HRT and Citadel Securities are the two electronic market makers that software engineers most often end up choosing between, and in 2026 the gap between them has closed. On paper the 2027 offers now favour HRT: a flat $300,000 US base for graduate software engineers against Citadel Securities' $235,000-$300,000 band, and in 2025 the two firms booked almost identical revenue ($12.3B vs $12.2B, Bloomberg). Pick HRT if you want a small engineering-led firm; pick Citadel Securities if you want a larger desk structure and can live with a non-compete.
The rest of this post is the evidence: firm results, the two interview loops, what is known about pay and contracts, and which profile should push harder where.
The 30-second verdict
| HRT (Hudson River Trading) | Citadel Securities | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Prop trading firm; algorithmic market making with its own capital | Market maker serving retail brokers and institutions across equities, options, rates, FX |
| 2025 trading revenue | Record $12.3B (Bloomberg, Jan 2026) | Record $12.2B (Bloomberg, Mar 2026) |
| 2026 so far | $6.4B Q1, record $11.4B Q2 (Crypto Briefing; Hedgeweek, Aug 2026) | Record $4.3B Q1 (Pulse 2, citing the FT, Jun 2026) |
| Size | Over 1,000 staff, 14 offices (Wikipedia, retrieved Oct 2026) | No standalone headcount published; parent Citadel group about 3,150 (Wikipedia, 2024) |
| 2027 grad SWE base (US) | $300,000 flat, plus sign-on and bonus | $235,000-$300,000, plus discretionary bonus |
| Intern weekly pay (US) | $5,800 (New York, Summer 2027) | $4,500-$5,800 |
| First gate | HackerRank OA, ~3 medium-to-hard problems | HackerRank OA, 2-3 medium problems (Jan 2026 report) |
| Rounds after the gate | 1-2 phone screens, ~5 onsite 1:1s | 45-min CoderPad, three 45-min interviews, team leadership interview, final review |
| Non-compete | Not published | Up to two years, often on junior quant and tech staff (eFinancialCareers, Mar 2024) |
| AI in interviews | Prohibited unless instructed (2027 posting) | Not stated in the sources reviewed |
The headline is the revenue row. Bloomberg's own December 2025 feature on HRT was titled "In the Shadow of Jane Street and Citadel Securities, Hudson River Mints Billions". A year on, HRT reported more trading revenue in the first half of 2026, about $17.8B per Crypto Briefing, than either firm made in all of 2025. Treat quarterly figures as reported leaks: neither firm publishes results. The direction is still clear.
Interviews: a harder OA vs a longer loop
Both firms open with a HackerRank test, and both let you work in C++ or Python. The difference is where the pressure sits.
HRT puts the difficulty up front. Tradermath's June 2026 guide describes the OA as about three problems at LeetCode medium to hard, often simulation or data-processing tasks with a trading flavour, such as filtering timestamped trades to compute profit. After that come one or two phone screens (one cited example is a poker-hand simulation in 45 minutes), then roughly five one-on-one onsite rounds. The whole process runs about four to eight weeks from first contact. Core developer candidates should expect low-level questions on memory, concurrency and networking. General software engineers get more algorithms. HRT's 2027 posting explicitly prohibits AI tools during interviews and assessments unless you are told otherwise.
Citadel Securities spreads the evaluation out. Quantt's guide (updated 29 Sept 2026) lists the official engineering stages as a 45-minute CoderPad interview, three 45-minute interviews, a leadership interview for a specific team, and a final review, over about eight weeks. A January 2026 candidate described the OA as two or three problems "around LeetCode medium". The team leadership round is the part people under-prepare for. It is effectively a team-match conversation, and on Blind the advice repeated across years is that your Citadel Securities experience depends on the team more than the firm.
