SIG Discovery Day Guide
Understand the qualifications and background you need to break into SIG's Discovery Day program.
Introduction
SIG's Discovery Day is a 2 day introductory program for first year students and second year students looking for early exposure to quantitative finance. As an attendee, you will understand the different career pathways at SIG, engage in various quantitative activities, and talk to many interesting professionals in the field.
This guide will take you through SIG's values and work culture, the prerequisites, and SIG's Discovery Day interview process. We will also provide you with resources and advice to help boost your application, with the aim of maximising your chances to secure admission into this program!
About SIG
Susquehanna International Group (SIG) is a global quantitative trading firm which trades many listed financial products and asset classes, with a focus on derivatives. SIG was founded in 1987, by a group of college students with a mission to find profit in the intersections of trading, technology, and research.
Fast forward to 2025 - SIG boasts an impressive 3000 employees in over 17 locations, including Philadelphia Area, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Stamford, West Palm Beach, Dublin, London, Ra'anana, Sydney, Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.
SIG values people who value reflection, growth, teamwork, and integrity. The firm places a heavy emphasis on good decision making, which is achieved through rigorous, analytical, and reflective approaches to problems. SIG also values perpetual curiousity and the challenging of ones own assumptions.
Your Background
SIG's Discovery Day application requires certain prerequisites, which must be displayed on your resume when you apply.
Once you meet these prerequisites, then you can start working on stand-out projects and accomplishments that will keep you competitive in the interview process, and maximise your chances of landing admission into the program.
Prerequisites
In order to be considered for an interview for SIG's Discovery Day program, you must have the following prerequisites:
- Are working toward a Bachelors, Masters, or PhD within any field
- Are in a pre-penultimate year of your degree
- Interest in working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment
To be competitive within the interview process, consider the following qualifications:
- Experience in competitive and strategic environments to a high/professional standard
- Advanced quantitative, logical, and problem solving skills
- High GPA within your degree
Please note that these are a few attributes that would be beneficial to improve your chances of landing a spot in SIG's Discovery Day. There are multiple other experiences/qualifications that will also be beneficial, but the qualities from these attributes are highly valued at pre-penultimate programs.
Your Application
SIG's Discovery Day application structure can be quite overwhelming for pre-penultimate students, especially those who have never applied to quantitative finance firms. Therefore, it is imperative to study the application process to get a competitive advantage (congrats if you are reading this!).
You will be asked to fill out a range of questions, including your degree, your GPA, your graduation date, your resume, and so on.
The main focus is on your resume, which will contain your:
- Career objectives and overview
- Area of study and academic performance
- Experience and projects
- Extracurricular/competitive achievements
- Characteristics and interests
It is important you structure your resume correctly. We recommend a platform such as resume.io to assist you with building your resume.
Round 1: Online Assessment
Your application will be screened, and if your meet the prerequisites, you will be sent an online assessment link. You will have a week to attempt this online assessment.
SIG's quantitative evaluation consists of 16 technical questions, with a time limit of 20 minutes. These questions require knowledge in mathematics, probability, and statistics.
Question types that will appear on SIG's quantitative evaluation include:
- Probability - simple probability, conditional probability (bayes theorem)
- Arithmetic - rates of change, quick maths, large multiplications
- Logic and Reasoning - logic prepositions
- Optimisation - finding the largest area / optimal solutions for equations
To prepare for SIG's quantitative evaluation, you can use our accurate SIG online assessment tool. To stay competitive, we recommend you score at least 13/16 on our practice test.
Round 2: HR/Technical Interview
If you progress to this round, then congratulations! You're one step closer to joining SIG in their Discovery Day program.
In the HR interview, you will discuss over the phone with a member of SIG's HR team (who has a technical background) your qualifications, background, and skills, as well as your motivations for applying and cultural fit with the firm.
The following are types of questions that you may encounter in an HR Interview:
1. General Questions
General questions regarding your motivations, values, personality, and work style allow the interviewer to further understand how you will integrate into the work environment.
You can see examples of these types of questions in our common general questions list.
2. Background Questions
These questions dive into your previous work experience, projects, and education to get a better understanding of how you qualify for the role.
To see these types of questions, view common background questions.
This interview section is very overlooked. Make sure you deeply understand the SIG's values and mission (as described above) before going into the interview.
Also, be confident and authentic, and prepare your experience and projects in an orgnaised and professional way.
*Please note that in some places, this second round interview is the final interview, which is merged with the technical interview. The details for this technical interview are displayed below.
Final Round: Technical Interview
You've made it so far! Congrats. The final round is perhaps the hardest round of SIG's research interview process.
This technical examination lasts 60-90 minutes, where you will be interviewed by an experienced quantitative trader at SIG. This interview relies on the application of logic and probability to solve difficult open-ended questions.
You will encounter questions similar to those shown below:
Brainteasers
These questions are similar to the initial screening brainteasers, except ramped up in difficulty. To succeed, you will have to think above and beyond traditional solutions to get these questions right.
We recommend going through our hard brainteaser questions, notably shattering glass, poisoned entrees, and flickering bulbs.
Probability Questions
These are also similar to the second round probability interview questions, except much harder. You will have to use expected value, conditional probability, statistics and logic to provide creative solutions to open-ended probability problems.
We recommend going through our probability questions, notably tennis game, greedy dice, and die optimisation.
Closing Remarks
The first step to acing SIG's Discovery Day Interview is understanding it's interview process holistically. By virtue of you reading this very line, you have already gained a competitive advantage over most applicants.
To gain an even further advantage in the interview process, it is imperative that you start preparing early and stay consistent in your preparation. Many applicants fail to delegate adequate time for interview preparation, or overlook interview preparation in general, leading to failing throughout the interview process.
For competitive positions, knowing how to interview is super important. Please understand, quantitative finance is a competitive industry, with only a select few that will fill in positions. To stand out, and maximise your chances of securing a seat at SIG's Discovery Day program, you must prepare early.
Further, if you feel that you're in too bad of a position to apply, the biggest mistake you can do is not apply! You miss all opportunities that you do not take.
Overall, participating in SIG's Discovery Day program is a fun, intriguing, and fulfilling event. With enough preparation and knowledge, you will be well-positioned to crack the interview process, and land the position.
