Optiver

Software Engineer Interview Experience - Switzerland

December 19, 2024

Negative ExperienceGot Offer

Process

The questions are very predictable. Write some Python scripts for the OA. It is as described online. If you really care about getting in, find someone who does the interviews a week ahead of you, and you will crush them. If you can't find someone, buy recorded interviews; some sell them.

While I didn't get an offer last year, I followed the steps above to get it this year. Optiver is completely unable to assess candidates based on their skill level. They only check if you answer their set of questions.

Don't get me wrong, the interview is hard if you don't know what is coming, but I know from 4+ people that each got the same question. I did not take the offer as I've never felt so uninspired by a company.

Go to JS, Citadel, or any other company.

Questions

How much memory for a 1000-element linked list?

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 3 interview experiences for the Optiver Software Engineer role in Switzerland.

Success Rate

0%

Pass Rate

Optiver's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Switzerland is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive33%

Neutral33%

Negative33%

Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Optiver's Software Engineer interview process in Switzerland.

Optiver Work Experiences

Great Pay, Tedious Hiring

Software Engineer • Current Employee

New York, New York, United States

Pros: The pay is great, and there are multiple opportunities to explore.

Cons: The hiring process and interviews can be quite tedious.

Great Pay, Tedious Hiring

Software Engineer • Current Employee

New York, New York, United States

Pros: The pay is great, and there are multiple opportunities to explore.

Cons: The hiring process and interviews can be quite tedious.

Great Food, Toxic Culture

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Pros: Delicious, healthy, free food. Almost too good to be true. Good salary growth. Young, energetic co-workers.

Cons: Managers who aren't interested in people skills. Toxic, competitive culture. Long hours, due to the competitive culture, and projects are understaffed. Low job security, as management often fires people, leading to understaffed projects. Poor opportunities for women. Management stated that "addressing gender equity in hiring is not a priority". An employee rubbed feces on the bathroom wall.

Great Food, Toxic Culture

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Pros: Delicious, healthy, free food. Almost too good to be true. Good salary growth. Young, energetic co-workers.

Cons: Managers who aren't interested in people skills. Toxic, competitive culture. Long hours, due to the competitive culture, and projects are understaffed. Low job security, as management often fires people, leading to understaffed projects. Poor opportunities for women. Management stated that "addressing gender equity in hiring is not a priority". An employee rubbed feces on the bathroom wall.

Great as a career starter

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Pros: 1. Amazing history of developing systems and solving problems. You touch and own a lot of projects that were really creative and tell a story. 2. Interesting work and its diversity, from being close to research and trading to being a full systems developer. 3. Amazing people and a lack of documentation makes you keep talking to them a lot and learning from them directly. 4. Great pay, perks like free food, great office outings, etc.

Cons: 1. Possibly longer work hours 2. Some lock-in to Optiver specific technology and setup

Great as a career starter

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Pros: 1. Amazing history of developing systems and solving problems. You touch and own a lot of projects that were really creative and tell a story. 2. Interesting work and its diversity, from being close to research and trading to being a full systems developer. 3. Amazing people and a lack of documentation makes you keep talking to them a lot and learning from them directly. 4. Great pay, perks like free food, great office outings, etc.

Cons: 1. Possibly longer work hours 2. Some lock-in to Optiver specific technology and setup

Great Pay, Tedious Hiring

Software Engineer • Current Employee

New York, New York, United States

Pros: The pay is great, and there are multiple opportunities to explore.

Cons: The hiring process and interviews can be quite tedious.

3.0
Great Pay, Tedious Hiring
Software Engineer • Current Employee
New York, New York, United States
July 18, 2024
Pros: The pay is great, and there are multiple opportunities to explore.
Cons: The hiring process and interviews can be quite tedious.

Great Food, Toxic Culture

Software Engineer • Former Employee

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Pros: Delicious, healthy, free food. Almost too good to be true. Good salary growth. Young, energetic co-workers.

Cons: Managers who aren't interested in people skills. Toxic, competitive culture. Long hours, due to the competitive culture, and projects are understaffed. Low job security, as management often fires people, leading to understaffed projects. Poor opportunities for women. Management stated that "addressing gender equity in hiring is not a priority". An employee rubbed feces on the bathroom wall.

3.0
Great Food, Toxic Culture
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
August 8, 2020
Pros: Delicious, healthy, free food. Almost too good to be true. Good salary growth. Young, energetic co-workers.
Cons: Managers who aren't interested in people skills. Toxic, competitive culture. Long hours, due to the competitive culture, and projects are understaffed. Low job security, as management often fires people, leading to understaffed projects. Poor opportunities for women. Management stated that "addressing gender equity in hiring is not a priority". An employee rubbed feces on the bathroom wall.

Great as a career starter

Software Engineer • Current Employee

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Pros: 1. Amazing history of developing systems and solving problems. You touch and own a lot of projects that were really creative and tell a story. 2. Interesting work and its diversity, from being close to research and trading to being a full systems developer. 3. Amazing people and a lack of documentation makes you keep talking to them a lot and learning from them directly. 4. Great pay, perks like free food, great office outings, etc.

Cons: 1. Possibly longer work hours 2. Some lock-in to Optiver specific technology and setup

4.0
Great as a career starter
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Amsterdam, Netherlands
July 30, 2023
Pros: 1. Amazing history of developing systems and solving problems. You touch and own a lot of projects that were really creative and tell a story. 2. Interesting work and its diversity, from being close to research and trading to being a full systems developer. 3. Amazing people and a lack of documentation makes you keep talking to them a lot and learning from them directly. 4. Great pay, perks like free food, great office outings, etc.
Cons: 1. Possibly longer work hours 2. Some lock-in to Optiver specific technology and setup

Optiver Interview Questions

Number of Days Between Two Dates

Calculate the number of days between two given dates. The dates are provided in a specific format, and you need to compute the difference in days.

LRU Cache

Design a data structure that acts as a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache. Implement methods to get and put key-value pairs, evicting the least recently used entry when the cache is full.

Design Circular Queue

Implement a circular queue data structure with a fixed size. You'll need to handle enqueueing, dequeueing, and checking if the queue is full or empty efficiently.

ArraysTwo PointersSliding Windows

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