One warning on prep material: a "50 questions in 12 minutes" test is widely quoted for Citadel. Quantt notes that it traces to a single source that does not separate Citadel from Citadel Securities, and it describes a trading test, not the engineering OA.
| Stage | HRT | Citadel Securities |
|---|---|---|
| OA | ~3 problems, medium to hard | 2-3 problems, medium |
| Live screens | 1-2 (coding; maths for quant tracks) | 1 x 45-min CoderPad |
| Final stage | ~5 onsite 1:1s in one day | 3 x 45-min technicals + team leadership + final review |
| Timeline | 4-8 weeks | ~8 weeks; feedback within two weeks of the superday |
Culture and pay
Pay, from what is posted. HRT's Software Engineer (C++ or Python) - 2027 Grads posting, dated 13 July 2026, states a US base of $300,000 with "a sign-on and discretionary performance bonus" on top. Citadel Securities' University Graduate posting lists $235,000-$300,000 plus a discretionary bonus (Tradermath, Sept 2026). Two cycles ago the picture was different: Citadel Securities' 2025 University Graduate posting listed $200,000-$250,000 (Built In NYC) and HRT's 2025 C++ grad posting listed $175,000-$250,000 (Hire Tech Ladies). Both firms have raised graduate base since, and HRT has raised it further.
Pay, from what people report. Tradermath's HRT page cites twelve New York entry-level engineers averaging about $467,000 total, roughly $240,000 base and $219,000 bonus. Its Citadel Securities page lists employee reports of $434,000-$505,000 total at one to three years. The community view used to run the other way. In a 2022 Blind thread a new grad listed Citadel Securities C++ offers in the high $500Ks against an HRT core C++ return offer of about $400K, and the replies said HRT's first year is low but its bonuses after year two are strong. With HRT now posting a $300K base, that 2022 gap is likely smaller, though nobody has published enough new offers to confirm it.
Culture. The most consistent community theme is engineering status. In a 2020 Blind thread on new-grad SWE choices, posters described HRT as a small, very technical shop where engineers are respected, and Citadel Securities as strong but more business-driven. A 2021 thread comparing an HRT London algo developer offer with a Citadel Securities QR offer drew mostly "go to HRT" replies. The poster's own worries were HRT London's small office and possible turnover on the Citadel side. eFinancialCareers (March 2024) described Citadel Securities as "comparatively centralized" and corporate, with low turnover. These are anecdotes, but they have been consistent for six years.
Contracts. This is the real difference. eFinancialCareers reported that Citadel Securities uses non-competes of up to two years, frequently on relatively junior quant and technical staff. HRT does not publish its terms. A two-year restriction matters more than a $30,000 base difference if you might ever want to move to another trading firm.
Which should you choose?
- You are a strong C++ engineer who wants low-latency work: HRT. Its whole engineering identity is built on that, and the posted base is the highest in this pair.
- You want a large firm with many desks and a clear team-match step: Citadel Securities. The leadership interview lets you choose the team, and that matters more there than anywhere else.
- You are on a US visa: weigh the non-compete first. If you lose a job on OPT or H-1B, you have little time to find a new sponsor, and a restriction that keeps you out of competitors hurts badly. Get both firms' covenants in writing.
- You want London: HRT's UK entities hold Skilled Worker licences on the 8 October 2026 Home Office register, and its 2027 internship lists visa sponsorship as a perk. No entity named Citadel Securities appeared on that register, so ask which Citadel entity would employ you.
- You are applying for a winter programme: HRT's winter programmes close today, 16 October 2026 (Quantt). Everything else at both firms is rolling.
Prepare for both
- Practise the HRT-style trading-flavoured coding and probability rounds with the HRT quant researcher mock interview.
- For the CoderPad-plus-technicals format used across the Citadel group, run the Citadel software engineer mock. Applr's mock is modelled on the Citadel loop, so treat the team-leadership round as extra prep.
- Compare against the other big market maker in Jane Street vs Citadel Securities and HRT's closest peer in HRT vs Tower Research.
- Track which 2027 postings are still open on the New Grad 2027 tracker, and check London sponsorship in our UK quant visa guide.
