Optiver hires Quant Researcher, Quant Trader and Software Engineer. Candidates report 4 to 6 interview stages depending on the track (8 distinct rounds across all tracks). Below: what each round tests and how to prepare, the path by track, the timeline, pay and a 4-week prep plan, drawn from candidate reports and Optiver's own recruiting pages.
Optiver interview: quick answer
- StagesBy track: Quant Researcher: 6 · Quant Trader: 6 · Software Engineer: 4 (8 distinct rounds across all tracks)
- Online assessmentOptiver Assessment Portal · multiple timed modules · trader/QR (SWE: separate coding test)
- TimelineEurope campus applications open around the end of August and US roles in July.
- Final roundFinal: ~45 min · with a hiring manager / partner
- Pay (candidate-reported)Quant Trader, New grad: $300k – $500k total comp
- RolesQuant Researcher, Quant Trader, Software Engineer
Preparing for Optiver? Work the rounds in order in the free Optiver interview funnel, or start with the free online-assessment sample (no signup).
The Optiver interview process at a glance
| # | Round | Format and length | Who takes it | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Online Assessment | Optiver Assessment Portal · multiple timed modules · trader/QR (SWE: separate coding test) | All tracks | OA guidePractice |
| 2 | HR / Behavioral Call | ~20 min · recruiter | All tracks | GuidePractice |
| 3 | Trading / Betting Game | 25–45 min · interactive · 1-on-1 with a trader | All tracks | GuidePractice |
| 4 | Cognitive Interview | 45-60 min · Zoom with a trader · Optiver Assessment Platform | Quant Trader | GuidePractice |
| 5 | Technical / Brain-Teaser | 60–75 min · Zoom whiteboard · with a researcher | Quant Researcher | GuidePractice |
| 6 | Take-Home Data Project + Deep-Dive | Take-home · then ~45 min presentation | Quant Researcher | GuidePractice |
| 7 | Market-Making Game Day | Interactive · multiple rounds · trading floor or virtual | Quant Trader | GuidePractice |
| 8 | Final Culture-Fit | ~45 min · with a hiring manager / partner | All tracks | GuidePractice |
Stages are listed in the order candidates report them. Formats come from candidate reports and change between cycles, offices and teams; the "Who takes it" column shows which track each round belongs to.
How the Optiver process differs by track
Optiver runs separate loops for different roles. Here is the path each track reports, in order:
- Quant Researcher (6 stages): Online Assessment → HR / Behavioral Call → Trading / Betting Game → Technical / Brain-Teaser → Take-Home Data Project + Deep-Dive → Final
- Quant Trader (6 stages): Online Assessment → HR / Behavioral Call → Trading / Betting Game → Cognitive Interview → Market-Making Game Day → Final
- Software Engineer (4 stages): Online Assessment → HR / Behavioral Call → Trading / Betting Game → Final
Not sure which track fits you? See quant trader vs quant researcher.
Every Optiver round: what it tests and how to prepare
1Online Assessment
Heavy first filter on the Optiver Assessment Portal: long, anti-GPT, often split across days and auto-rejected on submission.
Trader/QR modules: NumberLogic (timed sequences), Beat the Odds (20-30 probability questions, ~90s each, pick the closest), Zap-N reaction mini-games (balloon gambling, stacking, dual-task arithmetic, memory), plus the 2026 additions Likelihood (rank three events by probability from a chart/table), Intervals and Orderbooks. The 80-in-8 does not appear on 2026/27 invites. Amsterdam, September 2026: six clocked modules; Orderbooks 8 min for 20 questions, Intervals ~40 to 45s each, Likelihood Test 25 min, sequences skip-and-return. SWE candidates take a separate coding test (2-3 business-flavored medium-hard problems).
How to prepare
- Drill them until each is a 30-second reflex.
- NumberLogic: bank the easy ones, skip the rest. Wrong answers cost you (−1). The first ~15 are gettable; the last few are near-impossible. ~15 correct is a safe score — don't burn the clock on a single sequence.
- The mini-games reward calm + speed, not strategy. For the balloon/gambling game, a consistent risk policy beats greed. Practice fast mental arithmetic and short-term memory recall cold.
