Questions that have appeared at Jane Street for an Engineering (Case Study) interview

1. System Design

Question: Explain how you would design a distributed system that is capable of handling high-frequency trading.

Question: Can you describe how you would create a system that could handle a sudden surge in volume, like during a flash crash?

2. Risk Management

Question: How would you design a system to identify and mitigate risks associated with high-frequency trading?

Question: Can you discuss a time when you identified a potential risk in a project you were working on and how you mitigated it?

3. Problem Solving

Question: Discuss a time when you had to solve a complex technical problem. What approach did you take and what was the result?

Question: Can you give an example of a creative solution you have developed to address a significant technical challenge?

4. Data Management

Question: How would you design a system to effectively manage large volumes of real-time data?

Question: Can you discuss a project where you had to deal with a significant amount of data? How did you ensure its security and integrity?

5. Scalability

Question: Can you explain how you would ensure that a system you designed could scale to handle increasing volumes of transactions?

Question: Have you ever had to improve the scalability of a system? If so, what approach did you take and what was the result?

6. Performance Optimization

Question: Can you discuss your approach to optimizing the performance of an existing system?

Question: Can you share an example of a time when you were able to significantly improve the performance of a system?

7. Team Collaboration

Question: Can you give an example of a time when you had to collaborate with a team to deliver a complex project?

Question: How do you handle disagreements or conflicts within a team, especially when it comes to technical decisions?

8. Project Management

Question: Can you discuss a project you managed from start to finish? What were the challenges and how did you overcome them?

Question: How do you prioritize tasks and manage your time when working on multiple projects simultaneously?

9. Software Development Lifecycle

Question: Can you explain your approach to the software development lifecycle in a previous project?

Question: What strategies do you use to ensure quality throughout the software development lifecycle?

10. Algorithm Design

Question: How do you approach designing an algorithm for a new feature or functionality?

Question: Can you provide an example of a time when you had to optimize an algorithm to improve performance?