I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Optiver in Aug 2014
Interview
First the mathematical test. This was rather easy, while I expected it to be hard. Made a fair amount of mistakes which got me in the grey area (so just passed it as I was close to the line).
Secondly the HR interview: They warned me I had to impress them as my test was not that good. It went fairly well while they build up the pressure on me.
Technical interview was hard and I was slow with using the small hints and tricks to establish a strategy and the general market making method.
Lastly the market making game which was extremely difficult if you don't have experience with it. I had to provide prices and transactions for two traders who had their own small exchange with common products. It was very chaotic and there was a lot of pressure.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Unexpected: what are the biggest competitors internationally and how is Optiver doing it when compared to them? (I focused more on the Netherlands).
The test meeting is nothing to be too worried about if you have decent understanding of maths (B/A in GCSE). You are negatively marked for incorrect answers by 2, and negatively marked for skipping a question by 1. So if you are unsure, just skip the question. For the Wholesale position You just need a pass mark of 40 out of 80 so my advise would be take your time and do not worry yourself about the answering every question.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Most difficult factor is the time limit, 80 questions in 8 minutes works out to be 6 seconds per question but it is possible (there was a guy at my test meeting who answered all 80 and all were correct!).
I applied online. I interviewed at Optiver (London, England) in Sept 2014
Interview
Numerical test based on ergonomics than numerical skills. There were over 100 people at one interview so the rooms were cramped resulting in the process being extremely disorganised. Even if you pass the numerical tests I have heard of candidates not being
invited for an interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Numerical questions with three sheets of paper with format such as 3/5+? =85/90
The format of the questions makes the test challenging. It is not a numerical test as much as an ergonomics test.
