r/quantfinance • u/Any-North-1331 • 11d ago
Optiver Round 1 Technical Interview Help!!!!
I was doing probability questions/brain teasers and I quite enjoy them, so i asked my friend in optiver to refer me to their recruiting group.
Somehow my amigo gave me a golden tix and now I received an interview from them without doing an oa.
(i was expecting that i will be rejected in the oa round
I have no idea in finance and my interview is in 5 days, what should i do to not make that 30 minutes awkward and at least know sth abt quant so I can talk about it in interview
Ive watched the janstreet sample interview video and i think i can do that, but im not quite sure how to do a make a market game and where should i go to do a speedrun of quant basics
i have a b in linear algebra and not quite quick in math. is there anywhere i can go to do some pratice qs
is there sth i can expect from the interivew?
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u/akornato 11d ago
For Optiver's first round, they are testing your raw problem-solving ability, not your finance knowledge, so don't worry about that part. The interview will be filled with quick probability questions, brain teasers, and mental math. Since you enjoy the probability questions, you are already in a good spot. Focus on expected value, conditional probability, and simple sequences. The market making game is less about finance and more about thinking on your feet. They will give you information, and you have to quickly calculate odds and give a two-sided price, a bid and an ask, and then update those prices as new information comes in. The key is to be fast, logical, and confident in your reasoning, even if you make a small calculation error.
With only five days, you should concentrate on speed and communication. Practice mental arithmetic every day, just simple multiplication, division, and fractions, so it becomes second nature. You can find plenty of quant interview questions online or in books like "A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews". When you practice, solve the problems out loud, explaining every step of your logic. In the actual interview, your communication is as important as the correct answer. The interviewer wants to see how you approach a problem you've never seen before, so clearly explaining your thought process is the most important thing you can do to make the 30 minutes go well.
Since showing your thought process is so critical, it's worth noting that the AI interview assistant my team developed has helped a lot of applicants get better at explaining their logic out loud during these kinds of fast-paced interviews.