 2016
Interview
Applied through their internet page, got a response almost immediately and scheduled a phone interview. No pen or paper, everything must be calculated by heart. The interviewer was really nice, not helpful, but pleasant to talk to and he explained each problem in detail. It lasted for half an hour and it consisted of only basic probability questions. At the and I got a chance to ask the interviewer few questions about the company.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
You have a standard deck of 52 cards. I draw a card and tell you I drew hearts. Now you draw a card from the cards that are remaining. What is the probability that you will also draw a heart?
Again, you have a standard deck of 52 cards. I draw 13 cards and tell you I drew exactly 5 hearts. Now you draw 13 cards from the cards that are remaining. What is the expected number of hearts you will draw?
The process was structured and intellectually challenging. It typically involves an initial recruiter screen, followed by probability, mental math, expected value, and game-style problem-solving interviews. Interviewers focus more on reasoning, communication, and adapting to feedback than memorized answers.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
You have two opaque boxes in front of you. At each turn, you may choose one of two actions:
Place: put one coin into one of the two boxes, chosen uniformly at random.
Take: choose one of the two boxes uniformly at random, take all the coins inside, and empty that box.
You play for exactly 100 turns. Your goal is to maximize the expected number of coins you collect.
What is your optimal strategy?
Several phone calls to go to the final round. The phone calls consists of mathematical, probabilistic brain teasers which was not that hard for a mathematics major. Final round was to harsh for me, strong mentality is required
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Jane Street (New York, NY) in Apr 2026
Interview
Lots of expectation/probability questions. Make sure to study game-theory type question that involves expectations. Specific concepts in stochastic processes don't seem that important. The first two were relatively easy. Just make sure to ask a question if there is any uncertainty