Applied online with CV and motivation letter.

Completed a 48-hour HackerRank test, which included 15 questions. These were a mix of multiple-choice CS fundamentals, coding questions (binary tree, recursion), and a subjective written diagram section on a hypothetical scenario.

Next, I had a 30-minute HR call with usual behavioral questions.

Following that was a 45-minute technical interview where I discussed my HackerRank solutions and architecture questions.

After this, I was rejected for tech skills/experience being not good enough. The next stage would have been an assessment day with more challenges and interviews.

Everyone was very nice throughout the process, and I was given good feedback via a phone call later.

Advice:

1. Do your research on the company. Culture fit first is more important than being smart or good at software for Optiver.
2. Be good at coding and know your software architecture, network, and hardware fundamentals well (you will probably need experience for this role, despite it being advertised to grads).
3. Good luck!

Why do you want to work at Optiver?

Difference between UDP and TCP?