Optiver

pass is at 55.

i was ment to attend the london test too (2nd, may). i didnt go cus i didn't want to waste my time. btw, as far as location goes it was miles off london so thats another reason. also, i don't want to relocate to amsterdam. plus ive heard the trader team in amsterdam r bunch of assholes.
 
seems like you are quite experienced in this business.
can u tell me more about it? I'm a totally new comer in trading. I was applying for IB before, and just realised there are oppurtunities in trading firms as well.

cheers
 
Hey, I have an on-site interview with Optiver-Chicago. Could someone please tell me what I can expect. I am told I will meet with the CEO and CTO and also the traders in the firm. What kind of questions should I be prepared for?
 
freakygolfer was ur post to me? if u're in london their are plenty of prop houses (20+) if you can't find them, let me know.. Ill tell u exactly how to apply and wot u'll go through..

SPORTING, expect to get grilled.. the way to approach a grilling interview is to be calm like a ice cube no matter what puzzling question they ask you - even if u get it wrong they'll test how u handle pressure.

they'll ask u about why u want to join them/trade with them, what do u know about their business, wot do u know about market making trading, whats beta? delta? gamma? whats 20x31? what makes u think u can be a successful trader when 99.9999999% fail? etc..

u might not exactly be asked the above, but generally some form of it, esp. puzzling questions and arithmetic.. if u have 10 balls in a bag, one blue bla bla bla , wots a the prob of picking the red..

sounds like ur in the final round, you have a real real chance of gtting the job, less than 10% of candidates reach this stage, good luck..
 
hey batman28, thanks for replying to my post. I am doing my masters in engineering and dont have much of a financial background. I am reading hull like I've been told. This is what scares me...I can only read so much in the time thats been given..what level of understanding do you think they'd expect. I dont think I can read the whole book in less than a week?
 
more typical questions..

how many cents can u fill in this room?

wots the current interest rates?

if u have a cube, made of 10x10 smaller cubes, how many r facing the outside?

whats the cac? wots its current price? is it more than 6 months ago?

if u had 1million and could invest it, where would u, or how would u invest it?

who is optivers main competitors? - name all the market makers u know..

wots a straddle, strangle, butterfly?

wot makes a good trader?

whos your idol? name some big bad boy trader.. don't chat shit like michael jackson..

r u money motivated? - YES YES YES

wots a derivative, option, future? - it's simple, but its a typical question. give a solid definition..

wots technical analysis?

wots fundamental analysis?

tel me about a time you took a big risk? say u traded some stocks with ur student loan or credit card or something like that.. and made some money with it..
 
sporting, don't waste your time reading a whole book, it won't help you. as far as financial knowledge is concerned - you need to have market-awareness, e.g.:

current interest rates of ECB, BoE, the fed

SPX, FTSE, NASDAQ, etc. have a quick look at them on the day you're going in.. and know how they've behaved over the last year.

wots a option/future? know how options are priced if u want to spend hours reading. definately know the greeks and wot they mean..

to get picked u don't need to be some financial guru.. in fact they hardly recruit people like that, maths is much more important to them - something i never understand..

generally, if you want to spend hours reading, think about how interest rates might affect equities or exchange rates, or other market factors.. e.g. if the fed hikes the rates to 6% wot would happen in the futures market? these r more advanced questions but if you'r reading a whole book u might aswell learn these.

definately know straddles, they constantly use it.. even if they don't directly ask u about it, u might use it when descibing how u might take a position on a trading scenario.. i'm surprised u'r not given a simualtion, typically you're given a trading simulation with other candidates..

hope that helps.
 
Quote from sporting:

I am reading hull like I've been told.
More...

hehehe.. if you're reading hull you won't need anything else, assuming u cover every page of it. just have a quick look at the market on the day going in too, and you're done.
 
so you suggest i read hull as much as i can and have an idea of other things you've mentioned? easier said than done but i'll give it my best shot because i want this job. But what is this about simulation? I was never told of such a thing. When I went for the test, the person there told me to read up on options,futures (hull,in short). Nothing more...(:( )..so could you tell me what the simulation is? On a diferent note, did you interview with optiver?
 
hull is very dense, and if i was to cover it for an interivew i'd pretty much ignore the proofs/long calculations etc. id just grasp the ideas.

i haven't interview with optiver, but i know people who have, ive interview with other market makers and theyr all the same.. same questions.. i had a optiver test last month i didn't go to, cus i know i won't pass it. they've emailed me again to sit it in june but again im not going. im just not up to scratch for the test, if i was to pass it i need to practice alot and right now i got other exams.

simulation - i ment a trading simulation, basically you trade with other candidates.. for example, they'll give u a product, you don't know its price, and then u must give bids/offers to trade. it's really fun. it's wot u do as a market maker. and at the end of it some mke money n somes dont.. it's a zero-sum game..

good luck
 
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