I applied through university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Optiver (Kānpur, Uttar Pradesh)
Interview
3-way round. One technical close to 50min-1hr. Had simple market-making games based on simple dice/card games. Slowly increase in difficulty. They try testing one of risk-aversion, math-approximation skills and general knowledge about probability. Based on your expectations, they ask you to define a bid-offer range and ask about your confidence interval, etc.
The behavioural rounds were then about my CV and some insights about it, while the other was about general goals and aspirations.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
In the technical round, one question that I remember was approximating the probability of exactly 50 heads in 100 fair coin tosses, not given as a combinatorial formula but as a percentage or fraction.
OA -> Behavioural->Cognitive 1 -> Cognitive 2 -> Final Round (1 HR Interview, 1 Technical). Behavioural interview quite standard but trading games played for Cognitive 1 and 2 rely on quick mental calculation of odds and implied probabilities
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What traits make a good Quantitative Trader and which don't you have?
The interview process starts with a timed online assessment covering probability / statistics knowledge; if the candidate is successful, they will be invited to participate in virtual interviews over Zoom, followed by onsite rounds.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Coin flip and card draw games, place wagers to maximize PnL
- Online-Tests (Sequences, Brain games)
- 1st Behavioural
- 1st Technical (Trading-adjacent game)
- 2nd Technical (Trading-adjacent game)
- Final round (Behavioural + Technical)
Everyone was always super nice and helpful during the interview, even if I made some calculation mistake.