Sources
- Bloomberg, "Hudson River's 2025 Trading Revenue Set for Record $12.3 Billion", Jan 2026 (headline via Wikipedia)
- Bloomberg, "Citadel Securities Nets Record $12 Billion Trading Haul in 2025", Mar 2026
- Crypto Briefing, "Hudson River Trading posts $11.4B trading windfall amid market tumult", Aug 19, 2026
- Hedgeweek, "Hudson River Trading racks up record $11.4bn revenue amid market volatility", Aug 20, 2026
- Pulse 2, "Citadel Securities: $4.3 Billion Q1 Revenue Record Fueled By Market Volatility", Jun 1, 2026
- HRT, "Software Engineer (C++ or Python) - 2027 Grads" via Kadoa, posted Jul 13, 2026
- Tradermath, "Citadel Securities salary", updated Sept 28, 2026
- Tradermath, "Hudson River Trading salary", updated Sept 28, 2026
- Tradermath, "Hudson River Trading interview guide", Jun 2026
- Quantt, "Citadel & Citadel Securities Interview Process 2026", updated Sept 29, 2026
- eFinancialCareers, "Citadel Securities vs Jane Street", Mar 13, 2024
- Blind, "Best quant firms for new grad SWE", May 2020
- Blind, "HRT vs Citadel Securities quant roles", Jan 2021
- Blind, "HRT vs CitSec vs Headlands vs Jump vs Jane Street", Oct 2022
- GOV.UK, Register of licensed sponsors: workers, updated Oct 8, 2026
- Quantt, "HRT Internship 2027: Pay, Dates, OA and Interviews", updated Oct 2026
- Built In NYC, Citadel Securities "Software Engineer – 2025 University Graduate (US)", retrieved Oct 2026
- Hire Tech Ladies, HRT "Software Engineer (C++) – 2025 Grads", retrieved Oct 2026
- Wikipedia, Citadel LLC, retrieved Oct 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Does HRT or Citadel Securities pay more for a new grad software engineer?
- On posted base, HRT is at or above Citadel Securities. HRT's 2027 graduate software engineer posting lists a flat $300,000 US base plus a sign-on and discretionary bonus (posting via Kadoa, July 2026), while Citadel Securities' University Graduate posting lists a $235,000 to $300,000 base plus a discretionary bonus (Tradermath, Sept 2026). Older Blind offers from 2022 had Citadel Securities ahead on first-year total comp, so compare the full written offer, not the base.
- Is HRT bigger than Citadel Securities now?
- By revenue they were level in 2025: Bloomberg reported a record $12.3 billion for HRT (Jan 2026) and a record $12.2 billion for Citadel Securities (Mar 2026). In 2026 HRT has pulled ahead on reported numbers, with $6.4 billion in Q1 and a record $11.4 billion in Q2 (Crypto Briefing and Hedgeweek, Aug 2026), against a record $4.3 billion Q1 for Citadel Securities (Pulse 2, citing the FT, Jun 2026). Citadel Securities is still the bigger operation by people and client franchise.
- Is the HRT interview harder than the Citadel Securities interview?
- HRT's online assessment is usually described as harder: about three LeetCode medium-to-hard problems on HackerRank (Tradermath, Jun 2026), against two or three medium problems reported for Citadel Securities in January 2026 (Quantt). Citadel Securities adds a leadership interview with a specific team and a final review, so its loop is longer rather than harder.
- Does Citadel Securities make new grads sign a non-compete?
- eFinancialCareers reported in March 2024 that Citadel Securities uses non-competes of up to two years, often shorter, and frequently applies them to relatively junior quant and technical staff. HRT does not publish its terms. Ask both firms for the restrictive covenants in writing before you sign.
- Which is better for an international student, HRT or Citadel Securities?
- HRT's 2027 internship posting lists work visa sponsorship as a perk, and HRT's UK entities hold Skilled Worker licences on the Home Office register dated 8 October 2026. No entity named Citadel Securities appeared on that register, so London candidates should ask which Citadel entity would employ them. In the US, the non-compete matters more than the salary if you might need to change sponsors.