What to expect in a bp Quantitative Analyst interview: a screening stage, practical Python and time-series questions, and a market-style trading simulation, plus related bp trading and analytics reports.
$143K
Avg. Base Comp
$190K
Avg. Total Comp
3-4 rounds
Typical Rounds
1-2 months
Process Length
Candidates describe bp's quantitative interviews as practical rather than theoretical. The two reports tied directly to the quant role point in different directions, so prepare for both.
One candidate reports a trading simulation. After psychometric tests and HireVue-style questions, applicants sat in a room with laptops and decided whether to go long or short on oil as headlines flashed roughly every minute, adjusting position size up to a limit. The candidate felt the test was about calm decisions under uncertainty, not a single right answer.
Another candidate, whose process ran about two months with two-week gaps, describes an HR conversation, an introduction round, and then short technical rounds in Python. These covered a datetime problem (return the next Friday), grouping time-series sales data by month and handling gaps, and splitting a spaceless string into every valid word combination. A personality assessment followed. Scheduling emails did not say which rounds would be technical, so be ready to code with little warning.
Reports from adjacent bp roles suggest a commercial flavor. A trading analyst describes a long case study on arbitrage, WTI and gas price moves, and the costs and logistics of executing a physical trade. An intern describes three business cases on supply and demand and pipeline flows, where interviewers cared most about the reasoning. A financial analyst describes asset valuation cases with two interviewers.
So review Python grouping and datetime handling, string-parsing problems, and basic commodity economics. Practice explaining your assumptions aloud. Two of the five candidates received offers, both in adjacent trading roles.
Synthesized from 5 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Bp process.
The first part of the application process was pretty standard: psychometric tests, a few quick quizzes, and the usual online HireVue-style questions, nothing too out of the ordinary. What stood out to me was the second part, which was a trading simulation rather than a traditional interview. They put us in a room with other applicants and gave each of us our own laptop to play a game where you had to decide whether to go long or short on a commodity based on news headlines that flashed across the screen every minute or so. In my case it was oil. You could adjust your position in different sizes, up to a limit, so it felt less like a pure quiz and more like a test of how quickly you could process information and react under pressure.
It was definitely more unusual than I expected for a quantitative analyst role, and the main challenge was staying calm while the headlines kept changing. I didn’t get the sense that they were looking for one perfect answer so much as watching how you handled uncertainty and made decisions in real time. I didn’t receive an offer, but the process itself was memorable because it was so different from the standard technical screen. If you’re preparing for something similar, I’d focus less on memorizing formulas and more on practicing fast judgment in a market-style simulation, especially how you’d size positions and respond to new information quickly.
Prep tip from this candidate
Practice making quick long/short decisions from fast-moving headlines and think through how you would size positions under a limit. The key part of the process was reacting calmly to new information in a trading simulation, not solving a traditional technical problem.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Bp
Create top_ads with the top 3 ads and return the row counts for inner, left, right, and cross joins with ads
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Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report starting with online steps. The quant-role report describes psychometric tests, short quizzes and HireVue-style questions. Adjacent bp roles describe a similar online assessment or video interview that asks about motivation, values and fit with bp. Expect to explain why bp and why this role.
One quant candidate describes an HR conversation followed by an introduction round before any technical work. Scheduling emails may not explain what each round covers, so it is sensible to prepare for a technical question to appear in any early call, even a short one.
One quant candidate reports a roughly five-minute datetime problem (return the next Friday), a time-series task grouping sales data by month and handling gaps, and a second round that split a spaceless string into every valid word combination. Be ready for practical data handling in Python, though other roles may differ.
A quant candidate describes a group simulation where they went long or short on oil from fast headlines, with position sizes up to a limit. A trading analyst describes a two-hour case on arbitrage, WTI and gas prices, and physical trade costs. Interviewers may care most about your reasoning and composure.
Candidates report different endings. The quant candidate with four rounds took a personality assessment and then heard nothing for a month before the status turned red. A trading analyst was told a group interview typically comes third but received an offer first. A financial analyst was told there are three stages in total.
