Akuna Capital is an options market maker founded in Chicago, with offices in other cities including Sydney. Its process is known for an online assessment early on, followed by technical interviews in C++ or Python, and options knowledge matters more here than at most firms. This page covers what Akuna Capital builds and who it hires, the process candidates commonly report, the technical depth the teams care about, representative problem types, what interviewers score, and a three-week prep plan.
What Akuna Capital builds and who it hires
Akuna builds its own trading technology for options markets, so engineers work on pricing, risk, market data and execution systems, with a strong focus on performance and correctness.
- Software engineers: C++ trading systems and Python tooling.
- Quantitative developers: pricing and risk models in code.
- Traders: options market making.
- Infrastructure engineers: low-latency systems and networks.
What the process tends to look like
| Stage | What happens | How to prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Online assessment | Commonly reported: a HackerRank-style online assessment for engineering roles | Timed problems with hidden test cases; check edge cases before submitting |
| Phone or video interviews | Technical interviews on C++ or Python, algorithms and systems | Explain approach and complexity before coding |
| Final round | A final round of several interviews with engineers and leads | Rehearse systems depth and one project deep dive |
Processes differ by team, level and office and change over time, so treat this as the common shape candidates report and confirm the specifics with your recruiter.
OA, C++ and options basics
Low-latency C++. Know object layout, virtual dispatch costs, templates versus runtime polymorphism, cache lines and false sharing, and why allocation on the hot path is avoided.
Options basics. You do not need to be a trader, but knowing what a call and a put are, what drives their prices and what the Greeks measure helps in conversations with the team.
Python for tooling. Python roles probe data handling, performance with vectorized code and clean design of tools traders use every day.
Representative problem types
These are the kinds of problems candidates describe, not a leaked question list. Practice the category, not the exact question.
- Implement an order book and match incoming orders.
- Compute the price of a simple option with a binomial tree.
- Aggregate risk across thousands of positions quickly.
- Design a market-data cache that many systems read.
- Explain move semantics and when copies happen.
- Parse and validate a trading message format.
- Medium algorithm problems with careful edge cases.
What interviewers score
- Correctness first: edge cases, overflow and off-by-one errors matter more here than elsewhere, because a bug costs money.
- Speed of reasoning: how quickly you reach a correct approach and how you check it.
- Low-level understanding: what your code costs in memory, cache misses and system calls.
- Clear thinking under pressure: saying what you are unsure of and how you would test it.
The behavioral side
Technical rounds decide most outcomes, but every Akuna Capital loop also asks about how you work. Prepare a short story for each of these, with a result and what you learned:
- A mistake you made and what you changed. Trading firms value people who own errors quickly, because errors cost money.
- A decision under uncertainty. Explain what you knew, what you did not, and how you updated.
- Why trading, and why this firm? Be specific about the problems that interest you: speed, markets, research or infrastructure.
Structures and sample answers for the common questions are in our software engineer behavioral answers guide.
A three-week prep plan
- Week 1: algorithms at speed: two medium or hard problems a day under a 30-minute limit, with complexity stated aloud.
- Week 2: systems depth: C++ memory and object layout, concurrency primitives, Linux and networking basics, plus probability practice if the role touches trading.
- Week 3: mixed mock interviews, one per day, and a review of every bug you made so you stop repeating them.
For other trading firms, compare Jane Street, Citadel and Two Sigma, and read the Citadel online assessment for a typical HackerRank screen.
Where CoPilot Interview fits
Most of a Akuna Capital loop is spoken: you explain an approach, defend a trade-off and talk through your past work. CoPilot Interview is an AI interview assistant whose free AI mock interview builds technical and behavioral questions from your résumé and the job description, reads them aloud and scores each spoken answer out of ten, so you can rehearse the explanation as well as the code. The free plan gives 15 minutes a day of live help in sessions of up to 15 minutes, with AI mock interviews included. Online assessments and many coding rounds forbid outside help, so practice beforehand and follow your employer's rules on the day.
Disclosure: CoPilot Interview is our product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
What programming language should I use in a Akuna Capital interview?
C++ for trading-system roles and Python for tooling and some quantitative development roles.
Does Akuna Capital send an online assessment?
Yes, commonly: engineering candidates report an online assessment early in the process. Trader candidates report separate math and options tests.
How should I prepare for Akuna Capital coding questions?
Practice the problem categories above under time limits, explain every solution out loud, and spend the last week on the team's domain. Review the C++ or language fundamentals the role lists, because Akuna Capital interviewers tend to follow a working solution with questions about cost and trade-offs.
Can I use AI tools in a Akuna Capital interview?
Only if the instructions you receive say so. Online assessments and live coding rounds generally forbid outside help, and some companies now state their AI policy in the invitation. Use AI to practice beforehand, and follow your employer's rules.
Practice this interview before the real one
The AI mock interview builds questions from your resume and the job description, reads them aloud and scores each spoken answer out of 10. Included on the free plan.
Start a mock interview