Basic Information

• Name: Aakash Gore
• Email: aakash.gore@iitb.ac.in
• Curriculum: Dual Degree
• Year of Study: 5th
• Company / University: Alpha Alternatives
• Role: Quantitative Researcher
• Duration: 25 Summer
• Mode: On-site
• Location: Dadar, Mumbai

Targeted Domain

Quantitative Research

How I Got This Internship

I found this through LinkedIn. I emailed my application through the firm’s ‘Contact Us’ page. I heard back in about a week, and was tasked with an assignment. I received an interview invite roughly after 2 weeks. Following this, a second interview was scheduled in a week or so. I received an offer in the next 3-4 days. Overall, it took about a month to complete the process.

I must have applied to about 20 other companies before hearing back.

Preparation Resources

‘A practical guide to quantitative finance interviews’ - Xinfeng Zho, BrainStellar, LeetCode

Tests and Interviews

For the test, I was provided with a commodity dataset, and was to develop a trading strategy. LLM usage is allowed, however must be documented thoroughly. Further, an additional report critiquing the strategy is needed.

The first round of interview is to check your coding proficiency. I was asked to code up a strategy live in Python, and some standard DSA problems. Python basics might also be asked.

The second interview was CV based. I was asked about my research projects, and had to explain both the problem, the current SOTA and my solution in depth.

I also had mentioned a purely mathematical project(option theory and pricing), and I was asked a lot of questions on this.

Handling Rejections

Rejections hard to deal with, yes, but they’re part and parcel of job applications. Talking to friends who are in the boat as you are helps.

Work / Project

Financial Regime Modelling, Optimizing Data Fetching Pipeline

Organizational Culture

It’s an asset management firm, with many divisions, including equities, commodities, fixed income, etc. I was a quant in the commodities branch. My peers were all experienced in finance, and super helpful and eager to solve any doubts I had. I experienced a very lively and positive work environment. The work hours could be long though. 11-12 hour work days are not uncommon.

Networking

Yes, I connected with the experience finance professionals in the field.

Overall Experience

I thoroughly enjoyed my intern experience. I got to learn a lot through the project I worked on, and got a taste of what it’s like to be working as a quant.

Would You Recommend?