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Jane Street Software Engineer Interview Guide

Understand the qualifications and background you need to become a software engineer at Jane Street.

Introduction

Software engineering at Jane Street is a unique and exhillerating career path. As a software engineer, you will contribute to the libraries and tools that are foundational to Jane Street's internal systems.

In this guide, we will take you through Jane Street's interview process, culture, and the prerequisites you must achieve to land a software engineering role. We will also provide you with resources and advice to help boost your application, and maximise your chances to break into software engineering.

Software Engineering at Jane Street

Jane Street is a quantitative trading firm and liquidity provider for various financial markets. In 1999, Jane Street was created by a small group of traders in the heart of New York. They used the intersections of maths and technology to trade derivatives and alternative investments on the New York Stock Exchange.

Fast forward to 2025 - Jane Street has employed over 2600 people across five global offices, in the likes of New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Amsterdam.

Jane Street preaches the importance of ethics, honesty, intellectual humility, responsible risk management, and collaboration. This promotes a work environment that is humble, open, and respectful to all voices. Such an environment is great for inspiring innovation and creativity.

As a software engineer at Jane Street, you will work in OCaml and Python with experienced software engineers on a diverse range of design projects, and building maintainable, high quality software that has a direct impact on Jane Street's software systems.

Your Background

Before applying to Jane Street, you must meet the following requirements:

A skilled programmer in any coding language
Passionate about technology and solutions
Strong problem solving skills applicable to software solutions
Unafraid to ask questions and learn from others

Jane Street doesn't require you to have a background in finance.

However, you can focus on developing particular qualities that Jane Street values in their software engineers. To be more competitive within the interview process, consider these attributes and qualifications:

Experience in competitive and strategic environments to a high/professional standard (e.g. sports, chess, poker, esports, and so on)
Strong programming projects that demonstrate your passion for quantitative domains and problem solving
Deep understanding of Data Structures and Algorithms
A competitive GPA and distinctive academic record
Experience in system design and system architecture
A solid understanding of fundamental statistics and probability concepts

Let it be known that these are a few attributes that would be beneficial to improve your chances of landing a software engineering position at Jane Street. There are multiple other experiences/qualifications that will also be beneficial, but the qualities from these attributes are highly sought out at proprietary trading firms like Jane Street.

If you would like to refresh or learn fundamental concepts in programming and probability, learn by doing with our courses in Python Programming for Traders, Data Structures and Algorithms, and Probability for Quantitative Finance.

Your Application and Screening

As previously discussed, Jane Street has a different outlook to talent acquisition compared to other firms. At Jane Street, the recruiting team goes through every application themselves, leaving nothing to AI resume scanners (like most firms do).

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.

You will also be asked a range of cover letter related questions, such as, "why would you like to work at Jane Street?", "what about software engineering interests you?", and other personal questions. Make sure your responses are genuine and well structured. Do NOT use AI to write your cover letters, as HR will notice this immediately, and bin your application.

Typically, a recruiter at Jane Street will get back to you regarding your application in a week, and will inform you if you have been chosen to progress to the next interview stage.

Round 1-3: Technical interviews

Jane Street has 3 technical interviews, which increase in difficulty successively. You will be interviewed by experienced software engineers throughout all 3 interviews. These questions can become quite tricky as you progress, but with the right preparation, you will become better at the problem solving process and maximise your chances of progressing to the next round.

Before we detail what types of questions may appear in the interviews, there are certain misconceptions about Jane Street's interview process that you must know to elevate your chances of passing them:

Mental Maths and Olympiad

Jane Street urges that software engineers do not need to perform mental math, math olympiad questions, or brainteasers and logic puzzles. Software engineering interviews are ONLY programming, in any language you like.

Using OCaml

Jane Street also does not give you extra consdierations if you use OCaml as your programming language of choice in their interviews; they will treat you like any other candidate. Showing you know OCaml will not help you in this interview.

