Optiver has always been recognized as one of the hard model companies in the North American quant circle, especially Quant Researcher The position requires very high probabilistic intuition, strategic judgment and on-the-spot calculation abilities. The overall process this year remains stable: OA → HR Call → Tech 1 → Tech 2. Many people mistakenly think that quant interviews are about math, but the real pressure comes from time constraints, mental math, and continuous decision-making. Once the rhythm is disrupted, it is difficult to recover later.
OA: Beat the Odds
Currently, the most common OA in Optiver QR is still Beat the Odds, and its overall characteristics are very distinctive—time is extremely tight, leaving almost no room for hesitation. There are about 30 questions in the Probability & Statistics section, which are significantly more difficult than basic probability. They are not simple permutations or conditional probabilities, but are closer to real market-making scenarios, such as income distribution after multiple rounds of betting, probability updates under incomplete information, trade-offs between risk and return, and quick comparison of expected values.
The most common problem in this part is not "can't" but "too late". If you don't think clearly about many questions in the first step, you will probably waste two or three minutes directly. However, there is no such room for error in the entire OA. When preparing, it is recommended to focus on strengthening mental math and training the ability to quickly compare expected values. You do not need to insist on rigorous derivation. In many cases, reasonable estimation is more efficient.
The game session still retains the classic balloon game, with about 30 balloons. The essence is to test risk appetite and strategy adjustment ability, rather than luck. A relatively stable idea is to deliberately pop the first few balloons to test the average safe number of inflates, and then gradually reduce the inflator frequency to cover the early loss through stable income. The core is not to "make the most", but to control variance. The style of the other mini-games is similar - not emphasizing formulas, but emphasizing decision-making logic. Optivers would rather see you look like a trader than a student.
Tech 1: Betting Game Basic High Frequency
The first round of Technical is highly consistent with this year’s test, and Betting Game can almost be regarded as the core question type. It is strongly recommended to understand Kelly Criterion in advance, but there is no need to study formula derivation. The interviewer is more concerned about whether you understand the relationship between win probability and odds, whether you are aware of the volatility risk brought by Kelly, and whether you have a risk control mindset.
A safer strategy is usually to open with a flat bet and not rush into a full Kelly. Since the number of rounds is limited, "surviving to the end" is often more important than the theoretical optimum. Many candidates will choose to control their bets at about 5% of bankroll first, and then dynamically adjust based on wins and losses, thereby reducing the risk of drawdowns. If you want to further build your intuition, you can read the related content of why Kelly not work, and you will have a more intuitive understanding of variance.
HR Call
HR calls usually only last 15–20 minutes and do not require coding, but this does not mean that they should be taken lightly. The core is almost fixed: Quick intro, Why QR, Why Optiver. When answering, it is recommended to be close to the company's true positioning - low-latency, market making, technology-driven trading, rather than generally saying that you like finance or mathematics.
The essence of this round is to judge two things: whether you really understand the content of the job, and whether you have seriously chosen this track instead of a overseas investment player. Clear expression and natural logic are more important than "perfect answers".
Tech 2: Classic Probability and Inference
The second round of Technical is more brain-intensive and requires a high level of logical disassembly ability. One of the common questions is the two-pile-of-stones game problem, asking when all can be removed under the optimal strategy. The essence is to test whether you can identify the winning state and perform backward thinking. Interviewers usually don't ask for quick answers, but they value whether the ideas are coherent.
Another high-frequency problem is the expected waiting time of buses. For example, the bus runs every x minutes, but there is a 50% probability of being late by x/2. Find the average waiting time. The easiest pitfall for this type of question is to only calculate a single situation and ignore probability weighting. The correct way is to split the scenario, assign weights, and then calculate expectations—this is the extremely typical thinking path of QR interviews.
North American Quant Interview｜One-on-one Stable Plan
Long-term compilation of real interviews and high-frequency models of North American quants and top trading companies, covering leading institutions such as Optiver, IMC, Citadel, Jane Street, etc. The interview repetition rate of many question types is extremely high. If you have a thorough understanding of the question-writing ideas and a good problem-solving framework in advance, you will be more stable, faster and less panicked during the interview.
For high-voltage technology, we also provide one-on-one Interview assistance : Provide real-time tips and ideas, and perform stably in key rounds. Whether it is OA sprint or technical deep round, the more prepared you are, the higher your passing rate will be.
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