2HR / Behavioral Call
A short conversational round: why Optiver, why trading / quant, other offers, visa/sponsorship, and a walk-through of a project. Functions as a culture/logistics check and lays out the remaining flow.
- This recruiter conversation comes directly after the online assessments, per Optiver and recent candidates.
How to prepare
- Have a crisp 'why trading at Optiver' answer. Speed, ownership of risk, and the game-driven culture — connect it to something specific about you, not a generic pitch.
- Be ready to talk sponsorship honestly. It comes up early; know your situation. SWE roles are often not sponsored while QT/QR usually are.
- STAR your project story. One tight situation→task→action→result you can go deep on later in the QR deep-dive.
3Trading / Betting Game
Signature filter for BOTH QT and QR. Bet a bankroll across simultaneous boards (3 coin flips, 2 dice, 3-card draws) whose odds reshuffle each round, plus a market-making sub-game (two-sided market on three cards' sum). A trader trades against you asking 'why this bet.' Scored: Kelly sizing, mispriced-odds arbitrage, risk discipline, not raw P&L.
Question types: mostly expectation, game theory and market microstructure, especially expected value, discrete probability, conditional probability and first-passage and stopping times. Latest candidate report for this round: Feb 2026.
How to prepare
- Size by edge, not by gut. Bet more on fat edges, a dab on thin ones, and never so much that one bad beat wrecks the bankroll — roughly fractional Kelly. Verbalize the EV of each bet.
- Hunt for arbitrage. When the offered odds across complementary events imply a total probability under 100%, you can split stakes to lock a riskless profit. Catch it fast (it's often disallowed once you've used it once).
- Make a market like a market maker. Quote a fair value, put a credible spread around it, and widen the spread with uncertainty and adverse selection. Manage your inventory as fills come in.
Full Trading / Betting Game guide →Practice this round (67 questions) →
4Cognitive Interview
Final stage for Optiver's Career Kickstarter: Trading program (per a candidate's September 2026 invitation): a 45 to 60 minute Zoom with one trader on the Optiver Assessment Platform, camera on.
Games, brainteasers and puzzles, including a market-making game (cheat sheet of terms sent beforehand). Paper and pencil for some games; no calculator or phone. Optiver says it re-tests the online assessment's speed and accuracy and your approach: new information arrives as you go, and if the trader seems to hint, they probably are.
Question types: mostly expectation, probability and brain teasers, especially expected value, discrete probability, conditional probability and combinatorics. Latest candidate report for this round: Feb 2026.
How to prepare
- Re-drill the online assessment. Speed and accuracy are tested again, so run the 80 in 8 and the Zap-N games in the days before.
- Think out loud. How you get to the answer is scored, so say your approach and your assumptions as you go.
- Take the hints. New information arrives mid-problem by design. Update your answer when it does instead of defending the first one.
Full Cognitive Interview guide →Practice this round (100 questions) →
5Technical / Brain-Teaser
The QR technical round: 3-4 problems mixing probability, conditional expectation, number theory, and brain-teasers, plus a Fermi estimation.
Question types: mostly expectation, probability and coding, especially expected value, combinatorics, discrete probability and conditional probability. Latest candidate report for this round: Jun 2026.
How to prepare
- Talk through the setup before computing. A clean problem framing scores more than a fast but opaque answer.
Full Technical / Brain-Teaser guide →Practice this round (189 questions) →
6Take-Home Data Project + Deep-Dive
QR candidates get an algo-trading dataset and build/backtest a strategy. It's graded on realized profit, not R²: a clean linear model is enough to pass. About two days after you submit, you're invited to a presentation / deep-dive where they probe your methodology hard, with heavy follow-ups on pandas and time-series handling.
Question types: mostly coding, statistics and time series, especially data structures, hypothesis testing, complexity analysis and C++. Latest candidate report for this round: Jun 2026.
How to prepare
- Optimize for realized P&L, not fit. A simple, well-validated signal that trades profitably beats a complex model with a great R² and no edge. Account for transaction costs.
