Saksham Jain
Mathematics and computing
PPOs
Quadeye
Interviewed by:
Sanskriti Agrawal
Internships
PPOs
20th September 2020
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Why PPO?
Any tips for securing a PPO?
Summary of the specifics.
Importance of good relations within the company?
Criteria used while handing out PPOs?
How did you stand out among your colleagues?
Policies regarding PPOs?
I very much liked my work during the internship, so I was inclined to start my professional career with a quant role at a trading firm.
Also, because of the pandemic, there was a lot of uncertainty about the hiring this year. Hence, taking the PPO seemed to be a safe option.
Also, because of the pandemic, there was a lot of uncertainty about the hiring this year. Hence, taking the PPO seemed to be a safe option.
I would suggest to really invest yourself into the work you are doing. Do the work whole-heartedly, and enjoy the journey. Companies don’t expect a lot from the interns, they just want motivated people.
We had a total of three interviews, at an interval of about ten days. The main interview was the last one, in which the founding members of the company were asking questions about the approaches I had used to solve certain problems. I presented all my work through a ppt, and questions based on my work were asked. The PPOs were handed out nearly after a month.
In my case, I think it was not based on my relations with my seniors. Quant firms, in general, focus more on sincerity, performance, interest and self-motivation.
They judge people mostly on the basis of performance during the internship. I think interest and inclination in that particular field plays a really important role. In my case, they used to conduct regular interviews with company managers, to keep track of performance.
I think it was mostly my interest in trading. I had got myself a demat account opened during the beginning of lockdown (purely out of interest, and not thinking anything about the upcoming internship), and used to take small trades. This helped me learn the basics of the stock market, and developed my inclination towards trading at a professional level. They came to know about this during an interview (during the internship), and were really impressed.
I cannot really comment about this. In our batch of interns, the percentage of students who were handed out the PPOs was surprisingly very low. Many possible answers (to this question) could be inferred from this data.
