DRW is a diversified trading firm founded in Chicago that trades across many asset classes, including digital assets through Cumberland. Engineering interviews cover coding, design and systems; trader interviews add probability and markets. This page covers what DRW 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 DRW builds and who it hires
DRW's engineers build trading platforms, risk systems, data infrastructure and research tools in C++, Java, Python and other languages, depending on the desk.
- Software engineers: trading, risk and data systems.
- Quantitative developers: research and models.
- Traders: markets across asset classes.
- Infrastructure engineers: reliability and performance.
What the process tends to look like
| Stage | What happens | How to prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Online assessment | Commonly reported: a coding assessment or technical phone screen first | Timed problems with hidden test cases; check edge cases before submitting |
| Phone or video interviews | Technical interviews on algorithms, design and your chosen language | Explain approach and complexity before coding |
| Final round | A final round with engineers and the team, often including design | 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.
Coding, design and probability
Practical design. Expect to design a service end to end, such as a risk aggregator or a trade capture system, with attention to correctness and recovery.
Language depth. Know your language well: memory model, concurrency and performance characteristics.
Probability for trading roles. Trader and research roles add expected value, conditional probability, quick estimation and betting or market-making games; even engineering candidates sometimes get a light version.
Representative problem types
These are the kinds of problems candidates describe, not a leaked question list. Practice the category, not the exact question.
- Design a real-time risk aggregation service.
- Reconcile two lists of trades and report differences.
- Implement an event-driven state machine for an order's lifecycle.
- Process a stream of prices with bounded memory.
- Probability questions on coins, dice or cards.
- Concurrency questions on producer and consumer patterns.
- Medium algorithm problems.
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 DRW 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 DRW 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 DRW interview?
C++, Java and Python are common; use the language the team lists, or your strongest language if the screen allows a choice.
Does DRW send an online assessment?
Candidates report either a coding assessment or a technical phone screen early on, depending on the role.
How should I prepare for DRW 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 DRW interviewers tend to follow a working solution with questions about cost and trade-offs.
Can I use AI tools in a DRW 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