- Be able to defend every choice. Why this feature, why this horizon, why this validation. Treat the deep-dive like a research review, not a demo.
Full Take-Home Data Project + Deep-Dive guide →Practice this round (40 questions) →
7Market-Making Game Day
QT-distinctive round(s), reported as 5 rounds, target total score ≥ 2.0: quote a closed interval [L, U] on a numeric estimate, scoring L/U if inside, else 0. Horse-race variant: 4-8 horses, win-probability proportional to ability; fast EV / odds estimation, spot arbitrage. Onsite QT may be a full day of trading games and group exercises. Timed replica; market-making games below.
Question types: mostly options pricing, game theory and market microstructure, especially combinatorics, Black-Scholes, adverse selection and expected value. Latest candidate report for this round: Feb 2026.
How to prepare
- Calibrate your interval to the payoff. Score = L/U inside, 0 outside — so the optimal width balances tightness against your true confidence. Don't quote a 2× interval out of fear, but never quote one you might miss.
- Anchor, then bound. Get a fast point estimate, then reason about the multiplicative error band (orders of magnitude) before committing L and U.
- In the horse race, convert ability → probability fast. Win-prob ∝ ability normalizes across the field; sanity-check that your implied probabilities sum to 1 and look for mispriced odds.
Full Market-Making Game Day guide →Practice this round (26 questions) →
8Final: Culture-Fit
Nominally behavioral with a senior partner, functionally a fit / taste decision: the round most famous for rejecting technically-strong candidates. Free-flowing, with curious interruptions. Fast turnaround. Optiver applies an 8-month cooling-off period after any unsuccessful application for a similar role.
- Optiver calls this stage the final-day interview for campus roles.
How to prepare
- It's fit, not a test you pass. This round rejects plenty of technically-strong people — it's about whether the partner thinks you belong on the floor, not right-vs-wrong. Don't let the forum horror stories psych you out; treat it as a conversation about fit.
- Expect to be interrupted — that's good. A senior partner jumps in because he's curious or sparked a thought, not because your answer is bad. Roll with it; stay relaxed and keep it a dialogue.
- Give the PERSONAL story — the specific moment that made you choose trading/industry over academia.
Practice the Optiver rounds in order
Each round in the Optiver funnel has its own practice set, with worked solutions and progress tracking. A free account saves your progress across rounds.
Timeline
Europe campus applications open around the end of August and US roles in July. Optiver's Europe recruitment FAQ says applicants hear back within seven working days. The recruiter behavioural interview comes straight after the online assessments.
Intern vs full-time
Optiver's Europe FAQ describes the Amsterdam internship as ten weeks long, running in July and August.
Recent changes
In 2026 three newer modules (Likelihood, Intervals and Orderbooks) appear on trader assessment invites, and the old 80-in-8 mental maths test no longer shows up on the invites candidates quote.
A 4-week Optiver prep plan
Built from the order of Optiver's rounds on the Quant Researcher path and the topics in each round's practice set. Compress it if your first interview is sooner. Other tracks can swap in their own rounds from the table above.
| When | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Foundations | Review expectation, probability and coding, the topics that dominate Optiver's practice sets. Start with Probability course and Quant coding course. Work the easy and medium questions in the Optiver question set. |
| Week 2 | Early rounds: Online Assessment, HR / Behavioral Call, Trading / Betting Game and Technical / Brain-Teaser | Practice expectation, probability and coding under time pressure, and take the free OA sample (format notes in the OA guide). Add a daily mental-math drill. Talk every answer through out loud; interviewers score the reasoning. |
| Week 3 | Later rounds: Take-Home Data Project + Deep-Dive and Final | Move to coding, statistics and time series. Read how quant superdays work. |
| Week 4 | Rehearse the full loop | Run each practice round in order, redo the questions you missed, and prepare two project stories plus a specific answer to "why Optiver?" (see behavioral questions at trading firms). |
Optiver pay
| Role | Level | Total comp | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quant Trader | New grad | $300k – $500k | First-year package (base + fixed sign-on/bonus). From year two, bonus is driven by the marble system below — heavily upside-skewed with firm P&L. |
| Quant Researcher | New grad / PhD | ~$500k | Research track, comp tracks the traders. Base + first-year fixed bonus, then moves onto the marble system from year two (see below). |
| Software Engineer | New grad | $200k – $350k | Strong SWE comp; below the trading tracks for equivalent tenure. Visa sponsorship often limited. |
Total compensation means base salary plus bonus and any sign-on, as candidates self-report it. Job postings usually show base salary only, so posted figures and outside salary pages often look lower. Rough ranges, NOT offers. Year-one is a fixed package; from year two, bonus runs on Optiver's marble system (see context below), so realized comp scales with both your marble count and firm revenue. Optiver new-grad trader comp is at the top of the market. Source: Candidate self-reports (levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and candidate forums) — not employer-verified. Last updated May 29, 2026.
