IMC Trading Interview Guide: Amsterdam Options Market Making, Trading Challenge, Quant Tech

IMC Trading Interview Guide: Amsterdam Options Market Making, Trading Challenge, and Quant Tech Stack

IMC Trading (formerly International Marketmakers Combination) is one of Europe’s largest proprietary trading firms, founded in Amsterdam in 1989. With offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Sydney, Mumbai, and Hong Kong, IMC trades its own capital across listed options, equities, ETFs, and structured products. For quant-trading candidates, IMC sits firmly in the top tier alongside Optiver, SIG, Akuna, and Jane Street — high pay, intellectually rigorous interview process, and a distinctive tech-driven trading culture.

What IMC Does

IMC is a proprietary market maker focused on options and equities across global exchanges. Profit comes from continuously providing liquidity (bid and offer quotes) and capturing spread on flow while managing the risks options inventory creates: directional, volatility, time decay, correlation.

Distinctive features:

Amsterdam HQ: like Optiver and Flow Traders, IMC is part of the Dutch options market-making heritage. Amsterdam offices are major hubs.
Strong tech investment: IMC has built deep in-house technology across trading systems, market data, and analytics. C++ and Python are both used heavily.
Mid-size scale: ~1000+ employees globally; smaller than Optiver but larger than Akuna. Comparable to SIG in size and product mix.
Trading challenge / “Prosperity” competition: IMC has run public trading challenges that double as recruiting tools, attracting strong quantitative talent globally.

Roles IMC Hires For

Trader

Quotes markets on a desk, manages risk, develops strategies. New-graduate traders enter through a structured training program in Amsterdam, Chicago, or Sydney; they spend months on options theory, market microstructure, and IMC’s systems before joining a live desk.

Quantitative Researcher

Builds models, signals, and analytics for trading desks. Strong math, stats, ML background expected. PhD-track candidates often start here.

Software Engineer

Builds trading systems, exchange connectivity, market data infrastructure, internal tooling, low-latency components. C++ and Python both heavily used; Java for some legacy systems. Latency matters but IMC is not as latency-extreme as HRT or Jump.

Internships

Trader, quant researcher, and SWE internship programs in Amsterdam and Chicago. Strong conversion to full-time for top performers.

IMC Interview Process

Round 1: Online assessment

For traders: probability and quantitative reasoning, sometimes mental-math drills. For SWE / quant: a coding challenge plus quantitative reasoning. The IMC Trading Challenge / Prosperity is a separate offering; some candidates first interact with IMC through that.

Round 2: First-round interview

Phone or video, 30–45 minutes. For traders: probability brainteasers, expected-value problems, motivation discussion. For SWE: a coding question plus discussion of past projects.

Round 3: Technical interview

For traders: deeper market-making round, more brainteasers, options-related questions. For SWE: harder coding (data structures, algorithms), systems design, language-specific questions (C++ memory model, Python performance, etc.). For quants: regression, time series, statistical reasoning, project deep-dives.

Round 4: Superday / Trading Floor Visit

On-site (or virtual on-site) at IMC’s office (Amsterdam, Chicago, or Sydney depending on role). Multiple back-to-back interviews, a trading game / market-making simulation for traders, more coding for SWE candidates. Lunch with current employees, behavioral conversations, sometimes a presentation.

Round 5: Final / decision

Senior partner review. Decision typically within 1–2 weeks.

What IMC Tests For

Probability and EV reasoning (traders + quants)

Standard quant-finance probability stack. Expect multiple problems across rounds.

Market-making intuition (traders)

Two-sided quotes, inventory management, information updating. Same core skill as Optiver, SIG, Akuna. See Market-Making Interview Questions.

Options understanding (traders + quants)

Calls, puts, put-call parity, Greeks intuition (delta, gamma, vega, theta), implied volatility. You should understand inputs and economic meaning, not just memorize formulas. See Options Pricing for Quant Interviews.

