Pros: The people are the best part of Optiver, and they are why it is successful. As an intern, I was able to work with and learn from firm leadership, development leads, and developers at a wide range of experience levels. The human investment poured into my experience was great. Chats about technology at the firm in general and my work in particular were regular and helpful. Because of these engagements, I felt that I was both able to add real value during my internship, learn more about development, and learn more about the industry. The principles with which Optiver trades and develops are heavily stressed. These principles allow them to both work with intention and manage risk effectively. A developer intern has the opportunity to learn more about these principles and see them in practice at Optiver. Finally, developing production systems requires a different mindset and a different set of skills than academics. The internship can help you on your path to becoming a real-world software engineer.

Cons: Resources to get general trading knowledge didn't seem very well presented to me during the onboarding process. I felt that I learned these things gradually and on my own throughout the internship. Although, this isn't completely a bad thing.

Pros: Optiver is a great place to work for motivated developers that want to hone their craft and view themselves as professional engineers. I enjoy working here because no one tries to hold my hand. There are plenty of opportunities to do impactful work and to grow. The development team is focused on staying lean and getting done what needs to be done.

Cons: Overall, the development team is rather young. A lot of effort needs to be put into growing these young developers, and some areas are lacking in expertise.

Pros: As a software developer, I have found that everyone is very approachable across all levels in the company. If I ever have a question that needs answering, it's easy to sit down at someone's desk and get the answers I need. From a technical standpoint, I value Optiver's emphasis on starting with a simple solution and incrementally building up from there when needed. Another advantage is that since our customers are our internal traders, we have an immediate feedback loop where we can continually improve and tweak our applications until we have a really solid system. As far as company culture goes, I would say it is relaxed, and I enjoy the optional events and activities provided outside of work.

Cons: Trading is a fast-moving industry, with products and strategies changing. This can put pressure on our applications to change frequently, but also provides new problems to tackle and keeps things interesting.