Futures First Interview Experience: - Market Trainee Analyst Shivam Pandey Shares Tips & Tricks

Summary (Business-focused)

The speaker shares their experience becoming a Market Trainee Analyst at Future First, including the hiring funnel, the skills they were screened on, and the preparation playbook that helped them succeed.

Hiring / screening process (operational funnel)

• Campus entry timing: Future First visited the college in August.

• Test process (3 rounds total before final interview):

  • OA round (online assessment):
    • Section 1: Quant + speed maths + logical reasoning/puzzles (LR)
    • Section 2: Financial/market knowledge
  • GD round (elimination-style): Buzzer math round
    • Group size: 4–5
    • Candidates were shortlisted based on performance.

• Interview process (2 rounds):

  1. Round 1 (fit + fundamentals):
     • Personal/background questions
     • Speed maths questions
     • Motivation/aspiration (e.g., interest in studying MBA)
     • Trading experience treated as an advantage
     • Trading knowledge Q&A (examples mentioned):
       • Delta, Theta, Gamma
       • In-the-money (ITM), Out-of-the-money (OTM), Put/Call
     • Quick general knowledge examples:
       • Vice President of the USA
       • FX rate knowledge: Euro and Pound vs INR
  2. Round 2 (retention/availability check):
     • Assessed willingness to stay at the chosen location and commit for 1 year or 2 years
     • Rationale shared: trading work is high-pressure, and many hires reportedly leave after a few months
     • Speaker emphasized interest in Future First + trading to pass this filter

Strategy / leadership signal (what Future First optimized for)

The process indicates Future First prioritized:

• Quant + speed + reasoning ability
• Practical market/trading knowledge (especially options concepts)
• Commitment/retention, explicitly tested via willingness to stay for 1–2 years

Preparation playbook (actionable recommendations)

The speaker attributes success to their prep program (“MS/MS”, referenced as guiding and training them) plus a peer learning system (WhatsApp groups). Key elements include:

• Technical prep topics:
  • Machine learning, deep learning, SQL, Python
  • Broad data-analyst/product-ds capability (as described)
• Interview-style prep:
  • Puzzles, guesstimates, case studies
• Non-academic enablement:
  • Regular discussion and Q&A across multiple WhatsApp groups
• Execution tactics:
  • Multiple mock interviews: they reportedly did ~7–8 mock interviews before the live interview to build confidence

Metrics / KPIs / targets mentioned

• Commitment target (explicit): stay for 1 year or 2 years (tested in round 2)
• Batch sizing (operational detail): 14 students shortlisted for the Kolkata location (and similarly for other locations, per the speaker)
• Mock interview volume: 7–8 mock interviews

Concrete examples used in evaluation (as stated)

• Options/derivatives concepts: Delta, Theta, Gamma, ITM/OTM, Put/Call
• Finance basics: Euro/GBP to INR exchange rates
• General knowledge: Vice President of the USA
• Team-based elimination: math buzzer round in groups of 4–5

Presenters / sources

• Shivam Pandey (speaker; “Market Trainee Analyst Shivam Pandey”)