IMC Trading Market Making Interview: How to Practice
IMC Trading's market making interview is a live trading game: the interviewer runs a simulated market, you quote buy and sell prices, and your P&L is scored in real time. Candidates who have never played a market making game before freeze — practiced ones treat it like a familiar sport.
What the Market Making Interview Is
You're given a game — dice rolls, card draws, or a fictional asset — and asked to make two-sided markets: quote a bid and an ask, manage the resulting position as the interviewer trades against you, and update your prices as new information arrives. Rounds are short, the interviewer is adversarial, and your final P&L plus your reasoning are both evaluated.
What the Market Making Game Assesses
This is IMC's most direct test of trading instinct. It assesses fair value estimation (can you price the game correctly?), spread management (how wide do you go when you're uncertain?), inventory risk (do you panic when you're long or short?), and information updating (do you move your prices when the world changes?). Talking through your logic matters as much as the P&L — silent winners still fail if they can't explain their quotes.
How to Practice the Market Making Game
You can't think your way into this skill — you have to play. First, learn the theory: expected value pricing, adverse selection, and why your spread is your edge. Second, run practice games with a friend or against yourself: pick a random process, quote markets out loud, track imaginary P&L. Third, drill the commentary — narrate every quote change the way you would on a desk.
Our prep guide includes the exact market making game formats IMC Trading uses, the pricing frameworks that produce winning quotes, and practice scenarios with model play-by-play — so your first live game isn't your first game.
Nobody Wings a Trading Game Successfully
The market making interview exposes preparation instantly. Unpracticed candidates quote prices that make no sense, freeze when the interviewer hits their bid, and can't explain their own trades. For the 2027 intake, the candidates who pass have played dozens of practice rounds. If you haven't, the interviewer will know within two minutes.
FAQ
What games does IMC use in market making interviews? Dice games, card-based games, and abstract random processes — all designed so fair value is computable but not trivial.
Do I need to make money to pass? Positive P&L helps, but clear reasoning and disciplined quoting can pass even a flat round. Negative P&L with no logic fails.
How wide should my spread be? Wide enough to cover your uncertainty and adverse selection, tight enough to actually trade. Explain your choice out loud.
Can I practice alone? Yes — simulate games with dice or cards, quote markets aloud, and score yourself. A practice partner is better, but solo reps still build the instinct.
Preparing for IMC Trading's trading game? Our 2027 IMC Trading Assessment BrainsFirst Games NeurOlympics Exact Questions and Answers has the exact questions and answers — $79 one-time, instant download.
