Optiver Interview Guide
Optiver puts its hardest filter first: 80 arithmetic questions in 8 minutes, wrong answers scored against you, and a pass mark of 56.
Online assessment
Delivered on CodeSignal, often spread across days
What to expect
- 80 in 8: 80 multiple-choice arithmetic questions in 8 minutes, about six seconds each.
- Scored +1 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one, with no skipping. The pass mark is 56.
- Content spans integers, decimals, fractions and missing-operand questions. No calculator.
- NumberLogic: 25 minutes of number sequences, predicting which value comes next.
- Beat the Odds: rapid probability at about 90 seconds a question.
- Zap-N: 45 to 60 minutes of reaction, memory and planning mini-games.
- Zap-Q: about 150 forced-choice pairs, picking which statement describes you better.
- Fail and you wait about eight months before you can reapply.
How to prepare
- Run timed 80 in 8 sets daily and track net score, correct minus incorrect, not raw count.
- Drill two-digit multiplication, fractions and percentages, where the set escalates.
- Never guess. A wrong answer costs the point you earned on the question before it.
Phone screen
With a recruiter or a member of the trading team
What to expect
- Motivation first: why Optiver, why market making, and what you want from the job.
- Light technical work follows, and for trading roles that means probability or a quick mental-math drill.
- A walk-through of something on your resume, down to the decisions you made.
How to prepare
- Prepare a specific answer to why Optiver, naming what the firm actually does.
- Keep paper next to you. The technical question arrives inside an ordinary conversation.
Assessment day
What to expect
- A second maths test, harder than the online version.
- A trading simulation or market-making game, quoting and updating under time pressure.
- A technical interview on probability and statistics.
- A behavioural interview with a senior partner, conversational and free-flowing.
- That behavioural round is where technically strong candidates are most often cut.
How to prepare
- Quote two-sided markets out loud, justify the width, and update after every trade.
- Fix your risk policy in advance, how much edge you need per unit of volatility, and hold it all day.
- Keep one timed 80 in 8 set a day so arithmetic does not decay before the final round.
FAQ
What score do you need on Optiver’s 80 in 8?
The pass mark is 56. Because scoring is +1 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one, that is a net figure: correct minus incorrect, not how many questions you reached. A wrong answer therefore costs you two points against the target, which is why guessing is worse than leaving a question you cannot do in six seconds.
What is on the Optiver online assessment?
Five tests totalling about three hours, delivered on CodeSignal and often spread across days: the 80 in 8 mental arithmetic screen, NumberLogic number sequences over 25 minutes, Beat the Odds probability at about 90 seconds a question, the Zap-N reaction and memory games over 45 to 60 minutes, and the Zap-Q personality questionnaire of about 150 forced-choice pairs.
Can you retake the Optiver assessment if you fail?
Not straight away. Candidates who are rejected are told they cannot reapply for about eight months, which makes an early attempt expensive. Build your 80 in 8 net score above the pass mark before you apply, rather than treating the first attempt as practice.
What happens on Optiver’s assessment day?
A half day, on-site or virtual: a second maths test harder than the online version, a trading simulation or market-making game, a technical interview on probability and statistics, and a behavioural interview with a senior partner. That last round is conversational and free-flowing, and it is the round that most often cuts technically strong candidates.