IMC Trading online assessment and interview format
Format guide IMC's trader OA is not a published 80-in-8. Candidates widely report a ~45-minute BrainsFirst NeurOlympics games battery. This page covers the public funnel and links to free practice for the later rounds that use math.
Why this page has no IMC simulator
Several prep blogs list conflicting IMC math papers (24 questions in 18 minutes, 20 in 30, 50 to 80 mixed items). The figures disagree with each other and with the most detailed public walkthroughs of the trader OA. IMC's own campus-recruiting article says the process starts with an online assessment but gives no question count. With a record this inconsistent, an "IMC 80-in-8" would be made up, so this page reports what candidates describe instead.
Stage 1 as publicly described
| Core OA (trader) | BrainsFirst NeurOlympics: 4 games, ~10 to 15 minutes each, ~45 minutes total. Scores accuracy, strategy, and speed with precision. No mental-math questions. |
|---|---|
| Saville aptitude | Numerical and diagrammatic sub-tests. Some candidates report it and others do not, so assume it depends on role, region, and intake. |
| India campus path | Reported as SHL-based instead of NeurOlympics, with campus and CGPA constraints. The Amsterdam trader write-ups do not apply to it. |
The rest of the trader funnel
- Recorded video interview: one-way, usually a couple of behavioural prompts plus one technical or probability question. No interviewer to give hints.
- Recruiter call: 15 to 30 minutes on motivation and logistics, occasionally with a short market-making or brainteaser question.
- Technical interview: brainteasers, probability, Fermi estimation, and a market-making game. Arithmetic speed matters here, even though the OA is games.
- Superday: rotating stations (trading simulator, quantitative, behavioural) plus time on a desk.
Free practice for the IMC interview rounds
80-in-8 mental math
Typed arithmetic with a −1 penalty. Builds calculation speed for IMC's interview rounds; it does not prepare you for NeurOlympics.
Skill drillProbability & EV
Dice, coins, cards, and expected value. Covers the technical interview, not the OA games.
Daily drillBrain teasers
Worked puzzles in the same families IMC interviewers are reported to use: probability, games, estimation.
Interview roundRobot Games
Play or pass a wager against its true EV. Solo practice for the decisions in a market-making game. It is not IMC's simulator.
EV judgmentRelated practice
The full list is on the free tests page.
Questions
Does IMC Trading use an 80-in-8 math test?
Not as the standard first OA for traders. Public candidate guides and IMC's own recruiting article say the process starts with an online assessment. For traders, that assessment is widely reported as BrainsFirst NeurOlympics: four neuroscience-based games of about 10 to 15 minutes each, roughly 45 minutes in total. Some roles, regions, and intakes also get a Saville numerical/diagrammatic paper; others do not.
What is NeurOlympics?
A vendor cognitive-games battery (BrainsFirst names IMC as a client). It builds a profile from accuracy, how you use the tools each game provides, and speed without loss of precision. It has no arithmetic questions, so 80-in-8 practice only partly prepares you for it.
Where does mental math come up at IMC?
In later rounds. Public reports place brainteasers, probability, Fermi estimation, and market-making games in the technical interview and Superday, where calculation speed still matters. Train arithmetic for those rounds. An 80-in-8 simulator is not IMC's OA.
Is the process the same in Amsterdam, Chicago, Sydney, and Mumbai?
No. Trader reports from Amsterdam, Chicago, and Sydney describe NeurOlympics plus a recorded video interview. Mumbai and India campus hiring is described as SHL-based, with campus-linked eligibility. Software engineering, FPGA, and quant research roles use other assessments. Check the role posting.
Is TradeMind affiliated with IMC?
No. This page is an independent summary of the publicly described process, with links to skill drills. It does not reproduce IMC's assessment or any vendor game.
TradeMind is an independent training tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by IMC Trading, BrainsFirst, or any other firm or vendor mentioned. This page summarises publicly available descriptions of IMC's hiring process for practice orientation only. Formats vary by role, region, and year. We do not reproduce NeurOlympics, Saville, or any other vendor assessment.