On Monday, March 25, 2024, the Center for Career Education (CCE) hosted Five Rings for a Design Your Next Steps workshop on Tech Interview Tips: Software Development.
Five Rings is a quantitative proprietary trading firm founded with a vision of combining strategy, innovation, and technology to succeed in today’s global markets. Five Rings trades in various domestic and international markets, both established and esoteric.
ICYMI, here are some key takeaways from the workshop:
What is it like to work at Five Rings?
Five Rings was described to students as having a “flat-structure”. This means that the company does not stop people from exploring their interests in different projects and advancing within the organization. Employees can choose what projects they would like to work on and will work on that project until completion before moving to another project. The company has a strong mentorship program that allows new employees to connect with tenured members of the organization and receive continuous support during their employment.
Interview Process
Five Rings has a generalist recruitment approach where they do not look for students to have a specific finance or trading background, or are considering the best “fit” for a student on a project or team. The interviews are developer-led and consist of introductions, discussing your skills and experiences, and a technical component.
During their interview, Five Rings is looking for students who possess the fundamental skills and knowledge of the industry, are problem-solvers, and can work collaboratively. When asked about the increased interest in machine learning and AI and whether that will come up in an interview, Five Rings assured students that machine learning and AI questions will not be a part of the technical interviews. The Five Rings team also noted that students will be given a heads-up if coding will be a part of the interview (no surprises!).
Note: During the presentation, it was noted that hiring teams may consider a student’s extracurriculars as a deciding factor when it comes down to applicants with similar backgrounds. The team emphasized the importance of diversifying your experiences and looking to get involved on campus or in the community.
2025 Micro Internships
Five Rings has three Micro Internships available for Winter 2025. Check out the postings below!
Quantitative Research Analyst — Micro Intern 2025
Software Developer — Micro Intern 2025
Quantitative Trader — Micro Intern 2025
CCE Resources
Check out our resources on Preparing for a Software or Technical Interview and Sample Technical Interview Questions to help familiarize yourself with the process and prepare for technical interviews.
Make an appointment with a career counselor for support with your job and internship search, or to discuss strategies for discerning whether an organization has a culture of diversity and inclusion. You can also stop by our Quick Questions drop-in hours, in-person and virtually, Monday through Friday from 2:00 pm — 4:00 pm. No appointment is necessary.
Visit our events page to check out our upcoming DYNS workshops, career fairs, and industry showcases! Design Your Next Steps (DYNS) is a series of CCE and employer workshops that will help you gain practical skills for engagement with employers and alumni, and guide you through the internship/job and graduate school search process.