You should use the programming language that you enjoy the most and know best. A lot of applicants try and learn OCaml 1-2 weeks before their interview thinking they will impress the interviewer, but this is a bad decision!

Second Chances

Jane Street is all about second chances - if you have been rejected in the past, this won't have a bearing in your future applications. Plenty of software engineers who were rejected the first time around applied again, and are now working at Jane Street!

With that being said, the number of Jane Street software engineer interviews vary based on the year you applied and your location. However, the interview structure remains similar, with early rounds being easier, and later rounds being harder. As such, the structure of each interview is as follows:

Programming Question

To begin any software engineering technical interview at Jane Street, you will be tasked with writing a programming solution for a particular problem. You will be given a timeframe, usually 5 minutes or so, to provide your logic, write, and execute your program.

To understand what types of questions may be asked in this round, view our programming questions, and filter for medium and hard. Further, make sure that you can explain your solutions clearly and concisely as you go through them.

Improving Your Code

Chances are, based on the nature of the questions they ask at Jane Street, you may not have found the solution with the best time / space complexity yet. You and the interviewer will discuss alternative solutions, whereby your interviewer will hint at particular errors/inefficiencies that may be in your code.

To ace this component of the interview, brush up or learn DSA concepts with our Data Structures and Algorithms course.

Continuous Development

You and your interviewer will repeat improving your code until you ineviatbly reach the most optimal solution. Keep in mind that the interviewer will not judge your interview on whether you got the question 100% right, but more your problem solving ability, and technological knowledge.

Overall, when you are going through these technical interviews, make sure you do the following:

Do not rush - take your time, make sure you have covered all bases, question your assumptions, and come to a solution.
Communicate effectively - This is perhaps the most important. You have to be able to express your thought process concisely and ffectvively to work as a software engineer at any proprietary trading firm.
Do not panic - If you don't find the best solution, or a solution at all, panicking is not a good idea! Stay patient and focused, and the solution will come to you naturally.

Final round: Superday

If you passed all three technical interviews, then you've done great so far!

The final round of Jane Street's interview process comprises of a full day of behavioural, technical, and project-based activities, monitored closely by expert technologists. You may take the superday online, or in their office at the nearest location.

As such, Jane Street's superday is split up in the following sections:

Behavioural Interview

In the behavioural interview, you will be interviewed by an HR member and an experienced software engineer. You will discuss various questions regarding your motivations for joining Jane Street, the work culture, your experiences, and any outstanding questions you have about the firm.

Common HR questions include:

General questions: 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.
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. view common background questions.

Also, make sure you ask questions about what the general projects you will work on as a software engineer, how you will integrate into the work environment, the work culture at Jane Street, and so on.

Technical Interview

This is interview is pretty much the exact same as the technical interviews that you have done previously, except in person for those atending superday in-office. Refer to the technical interview section again for these interviews.

Success!

If you made it to the end, then congratulations! You are now a software engineer at Jane Street. You worked hard, and deserve to celebrate!

Going beyond, in your first few weeks, make a good impression by demontrating your views in continuous learning, staying humble, displaying humility, and listening to the experienced software engineers. Be receptive to advice throughout your quantitative career!

Closing Remarks

If you are feeling quite overwhelmed by the complexity and length of the Jane Street's interview process, that is totally normal! By reading this, and understanding the interview process holistically, 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 their demise in the interview process.

For competitive jobs, interviewing is a must-have skill. Please understand, software engineering is a super competitive industry, with only a select few that will fill in positions. To stand out, and maximise your chances of securing your dream position, you must prepare early.

Further, if you feel that you're not up for a software engineering position at Jane Street, the biggest mistake you can do is not apply! You miss all opportunities you do not take. And understand that all successful software engineers have imposter syndrome at many points within their career.

Overall, becoming a software engineer at Jane Street is a highly fascinating and lucrative career path, and with enough preparation and knowledge, you will be well-positioned to crack the interview process, and become a software engineer yourself.