Why this question matters
Akuna Capital uses a Interview in its 2027 recruiting process, and it cuts a large share of candidates who meet the questions cold. This prompt tests recognising that trailing zeros come from factors of ten rather than expanding a factorial. Candidates who have rehearsed the underlying decision or calculation can spend their limited time showing judgement instead of decoding the task.
The real question
Here is the wording shown to candidates:
Find the number 0s are at the end of 100!. For example, 14! = 87178291200, has two zeros at the end.
How answers lose points
- Trying to calculate 100!: The full number is unnecessary and creates avoidable arithmetic risk.
- Counting every even number: A trailing zero needs a factor of ten, not merely a factor of two.
- Pairing twos and fives one by one: Factors of two are abundant, so the limiting factor is five.
- Forgetting repeated factors: Multiples of twenty-five contribute an extra factor of five.
- Giving only the option: A quantitative interview still rewards a compact derivation.
How a strong answer works
- State that every trailing zero is produced by a factor pair of two and five.
- Explain that factorials contain more twos than fives, so only the factors of five need to be counted.
- Count the multiples of five up to one hundred, then add the extra factors contributed by multiples of twenty-five.
- Show the arithmetic clearly and connect the total directly to the number of trailing zeros.
- Use the example in the prompt as a quick sanity check on the method.
The response should make the logic visible in order. Each important step needs a reason, and the final line should connect the result back to what the prompt actually asks.
Get the complete set
OfferTutoring keeps the complete Akuna Capital interview question set together. This is only one prompt, and seeing the full range beforehand is more useful than trying to improvise each pattern for the first time during the assessment.