Full breakdown by level: Optiver salary guide.
Optiver teams and what their interviews test
Optiver hires across trading and engineering. The Quant Trader (QT) and Quant Researcher (QR) tracks share the early funnel (OA → betting game → behavioral) and then diverge: QT leans into more market-making game rounds and group trading; QR adds a technical brain-teaser round, a take-home data project, and a project deep-dive. SWE/quant-dev runs a separate coding + systems-design funnel.
| Tracks | What it does | What its interviews test |
|---|---|---|
| Quant Trader (QT) Trader | Live market making on the desk. Pricing, risk, and split-second decisions on options/ETF books. | Betting game → HR → market-making game day (interval quoting, horse-race odds) → group trading → culture fit. Speed + risk discipline + arbitrage awareness. |
| Quant Researcher (QR) Quant Researcher | Signal research and pricing models that feed the traders. | Betting game → HR → technical brain-teaser/probability → take-home data project → project deep-dive (pandas / time-series) → culture fit. |
| Software Engineer / Quant Dev Software Engineer | Low-latency trading systems, exchange connectivity, C++/Python infrastructure. | OOD-heavy CodeSignal OA + CS MCQs → coding rounds → trading-system system design (colo, TCP/UDP, lock-free ring buffer). Often not sponsored for visas. |
About Optiver
| Firm type | Proprietary options / ETF market maker |
|---|---|
| Trading style | Trading-game + mental-math driven · High-frequency market making |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, NL |
| Other offices | Chicago, Austin, Sydney, Shanghai, Hong Kong |
| Net trading income | EUR 3.49B (2024) |
| Employees | ~2,100 |
| Reported performance | EUR 3.49B NTI (2024, +26%) |
| Assessment platform | Optiver Assessment Portal, per Optiver and recent candidates |
| Retake rule | Assessments can be taken once every 8 months, per Optiver |
| Response time | Within 7 working days, per Optiver's Europe recruitment FAQ |
| Applications open | Late August for Europe campus roles, July in the US |
Founded 1986 in Amsterdam
Optiver started in 1986 as a single market maker on the floor of the European Options Exchange in Amsterdam and grew into one of the largest proprietary trading / market-making firms in the world, with major hubs in Chicago, Austin, Sydney, and Shanghai. It trades its own capital — no outside investors.
Blunt culture, fast desk
Optiver is a trading firm to its core: competitive, fast, and direct. New grads get real risk quickly. The flip side, per many candidates: interviewers can be blunt to the point of rude and feedback is sparse (Optiver says it gives no feedback at early stages). Optiver applies an 8-month cooling-off period after any unsuccessful application for a similar role, and assessments can only be taken once every 8 months.
Culture
Fast, competitive, trading-floor energy — Optiver is a trading firm first, and the floor is famously LOUD and AGGRESSIVE: you're expected to speak up, defend your views, and assert yourself. New grads get real risk fast. Candidates frequently describe interviewers as blunt; a known ~8-month re-apply cooldown follows a final-round rejection.
What the interviews feel like
Game-heavy and speed-driven. The betting/market-making game is the make-or-break round for both QR and QT — Kelly sizing, spotting arbitrage, and staying composed while a trader probes your reasoning matter more than a textbook answer.
