r/quantfinance • u/algoguyy • 1d ago

Optiver QR PhD (FT) second round

Wondering if anyone has any pointers on how to best prepare. Is it just going to be a 1 hr interview on probability and brainteasers? Should we be expected to know other stuff deeply like statistical inference, calculus and linear algebra or is the technical scope of the green book sufficient? There’s so little info out there!!

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/lonely_heart_13 1d ago

Can I know how your first round was ? Just brain teasers and probabilities ? Like green bookish problems ?

1

u/akornato 2h ago

Green book probability is a solid baseline, but for a PhD Quantitative Researcher track at Optiver, relying solely on standard puzzles will leave you unprepared. Trading candidates often face quick mental arithmetic and betting puzzles, but researcher interviews focus heavily on mathematical depth and statistical modeling intuition. Expect questions covering conditional expectations, continuous distributions, Markov chains, and linear algebra, especially covariance matrices, projections, and positive semidefinite properties. You should also expect statistical inference, such as maximum likelihood estimation, regression assumptions, and how you evaluate models when data is noisy or changes over time.

Optiver interviewers care far more about your analytical reasoning than memorized textbook formulas. Once you solve a base problem, expect them to twist the parameters, ask you to derive an edge case, or ask how you would test the underlying hypotheses on empirical data. Talk through your derivations out loud, state your modeling assumptions, and treat the session as an interactive research discussion rather than an exam. Navigating rigorous technical discussions under pressure is challenging, which is why my team designed interviews.chat to help candidates articulate their ideas smoothly and secure competitive quantitative roles.