SIG
SIG Problem-Solving Assessment - Free Timed Practice
Modelled on Susquehanna's pre-resume Problem-Solving Assessment: 17 mixed probability and logic items drawn from a recycled bank where only the numbers change between candidates. Roughly three and a half minutes an item, so the pressure is depth rather than speed - the problems go further than anything on the Optiver battery.
Format
- 1 section · 17 items · about 60 minutes
- No negative marking - answer everything.
- No going back. Answer or skip, and the next item loads.
- Every sitting is generated fresh - a retake is a new paper.
Sections
- Problem-Solving Assessment - 17 items, 60 minutes, no negative marking. 17 probability and logic items in 60 minutes, drawn from 38 archetypes under fixed per-subject quotas, so the paper keeps its shape while the questions rotate.
What this sitting is
Modelled on Susquehanna's pre-resume Problem-Solving Assessment: 17 mixed probability and logic items drawn from a recycled bank where only the numbers change between candidates. Roughly three and a half minutes an item, so the pressure is depth rather than speed - the problems go further than anything on the Optiver battery.
1 section, 17 items, about 60 minutes end to end, on a clock that does not stop between sections. Every question is generated fresh, so sitting it twice gives you two different papers and there is nothing to memorise between attempts.
How it is marked
No section marks negatively. A wrong answer costs nothing beyond the mark you would have earned, so there is never a reason to leave an item blank.
There is no going back anywhere in the paper. You answer or skip, and the next item loads, so every decision to leave something is final at the moment you make it.
Section by section, with a worked example
Every example below is generated by Outcry, drawn from the same generator that section runs during the timed sitting. None of it is SIG's own material.
A. Problem-Solving Assessment
17 probability and logic items in 60 minutes, drawn from 38 archetypes under fixed per-subject quotas, so the paper keeps its shape while the questions rotate.
17 items in 60 minutes, which is about 3.5 minutes an item. No penalty for a wrong answer here, so answer everything.
Example 1
From a standard 52-card deck you are dealt two cards. What is the probability both are aces?
- 1/213
- 1/221
- 1/226
- 1/169
Answer 1/221
C(4,2)/C(52,2) = 6/1326 = 1/221. (Equivalently 4/52 × 3/51.)
Example 2
A bet wins $30 with probability 1/5 and otherwise loses your $10 stake. What is its expected value in dollars?
Answer -2
EV = (1/5)·30 − (4/5)·10 = -2.00.
Example 3
Two friends each arrive at a random time uniformly in the next 90 minutes, independently. What is the expected arrival time of whoever comes LAST, in minutes?
Answer 60
E[max of two uniforms] = 2/3 of the range = 60 minutes.
Common questions
- How long is SIG Problem-Solving Assessment?
- About 60 minutes across 1 section, 17 items in total, with the clock running continuously between them.
- Is there negative marking?
- No section marks negatively. A wrong answer costs nothing beyond the mark you would have earned, so there is never a reason to leave an item blank.
- Can I go back to an earlier question?
- There is no going back anywhere in the paper. You answer or skip, and the next item loads, so every decision to leave something is final at the moment you make it.
- Are the questions the same every time?
- No. Every item is generated from the archetype bank the format draws on, so the shape of the paper is fixed and the numbers are not. Two attempts are two different papers.
- Is this SIG's real assessment?
- No. Outcry is not affiliated with SIG and has no access to their questions. This sitting reproduces a publicly reported format - the item counts, the timings and the marking rules - and generates every question itself.
Outcry is not affiliated with SIG and has no access to their assessment content. This sitting reproduces a publicly reported format; every question is generated by Outcry.