Mental Math Struggle

oozmax · 6/29/23

I am currently a rising junior at UC Berkeley. I am currently working in SWE and am aiming to break into Quant Trading this next summer as an intern.

I have just begun my preparation process (mainly reading and doing problems in the green book). I was told by many of my peers that I need to be good at mental math in order to land a job in QT. Is this true? I am naturally really bad at mental math and have tried zetamac but have shown virtually no signs of improvement. Is this it for me? What should I do to land an internship next summer?

Thank you all so much!

Prachin · 7/17/23

Hi, I am on the same path as you.Do you mind sharing the link for the green book.It would be of great help thanks.

Andy Nguyen · 7/17/23

Here you go
A Practical Guide To Quantitative Finance Interviews by Xinfeng Zhou

TheCheshireCat · 7/17/23

I started at around ~20 on zetamac. Then I reached ~60 in a few days, and peaked out at about 85 on zetamac after a few months (I could probably keep getting higher if I tried, but no point). So just keep giving it time and practice everyday!

How does this translate to performing on actual mental math test? I finished the optiver 80 in 8 test with a minute left (and then got rejected at HR round, but that's besides the point).

marcusaurelius · 7/17/23

TheCheshireCat said:
(and then got rejected at HR round

Out of curiosity, why do you think you got rejected out of the HR round? If not indiscrete...

Prachin · 7/18/23

Andy Nguyen said:
Here you go
A Practical Guide To Quantitative Finance Interviews by Xinfeng Zhou

Ah it’s this book, well aware of it.Saw everyone referring to it as the green book, so I thought I was missing out on the holy grail.Appreciate it.

TheCheshireCat · 7/18/23

marcusaurelius said:
Out of curiosity, why do you think you got rejected out of the HR round? If not indiscrete...

They just asked the most stupid questions I didn't care about, such as "what do you do to improve your people skills" etc. It's so dumb...

marcusaurelius · 7/18/23

TheCheshireCat said:
They just asked the most stupid questions I didn't care about, such as "what do you do to improve your people skills" etc. It's so dumb...

You mean HR being HR?

Seems like you insulted their perceived importance in the decision-making process ahaha

Mental Math Struggle

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