Citadel vs DE Shaw Interview Questions
Citadel lists 101 LeetCode interview questions while DE Shaw lists 105. They share 18 problems — 18% of Citadel's bank and 17% of DE Shaw's. Focus on the overlap first, then drill into 83 Citadel-only and 87 DE Shaw-only questions.
Overview
Preparation Strategy
Step 1 — Shared core: Solve the 18 overlapping problems first. These are the highest-yield questions for candidates interviewing at both Citadel and DE Shaw.
Step 2 — Company-specific depth: Add Citadel-specific problems like Longest Non-decreasing Subarray From Two Arrays, Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum, Minimum Knight Moves and DE Shaw-specific problems from the exclusive lists below.
Step 3 — Difficulty tuning: Citadel skews harder in our data. Budget extra time for Hard problems if you are targeting that company.
Difficulty Comparison
Top Shared Topics
18 Shared Questions
High-priority problems to practice for both Citadel and DE Shaw.
| Problem | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Sliding Window Maximum | Hard |
| LRU Cache | Medium |
| Longest String Chain | Medium |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock | Easy |
| Insert Delete GetRandom O(1) | Medium |
| Number of Islands | Medium |
| Trapping Rain Water | Hard |
| Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock II | Medium |
| Letter Combinations of a Phone Number | Medium |
| Median of Two Sorted Arrays | Hard |
| House Robber | Medium |
| Consecutive Numbers Sum | Hard |
| Asteroid Collision | Medium |
| Container With Most Water | Medium |
| Rotting Oranges | Medium |
| Reorganize String | Medium |
| Open the Lock | Medium |
| Koko Eating Bananas | Medium |
Unique to Citadel (83)
Problems in Citadel's list that do not appear at DE Shaw.
Unique to DE Shaw (87)
Problems in DE Shaw's list that do not appear at Citadel.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LeetCode questions do Citadel and DE Shaw share?
Citadel and DE Shaw share 18 LeetCode interview questions. 83 problems appear only in Citadel's list and 87 appear only in DE Shaw's list.
What topics overlap most between Citadel and DE Shaw?
The most common shared topics between Citadel and DE Shaw are Array (14 shared questions), Hash Table (6 shared questions), Dynamic Programming (5 shared questions), String (4 shared questions), Two Pointers (3 shared questions). Mastering these areas prepares you for both companies.
Which company asks harder LeetCode questions: Citadel or DE Shaw?
Citadel has 5 Easy, 60 Medium, and 36 Hard questions. DE Shaw has 11 Easy, 64 Medium, and 30 Hard questions. Citadel has a higher proportion of Hard problems in its interview set.
How should I prepare if interviewing at both Citadel and DE Shaw?
Start with the 18 shared problems since they cover what both companies ask most often. Then add 20 Citadel-specific and 20 DE Shaw-specific questions to round out your prep.