Vault’s Verdict

Mostly satisfied

The firm’s culture, for the most part, receives high marks from insiders.  SIG’s web site describes the firm’s culture as “a flat corporate structure, absent of hierarchies.”  A recruiter in the firm’s Bala Cynwyd headquarters echoes this characterization, saying the firm has “as few levels of management as are necessary to run a business efficiently.”  As a consequence, the source finds the structure at SIG fosters “open communication and accessibility.” In addition, says the contact, “Merit-based advancement and an entrepreneurial spirit allow for creativity and success in terms of responsibility assumed at a very young age.”  SIG also claims to maintain a work environment that “allows employees to excel without being bogged down by red tape, job descriptions or other ‘corporate’ constraints.  This unrestrained atmosphere has attracted some of the smartest, most competitive and creative people to our doors.”  And according to the firm, those people stay at SIG, as “turnover is very low.”  But there are views from both sides; one insider admits the company is “not the place it was in the high-flying days of the tech boom.”

Dress at the firm is “casual” and one source who went in for an interview remembers, “The environment was so laid-back and casual, I had no idea the interviewer was a managing director until he left the room and someone told me.  He was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt.” 

Get the education

“There is great opportunity for learning,” reports one contact.  SIG has an education department that makes sure traders, tech support staff and analysts keep abreast of the latest developments in their field.  Senior traders take the lead in educating the staff, supplemented by professors brought in to teach seminars on derivative valuation, financial engineering or game theory.  Assistant traders are also enrolled in a two-week orientation on complex financial frameworks, after which they attend after-work sessions on similar topics, culminating in a 10-week course at Susquehanna headquarters. 

Rise to the occasion

While the firm admits it “spares no effort in pursuing candidates who meet our job requirements,” you’ll have to survive the interviews first.  “The interview process is one of the most rigorous on the Street,” says one contact.  “You will be grilled, and each round of questions gets progressively harder and harder.”  Insiders say that the interview process at SIG usually lasts two or three rounds.  Current students can expect an initial 30-minute, on-campus interview, while others may have a series of phone interviews before final rounds.  While one source says the firm asks “lots of personality and ‘Why do you want to be a trader?’ type questions,” another advises, “Just know probability.”  Also be aware that “the focus is largely placed on gambling, as it is central to the SIG trading philosophy.”

Overall, it seems that as the rounds progress, the interviews become increasingly quantitative.  For example, one contact who interviewed for an assistant trader position reported an “initial round over the phone with a member of the recruiting team” where he was “asked about general information from [his] resume and then some basic probability questions.”  The second round was another phone interview with a recruiter, but it was a “much more quantitative round” and the source’s final round “included much more math.”  That interview involved members of the recruiting team and a managing director.  Throughout the experience, the candidate found SIG to be “more concerned with skill set than experience in industry or grades,” and he “ended up accepting their offer because I was challenged by everyone I met and liked the emphasis on education and in-house training.”

Know when to hold ‘em

In October of 2007, SIG’s university recruiting department held its annual poker invitational tournament for potential job candidates in order to get a firsthand look at their critical thinking abilities through their betting habits.  Participants were applicants for SIG’s development programs in business and technology, and quite a few of the day’s invitees secured job offers.  The free 10-hour tournament paid the top finisher $25,000 in cash, $15,000 for second, and $10,000 for third.

Summer work

Interested candidates can also try their luck as interns.  In the summer of 2007, SIG rolled out a new, more formalized program, hiring 60 interns across many business and technology areas.  The 11-week program combines practical work experience, workshops, classroom training and social events, providing students entering their final year (or term) a thorough introduction to the organization.  As part of the new program, SIG introduced a full spring semester on-campus campaign focused on interviewing for the summer spots.

SIG has a history of including co-ops as part of its recruiting strategy, and recently begun adding more schools to its roster.  Many full-time hires began as co-ops, including the heads of some of the most high-profile desks and areas within the firm.