I just finished the Akuna Capital Trading Intern Online Assessment, and the biggest takeaway is how different it is from traditional coding-focused OAs. The entire process is fast-paced and highly demanding on reaction speed and mental agility. Below is a full, honest breakdown of the process and my experience, hopefully useful for anyone preparing for it.
Overall Impression: Logic and Speed Over Pure Coding
Unlike many companies that emphasize code implementation, Akuna’s OA focuses much more on logical reasoning, probability, mental math, and fast decision-making. There are also trading-related scenario questions that require flexible thinking. The core requirement is being fast and accurate. You’re expected to reach correct conclusions under heavy time pressure, with almost no room to pause. If it’s your first exposure, the pace can feel overwhelming without prior practice.
Three-Round OA Process Breakdown
Round 1: Mental Math & Sequence Patterns (Extreme Time Pressure)
Mental Math: You are given 8 minutes to complete 80 questions. Most involve large-number multiplication and division. That averages to about 32 seconds per question. There’s no time for written calculations — it’s pure mental math. This section tests raw calculation speed, accuracy, and focus.
Sequence Pattern Recognition: 30 questions in 16 minutes. You need to quickly identify numerical patterns and recurrence rules. This part heavily tests number sensitivity and reaction speed.
Round 2: Trading Game (Financial Context + Strategy Selection)
This section simulates a simplified trading decision environment.
The setup involves 26 letters split into two columns with fixed pairings
(e.g., a corresponds to n, b to o, etc.).
Each round provides a final outcome, and you must choose the optimal strategy (such as “+a -o”).
Rule interpretation is critical:
“+a” means you gain points if the final value is above the value associated with a, otherwise you lose points.
“-o” works in the opposite direction.
There are around 20 questions, each individually timed.
This section evaluates how quickly you can understand rules, adapt to them, and make optimal decisions under pressure —
very similar to real trading environments.
Round 3: HackerRank Coding (90 Minutes, 3 Questions)
This is the more conventional programming portion. One memorable problem was called “Playing the Markets”.
Problem Background: Mapmakers Anonymous participates in a navigation-related stock market. Stock prices update over the trading day, and you are given a sequence of buy/sell orders along with price updates.
Core Task: Implement a function that calculates the final profit or loss for each stock, based on initial prices, executed trades, and price updates. Only stocks with at least one executed order should be included in the output.
Implementation Approach:
- Initialize data structures: use hash maps to track current stock prices (starting from initial prices) and net profit/loss (starting at 0).
- Process orders and price updates in timestamp order.
- Order handling: distinguish between buy and sell orders and update P&L based on the current price.
- Price updates: update the stock’s current price immediately, while carefully handling edge cases such as zero-quantity orders.
The solution mainly relies on basic data structures like vector and unordered_map.
The key is not advanced algorithms, but clean logic, correct sequencing, and solid edge-case handling.
Preparation Tips
Practice mental math: The speed-math section is brutal if you rely purely on intuition. Regularly practice large-number multiplication and division to improve speed and accuracy.
Train probability and logic questions: Target logical reasoning and probability problems to reduce thinking time during the OA.
Get used to timed environments: Simulate exam conditions by using timers while practicing math or sequence problems. Comfort with time pressure makes a huge difference.
Focus on coding fundamentals: The HackerRank section isn’t extremely hard, but it strongly rewards clean logic, clear data handling, and careful edge-case consideration.
Final Thoughts
This OA is not “hard” in terms of deep technical knowledge. It’s hard because of the pace and the need to combine speed, accuracy, logic, and composure. With targeted preparation, the pass rate improves significantly. Hopefully this breakdown helps — feel free to reach out for prep support and materials via prep support.
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