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Optiver

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Optiver

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Optiver Reviews

Updated Nov 29, 2023

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Found 418 of over 539 reviews
3.8
71% Recommend to a Friend

Found 404 of over 539 reviews

3.8
71%
Recommend to a Friend

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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment

Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor

Pros
  • "Great perks and people to work with(in 57 reviews)
  • "Support from employees, good culture(in 48 reviews)
  • "Good pay (they'll almost always beat any competitor)(in 26 reviews)
  • "+ excellent work life balance(in 23 reviews)
  • "Good benefits but all come with sacrifices(in 22 reviews)
Cons

Ratings by Demographics

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This rating reflects the overall rating of Optiver and is not affected by filters.

    1. 5.0
      Nov 13, 2023
      Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee
      Recommend
      CEO Approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Surrounded by the smartest people in their respective fields who all push to be better and also push you to be better

      Cons

      Feedback can be harsh but at the same time it is usually warranted

      1. 2.0
        Nov 29, 2023
        Trader
        Current Employee, more than 3 years
        Recommend
        CEO Approval
        Business Outlook

        Pros

        High mid-career compensation relative to other mid-tier firms in the industry. 25 vacation days each year.

        Cons

        Political. There's a lot of people in upper management who obviously didn't get there through merit (just look at the number of business majors!) You'll have more success as a sycophant than as a competent trader. Coworkers are unintelligent. Seriously, ask someone here a math question. There's a 10% chance they'll be able to answer and most people here just cheated through the interviews. The company's success is more due to their willingness to take risk and the relatively few players in the space than anything else. Cutthroat environment. Traders here are unhelpful and often play weird games to make themselves look better. Disorganized. Because traders don't do anything that's not in their personal best interest, it's hard for anything collaborative to succeed from the trading side. Opaque. Optiver's transparent about how much everyone makes, but management decisions are shrouded in mystery. No one will ever give you feedback on how you're doing until your end of year review and you may be assigned to a different desk with no warning or personal input, including desks with overnight hours.

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        1. 4.0
          Oct 26, 2023
          Compliance Analyst
          Former Employee, more than 1 year
          Chicago, IL
          Recommend
          CEO Approval
          Business Outlook

          Pros

          Food, Culture, Dynamic, Brilliant Colleagues

          Cons

          Middle management, poor hiring/firing procedures, still figuring out how to scale

          1. 4.0
            Nov 10, 2023
            Junior Software Developer
            Former Employee
            Recommend
            CEO Approval
            Business Outlook

            Pros

            a lot of opportunities around the firm

            Cons

            long hours, not others really

            1. 2.0
              Nov 15, 2023
              Junior Trader
              Former Employee, less than 1 year
              Chicago, IL
              Recommend
              CEO Approval
              Business Outlook

              Pros

              Dynamic and Challenging Environment Collaborative and Innovative Culture

              Cons

              Highly Competitive Environment Market Volatility Impact

              1. 4.0
                Oct 1, 2023
                Quantatitive Researcher
                Current Employee
                Chicago, IL
                Recommend
                CEO Approval
                Business Outlook

                Pros

                Very good salary and working environment

                Cons

                a little bit stressful, need to work hard

                1. 5.0
                  Sep 12, 2023
                  Trader
                  Current Employee
                  Recommend
                  CEO Approval
                  Business Outlook

                  Pros

                  good environment, nice colleagues and nice Working experience

                  Cons

                  Sometimes getting a little bit tired during night session

                  1. 3.0
                    Sep 21, 2023
                    Software Engineer
                    Former Employee, more than 1 year
                    Chicago, IL
                    Recommend
                    CEO Approval
                    Business Outlook

                    Pros

                    Compensated well, working with very talented people and well designed systems. Nice office, lots of perks

                    Cons

                    Wasn't a very supportive environment, didn't really need to be since they compensate so well. Autonomy highly expected, positive feedback optional. Worked average of 49 hours a week

                    1
                    1. 1.0
                      Sep 17, 2023
                      Trading
                      Former Employee
                      Recommend
                      CEO Approval
                      Business Outlook

                      Pros

                      Pay is above industry average

                      Cons

                      Comically political dressed as high performance in all offices, APAC being the worst but Ams/Chicago are not far behind A lot of mediocre people get to the top if they know how to play the game here Prepare to become a wage slave, the team leads and senior traders here have no life and they praise each other for the WLB that they sacrifice

                      4
                      1. 5.0
                        Aug 13, 2023
                        Quantitative Researcher
                        Current Employee
                        Chicago, IL
                        Recommend
                        CEO Approval
                        Business Outlook

                        Pros

                        High salary and good colleagues

                        Cons

                        No cons and no pros

                      Viewing 1 - 10 of 404 Reviews
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                      Optiver Reviews FAQs

                      Optiver has an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5, based on over 539 reviews left anonymously by employees. 71% of employees would recommend working at Optiver to a friend and 76% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -10% over the last 12 months.

                      According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Optiver employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Optiver. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

                      71% of Optiver employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Optiver 3.3 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.6 for culture and values and 3.9 for career opportunities.

                      According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at Optiver to be career development, benefits, culture and the cons to be work life balance, management.

                      Popular Careers with Optiver Job Seekers

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                      Interview Tips

                      Feel free to post any interview questions you might be asked and I’ll help you compose an effective response :)

                      Morgan Stanley

                      In an interview is it a good practice to draw examples for answering situational questions from the most recent and relevant experience or should I draw examples from other previous experiences as well?

                      1
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                      Morgan Stanley

                      In an interview is it a good practice to draw examples for answering situational questions from the most recent and relevant experience or should I draw examples from other previous experiences as well?

                      1
                      0 Comments

                      University of Chicago

                      Doing my first behavioral interview with Guidehouse and wondering if anyone has any advice on practice questions for the behavioral interview I might be able to practice with, prep, and map out a STAR response to ahead of time. This is my first time interviewing in this industry and am first gen so feeling nervous, this any advice and tips are much appreciated.

                      1
                      0 Comments

                      Glassdoor has 539 Optiver reviews submitted anonymously by Optiver employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Optiver is right for you.