Practice for Optiver on QuantVault
Practice
Courses
Games and drills
Further reading
- How quant superdays work
- Market-making game interview guide
- Behavioral questions at trading firms
- Mental math for trading interviews
- Fermi estimation questions
- The quant interview process, explained
Similar firms to compare
Firms with a similar business and interview style. Many candidates interview at several of them in the same cycle.
Sources and how this guide is built
- Updated October 20, 2026; firm data last reviewed September 15, 2026; pay last updated May 29, 2026.
- Round detail draws on 108 questions candidates report from Optiver interviews (the most recent report across all rounds is from Jun 2026). A separate curated Optiver question set of 92 problems collects the most useful practice for this firm.
- Optiver's own pages: Optiver Europe recruitment FAQ · Optiver Sydney campus recruiting FAQs · Optiver US campus recruiting Q&A · Interview tips for software engineers.
- Public candidate reports and outside interview guides are cross-checked against each other. Where they disagree the page says "reports differ"; details from a single source are marked as candidate reports.
- No actual interview questions are reproduced on this page. The questions, with worked solutions, are in the practice rounds.
Optiver interview FAQ
How many rounds are in the Optiver interview?
It depends on the track: Quant Researcher: 6; Quant Trader: 6; Software Engineer: 4 stages. Across all tracks candidates report 8 distinct rounds: Online Assessment, HR / Behavioral Call, Trading / Betting Game, Cognitive Interview, Technical / Brain-Teaser, Take-Home Data Project + Deep-Dive, Market-Making Game Day, Final.
How long does the Optiver interview process take?
Europe campus applications open around the end of August and US roles in July.
What happens in the Optiver final round?
Final (~45 min · with a hiring manager / partner). Nominally behavioral with a senior partner, functionally a fit / taste decision: the round most famous for rejecting technically-strong candidates. Free-flowing, with curious interruptions.
Does the Optiver process differ by role?
Yes. Quant Researcher: Online Assessment, HR / Behavioral Call, Trading / Betting Game, Technical / Brain-Teaser, Take-Home Data Project + Deep-Dive, Final. Quant Trader: Online Assessment, HR / Behavioral Call, Trading / Betting Game, Cognitive Interview, Market-Making Game Day, Final. Software Engineer: Online Assessment, HR / Behavioral Call, Trading / Betting Game, Final.
How much does Optiver pay?
Candidate-reported total compensation: Quant Trader (New grad) $300k – $500k; Quant Researcher (New grad / PhD) ~$500k; Software Engineer (New grad) $200k – $350k. These are self-reported totals including bonus, not offers; job postings usually list base salary only.
How should I prepare for the Optiver interview?
Prepare round by round over about four weeks: foundations first, then the early rounds (Online Assessment, HR / Behavioral Call, Trading / Betting Game), then the later rounds, then a full rehearsal. Each round has its own practice set on QuantVault, and the online assessment has a dedicated guide.
What does Optiver do?
Optiver is a proprietary options / ETF market maker headquartered in Amsterdam, NL. Optiver started in 1986 as a single market maker on the floor of the European Options Exchange in Amsterdam and grew into one of the largest proprietary trading / market-making firms in the world, with major hubs in Chicago, Austin, Sydney, and Shanghai. It trades its own capital — no outside investors.
Can I retake the Optiver online assessment?
No. Optiver says assessments can be taken once every eight months, there are no resets once you start, and results are reused for similar roles. An eight-month cooling-off period applies after any unsuccessful application for a similar role.
Will I get feedback?
Optiver says it does not give feedback at the early stages.
Is the 80-in-8 test still used?
It does not appear on the 2026/27 trader invites candidates have shared. Those list Beat the Odds, NumberLogic, Likelihood, Intervals and Orderbooks.
Does Optiver sponsor visas?
Optiver says visa sponsorship is decided case by case.
Can I email my CV to Optiver?
No. Optiver only accepts applications through its careers site.
How fast will I hear back?
Optiver's Europe FAQ says within seven working days.
Can I ask for adjustments to the assessments?
Yes. Optiver's Europe FAQ says candidates can request reasonable adjustments.
Start preparing for Optiver
Open the interactive Optiver interview funnel: every stage with its practice set, from the first screen to the final round. Create a free account to save your progress.