[RK] role track
Risk (Market, Credit & Model Risk)
VaR, stress testing and counterparty exposure work exactly as risk desks set it in take-homes.
Candidates for market-risk, traded-risk, credit-risk and model-validation roles at banks and funds.
01 · concepts
Core concepts
Concise, interview-relevant theory the maths and intuition you are expected to reason from, not textbook length.
Market Risk & VaR
Market riskVaR and Expected Shortfall as quantiles of the loss distribution, the three estimation methods, and honest limits.
- Parametric, historical and Monte Carlo VaR
- Square-root-of-time scaling and diversification
- Expected Shortfall and coherence
Sensitivities, Greeks & Limits
SensitivitiesThe Greeks, DV01 and CS01 as first-order exposures, aggregated across a book and capped by limits.
- Turning a sensitivity into a P&L
- Gamma and convexity corrections
- Limits, utilisation and breaches
Credit & Counterparty Risk
Credit riskExpected loss from PD, LGD and EAD, derivatives exposure after netting, CVA and wrong-way risk.
- Expected loss decomposition
- Current and potential future exposure
- Netting, collateral and CVA
Stress Testing & Scenario Analysis
Stress testingRevaluing a book under large joint shocks, historical and reverse stress, and why stress complements VaR.
- Scenario revaluation and worst case
- Historical, hypothetical and reverse stress
- Correlation breakdown in a crisis
02 · coding guides
Practical coding guides
Practical, implementation-oriented guides for the tools each desk uses, with patterns you can apply directly.
Python for Risk
PYTHONNumPy and pandas patterns for VaR, Expected Shortfall, scaling and scenario revaluation.
- Parametric and historical VaR
- Expected Shortfall and the tail
- Scenario P&L from sensitivities
Excel for Risk
EXCELBuilding a clean, auditable VaR, stress and limit workbook the way a risk analyst would.
- PERCENTILE for VaR and ES
- A joint-shock stress grid
- A limit and utilisation dashboard
03 · take-home tasks
Downloadable take-home tasks
Downloadable, recruiter-style exercises with mark schemes the core of DeskPrep.
Portfolio VaR Calculator
Compute parametric and historical VaR for a multi-position book, decompose it into component VaR and quantify the diversification benefit.
Stress Test & Scenario Matrix
Revalue a book under prescribed factor shocks, build a scenario PnL grid and identify the worst case.
Credit Expected-Loss & Exposure
Size expected loss across a counterparty book, apply netting and flag limit breaches.
Every task includes a model solution and points-based mark scheme · unlocked with the Risk pack
Instantly-graded desk screens
Short interview screens you answer in the browser. Objective questions are auto-graded with instant feedback; judgement items come with a mark scheme so you know exactly where you stand.
Market Risk & VaR Screen
Parametric and historical VaR, square-root-of-time scaling, Expected Shortfall, coherence and diversification the objective core of a market-risk screen.
Credit & Counterparty Risk Screen
Expected loss, exposure, netting, wrong-way risk and CVA the objective core of a credit and counterparty-risk screen.
Risk Coding Round
The risk-quant Python round parametric VaR, square-root-of-time scaling, Expected Shortfall, diversification, expected loss and backtest exceptions, run and graded in the browser.
04 · interview playbook
Interview playbook
What interviewers actually test, the question styles to expect, common mistakes, and how to structure strong answers.
How Risk Interviews Are Structured
The market, credit and model-risk routes, and what each round is really testing.
- Which route you are interviewing for
- What the technical round tests
- Thinking like a second line of defence
Talking About VaR & Its Limits
The classic what-is-wrong-with-VaR question, answered like a risk manager.
- What VaR is and is not
- The four main limitations
- What you pair it with
Model Validation & Challenge
The model-risk mindset: independent challenge, assumptions and backtesting.
- The validation checklist
- Backtesting a risk model
- Independence and scepticism