Breaking into top buy-side firms such as Millennium Management, WorldQuant, Citadel, or other systematic trading firms requires far more than textbook knowledge. Interviews typically test a candidate’s research intuition, statistical reasoning, alpha design ability, and understanding of real-world portfolio construction.
The Quant Insider Buy-Side Mock Interview Program is designed to simulate the actual interview environment used by leading hedge funds and quantitative trading firms. The goal is not just to test candidates, but to identify weaknesses, refine thinking frameworks, and prepare candidates for the expectations of systematic trading teams.
During the mock interview, candidates will be evaluated on areas commonly tested by buy-side firms, including:
The interview is structured to closely resemble the style of technical and research interviews used at hedge funds, including discussion-based problem solving and scenario-driven questions. Candidates will also receive detailed feedback on their thought process, research approach, and communication style - areas that are often decisive in buy-side hiring decisions.
This session is particularly valuable for candidates targeting roles such as:
Mentor Profile
Prakarsh Duhoon is a quantitative finance professional with 7.5+ years of experience in financial services, including 5.5+ years on the buy-side, specializing in systematic equity strategies.
His core expertise lies in mid-frequency alpha research, with typical holding periods ranging from 3 days to 2 months, spanning the full research lifecycle- from idea generation and feature engineering to backtesting, portfolio construction, and production deployment.
Prakarsh has held research roles at leading buy-side firms including Millennium Management and WorldQuant, where he developed long-short equity strategies across US and global markets using datasets such as:
In his last major role, he served as Director of WorldQuant BRAIN, managing the research, data, and technology verticals of the platform.
Alongside his professional work, Prakarsh actively mentors MFE students and early-career quants, helping them prepare for technical interviews and real-world buy-side research roles. He also runs a YouTube channel called The Quant Zone, focused on quant interview preparation, buy-side resume optimization, and brain-teaser style interview problems covering probability, statistics, and quantitative reasoning.
He holds a Master of Financial Engineering from UC Berkeley, is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and is CFA Level I & II qualified.