Citadel Securities · Software engineer · New grad / intern & experienced
Recruiter Screen
Conversational recruiter call covering background, motivation, and level fit
What they actually ask
The question shapes this round uses. Larpy does not read these out. It builds each one from your own resume, because the generic version is the one you have already rehearsed.
- “Walk me through your resume and what you're working on right now.”
- “Why Citadel Securities specifically, and how do you think about it versus Citadel the hedge fund or other market makers and HFT firms?”
- “What are you looking for in your next role, and what is your timeline?”
- “Tell me about a technical project you are proud of.”
What this round is judged on
- Motivation · genuine, specific interest in Citadel Securities as a market maker
- Background fit · does experience map to the target level and track
- Communication · clear, concise self-presentation
- Logistics · timeline, location, and role alignment
Where this round sits
Citadel Securities’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.
- 01Application / resume screenthis round
- 02Online assessment (OA)
- 03Technical phone screen
- 04Onsite / Superday
- 05Hiring decision / committee
What happens in each stage›
- Application / resume screen
- Recruiter and/or hiring-team screen of resume and background against the target level. SWE and Quant Research (QR) are distinct tracks with overlapping but different loops.
- Online assessment (OA)
- SWE: HackerRank (occasionally CodeSignal), typically 2-3 hard algorithmic problems, ~60-90 min, strong DS&A bar. QR: heavier probability/statistics/math plus some Python. Format and vendor vary by cycle and campus.
- Technical phone screen
- One live coding interview (CodePair-style shared editor), ~45-60 min, DS&A focused for SWE. QR phone screens skew to probability, statistics, brainteasers, mental math and light coding.
- Onsite / Superday
- Multiple back-to-back rounds. SWE commonly: the signature 'evolving problem' coding round, one or more DS&A rounds, a systems / low-level fundamentals conversation (C++ / memory / concurrency), and a behavioral / motivation round. QR: probability & statistics deep-dive, a Python/data coding round, a stats/ML modeling conversation, and a fit round.
- Hiring decision / committee
- Debrief and hiring decision. Bar is high; strong DS&A and clean, adaptable design are consistently emphasized.
Sources
Built from what Citadel Securities publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.
Official hiring process, tracks (SWE vs Quant Research), and values/competency language
New-grad/intern loop structure, online assessment, and Superday format
Level ladder and interview-process signal for SWE
Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.
Other Citadel Securities rounds
- Technical Phone Screen (Live Coding)
One problem in a shared editor with the interviewer watching you think
- Onsite: Evolving-Problem Round
Citadel Securities' signature SWE round
- Onsite: Algorithms / Data Structures
A pure LeetCode medium-to-hard problem-solving round
- Onsite: Systems & Low-Level Fundamentals
A spoken deep-dive on low-level fundamentals, C++-flavored given Citadel Securities' low-latency stack
- Onsite: Behavioral & Motivation
A shorter fit conversation on how you work, handle ambiguity, and why this firm
- QR: Probability, Statistics & Brainteasers
Rapid-fire spoken probability and statistics with escalating follow-ups and variations
- QR: Python & Data Coding
Live Python focused on numerical reasoning and data handling rather than tricky algorithms
- QR: Statistics & Modeling Conversation
An open-ended spoken modeling discussion: regression, model selection, validation, and an end-to-end research case