I applied online. I interviewed at BlackRock (San Francisco, CA) in Dec 2016
Interview
A virtual interview asking about behavior questions like why BlackRock, why this division; An online test of statistics and modeling; A video interview, asking mainly technical questions; A super day with 4 people, mainly about your experience and technical questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is PCA? What is multicollinearity? Two assets with different variance but same return, which one you want to incorporate in your portfolio?
Complete two LeetCode problems. After solving each, record a short video explaining your reasoning, algorithm choice, key trade-offs, and time and space complexities. Focus on clarity, concision, and structured communication.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The example sequence 011212201220200112 ... is constructed as follows: 1. The first element in the sequence is 0. 2. For each iteration, repeat the following action: take a copy of the entire current sequence, replace 0 with 1, 1 with 2, and 2 with 0, and place it at the end of the current sequence. E.g. 0 -> 01 -> 0112 -> 01121220 -> ... Create an algorithm which determines what number is at the Nth position in the sequence (using 0-based indexing).
I completed a rigorous hiring process that involved 4 virtual interviews and a take-home assignment. Later had 7 on-site rounds focused on assessing my skills in Statistics, Machine Learning, Operating Systems, and System Design.
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at BlackRock (London, England) in Dec 2022
Interview
On-site interview with 4 to 5 sessions involving a panel of 2 to 3 people each time. Each session runs for at least one hour so the whole process takes roughly a full working day.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Walk me through the standard linear model: its properties, its limitations and how they can be overcome.
How would you compute a vector norm in just one line in Python with Pandas ?