Pros: Invigorating environment and interesting problems

Cons: Hours are on the longer side and very intense during those hours.

Pros: - Good pay (they'll almost always beat any competitor) - Free breakfast and lunch, which tastes good on most days - Free coffee until midday - Good resume booster But honestly, don't let these perks lure you.

Cons: - Very high expectations and BS performance reviews mean that you could be below average and get fired very quickly. I've seen smart and competent people shown the door. - Within the first few months, I saw quite a few people disappear or leave. There was even someone that resigned due to mental health problems (more than likely caused by work-related stress). If this place is so great, why do people leave? Seriously ask yourself that before joining. - Projects are an absolute mess. As a dev, you'll be a project manager, tester, and support, which is on top of your usual dev work. - Limited career growth outside of finance, and the tech is an outdated mess. Honestly, try finding a C++ job outside of HFT that pays in the same ballpark. So, make sure you plan an exit route. - Engineers are a pay grade below. Seriously, a second-year junior trader earns the same as a senior (L3) developer. - Individualist environment means people are always fighting for their bonus. - Got yelled at by a frustrated manager because I made an honest mistake and was a little slow to interpret something. - Be wary of teams with low headcount where only newcomers join and people just leave. - If you get an offer at a big tech company, take that option. The slightly extra $ you get is not worth the career risk. I'm glad I made the switch and got out early.

Pros: Optiver operates as one of the best in a fast-paced sector. This means there is an increasing need for agile working, rapid deployments, and feedback loops. Simultaneously, great attention is paid to control and security concerning the trading operation and production environment. It is a constant challenge to balance these two. Since the entire IT management changed two years ago, a tremendous upheaval has occurred, leading to work in smaller teams with developers, engineers, and traders instead of separate departments. This creates an interesting and challenging dynamic. Many bright minds work here, and you are constantly learning. New challenges and opportunities to excel are constantly coming your way. In the end, the bottom line is what counts: either we made money or we didn't.

Cons: There is enormous pressure to continuously reduce the 'time to market' for new features, systems, and configurations. This can sometimes lead to the need to take shortcuts that haven't been thoroughly considered. This can create a significant amount of technical debt and unplanned work.