As someone who has been through the full process, I’m breaking down the complete interview journey for Optiver New Grad SDE in North America to help you avoid unnecessary detours.
Unlike product-oriented Internet companies, Optiver focuses almost entirely on underlying engineering capability. There are no trick questions and no flashy algorithm traps. Every assessment point is tightly aligned with the real-world needs of live trading systems.
The rhythm is surprisingly fast — you may receive an HR invitation the day after passing the OA, leaving almost no buffer time. If your preparation has mainly targeted regular Internet companies, you must adjust early. Here, the emphasis is on latency, memory management, networking principles, and control over low-level code. It is pragmatic and extremely detail-oriented.
Round 1: OA Coding Test — Solidness Over Showmanship
The OA consists of standard coding questions. They are not extremely difficult, but you must not underestimate them. Optiver maintains a pragmatic style and does not intentionally design tricky puzzles. However, the requirements for implementation quality are almost strict.
Boundary handling, time complexity, space optimization, and clean code structure are critical. Sloppy implementation will likely lead to direct elimination.
The OA pass rate is not particularly low, but the following stages move very quickly. It is strongly recommended to prepare HR questions in advance.
Round 2: HR Interview — Concise but Not Simple
The HR round is short and focused, usually centered around two core questions:
- When a project is facing a tight deadline, how do you plan and ensure delivery?
- Why Optiver?
“Why Optiver” is the key trap. Generic answers like “HFT is cool” or “I’m interested in trading” sound unprepared. You should discuss Optiver’s market-making business, engineering-driven culture, and your own interest in low-latency systems. Fit and clarity matter here.
Round 3: 1st Technical Interview — Foundation Check
1. Memory Calculation Question
Example: A linked list with 1000 nodes, each containing an int (0–16M range) and a pointer. Calculate total memory usage.
This tests knowledge of int size (4 bytes), 64-bit pointer size (8 bytes), and memory alignment. Ignoring alignment details costs points immediately.
2. C++ vs Java Core Differences
Focus areas include GC mechanism, memory management, RAII, and deterministic destructors. You must clearly explain why C++ is often preferred in low-latency trading: Java GC introduces unpredictable pauses that impact latency.
3. Basic System Design
Example: Design a Ticketmaster-like system handling high concurrency.
Discussion points include overselling prevention, locking strategy, and data consistency. The interviewer looks for structured thinking and modular decomposition — not buzzwords.
Round 4: 2nd Technical Interview — Core Low-Latency Trading Design
This is the most important and most difficult round.
Scenario: You are CTO of a startup trading firm. Design a trading system for BMW stock on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Only core buy/sell functionality is required, but full architecture must be designed.
1. Server Deployment
Should you colocate servers at the exchange? How does network distance affect latency? Do you need active-standby architecture? How to minimize switchover latency?
2. Network Architecture
Separate market data and order flow? UDP for market data (low latency), TCP for orders (reliability). How to handle UDP packet loss, TCP retransmission, and ordering?
3. Module Design
Typical modules: Market Data Handler, Strategy Engine, Order Manager, Risk Control, Gateway.
Communication method? Shared memory? Lock-free queues? Single-threaded event loop? Thread model design to minimize latency?
4. Fault Tolerance & Risk Control
Reconnection strategies, resend logic, Kill Switch design under extreme market conditions.
Without trading-system knowledge reserve, this round becomes very difficult.
Round 5: 3rd Technical Interview — Coding + OOD
Scenario: Two real-time streams (inventory + order). Design a leaderboard service that pushes profitable orders in real time and keeps them sorted by profit.
Focus areas:
- Object-oriented design (high cohesion, low coupling)
- Efficient sorted structure maintenance
- Performance optimization
- Thread safety in real-time systems
Algorithm difficulty is moderate. Clarity, abstraction, and efficiency matter more than complexity.
Preparation Summary
Core keywords: pragmatic, underlying, low-latency.
- Strengthen foundations: memory management, networking, C++ core features
- Understand trading system architecture and pain points
- Practice clean OA coding with strong boundary handling
- Prepare structured system design discussions
- Refine your “Why Optiver” answer
Interview Assistance
We have long followed North American NG / Intern / Experienced SDE interviews, with deep insight into high-frequency trading firms such as Optiver, Jump, and Citadel. From OA rhythm control to VO mock interviews, we provide structured preparation support to help you maximize efficiency and secure your offer.
For more interview assistance, contact us.
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