Coding (for SWE)

Standard data structures and algorithms in C++ or Python. IMC’s bar is high but not at the IOI/ACM extreme of HRT. Systems-design conversations are realistic and practical, focused on trading-system concerns: latency budgets, fault tolerance, capacity planning.

Cultural fit

IMC’s culture combines Dutch directness with a tech-forward orientation. Less marketing-heavy than American banks, less academic than Two Sigma, less rigid than Optiver. Candidates who fit are direct, technically curious, and comfortable with markets.

Preparation Strategy

Months -3 to -2 (foundations)

Probability classics from Zhou’s “green book.” For SWE: review C++ or Python deeply, plus data structures and algorithms. For traders: practice mental math drills.

Months -2 to -1 (track-specific)

For traders: market-making mock rounds; options basics from Hull. For SWE: systems-design fundamentals, latency-conscious coding patterns. For quants: regression, time-series, project deep-dives.

Month -1 (mock interviews)

Mock superdays. Behavioral prep: why IMC specifically, why Amsterdam / Chicago / Sydney if relevant, why options trading.

IMC vs Other Firms

IMC vs Optiver: Both Amsterdam-rooted options market makers. Optiver is larger and somewhat more institutional; IMC is more engineering-driven and has a slightly faster cultural cadence. Compensation comparable.

IMC vs Akuna: Both mid-sized options shops. IMC is larger and more global; Akuna is smaller and more Python-driven. Compensation comparable.

IMC vs SIG: SIG has the poker / decision-theory cultural angle; IMC is more straightforwardly options-focused with a strong tech orientation. Both in similar compensation tier.

IMC vs Jane Street: Jane Street has broader product mix (ETFs, fixed income) and OCaml-driven engineering culture; IMC is more options-focused with C++/Python stack. Both top-tier.

Compensation

New-graduate trader compensation lands $250,000–$400,000 first-year (base + sign-on + first-year bonus), with strong upside in years 2+. SWE compensation is competitive: $200,000–$320,000 first-year. Quant researcher compensation similar to SWE at entry, somewhat higher at senior levels. Bonuses are tied to firm and desk performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the IMC Prosperity / Trading Challenge?

IMC has run public trading challenges, sometimes branded “Prosperity,” that simulate market making and trading scenarios with prize money for top performers. The challenges double as recruiting tools: strong performers get fast-tracked into IMC’s interview pipeline. Participating is a great way to demonstrate trading aptitude before formally applying. Watch for announcements on IMC’s careers page or competitive trading communities.

How does IMC compare to Optiver, given both are Amsterdam-based?

Both are top-tier options market makers with Dutch trading-floor heritage. Optiver is larger (several thousand employees), more institutional, and has a more globally distributed footprint. IMC is mid-sized (~1000+), more engineering-driven, and arguably nimbler in adopting new technology. Compensation is comparable. The interview processes are similar. Many candidates apply to both; choice often comes down to specific desk fit and cultural feel.

How important is options knowledge before interviewing?

You should understand calls, puts, put-call parity, the basic Greeks (delta, gamma, vega, theta), and what implied volatility represents. You don’t need to derive Black-Scholes; you need to discuss inputs and economic meaning intelligently. Hull’s Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives covers this; the early chapters are sufficient for interview prep. IMC’s interview won’t quiz you on the Black-Scholes formula but will probe whether you understand what an option is worth and why.

Where does IMC hire and how location-flexible are roles?

Amsterdam (HQ) is the largest office. Chicago is the major US presence. Sydney, Mumbai, and Hong Kong are significant Asia-Pacific offices. Trader roles are tied to specific offices; SWE has somewhat more flex. IMC does not generally offer remote work for trader-track roles. If you have a strong office preference, raise it early in recruiting.

What background does IMC hire from?

Quantitative disciplines: math, physics, computer science, statistics, engineering, economics. PhD candidates welcome in quant research; bachelor’s and master’s common in trader and SWE roles. Finance background not required — what matters is quantitative aptitude, technical skill, and demonstrated rigor. IMC actively recruits from competitive programming, math olympiad, and trading-competition backgrounds.