I interviewed for the Software Engineering Intern role at Optiver. The process was fairly structured and very technical, with a strong emphasis on problem-solving and fundamentals.

The first stage was an online assessment focused on data structures, algorithms, and basic systems concepts. After passing that, I moved on to a technical interview with an engineer.

The interviewer was friendly and clearly very knowledgeable, but the questions were challenging and required thinking out loud and justifying design choices. The coding problems were not overly long, but they tested edge cases, efficiency, and clarity.

There was also discussion around trade-offs and how to approach problems under time constraints, which seemed important for Optiver’s environment. Overall, the process felt rigorous but fair.

Even though I didn’t receive an offer, the interviewers were respectful and the experience was a good learning opportunity.

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