During his first internship, Jason is immersed in Optiver’s culture of collaboration and gets a clearer view of how trading actually works.

Was there a defining lesson from your first internship?

A few lessons stood out to me—both personal and professional. On a personal level, I realized how important it is to genuinely enjoy your work and the people you do it with. Tough days are inevitable in any job, but having supportive teammates makes a huge difference.

Professionally, I started to see that some of the skills that make people successful in trading aren’t technical: sound decision-making, open and honest feedback, and the confidence to ask for help. As a quant trader, you’re constantly working with incomplete information, so having a strong thought process and acting decisively is key. Equally important is the ability to reflect, adapt and improve over time. The best people I worked with never hesitated to ask questions and had a constant drive to learn. That mindset is critical, especially in an industry that’s constantly evolving.

What’s the culture like in the Chicago office?

The Chicago office culture is incredibly collaborative and welcoming, shaped by two core beliefs: good ideas can come from anyone, and your teammates’ success benefits you, too. Unlike other firms, Optiver empowers people to make an impact right away. Quant trading is a fast-moving industry where we need to constantly innovate to remain competitive. Because of this, the firm encourages people to contribute as soon as they step onto the floor.

Support is built into the culture. Whether it’s one-on-one meetings, answering trading questions, or helping move projects forward, people genuinely want each other to succeed. The profit-sharing model reinforces this: when your team does well, everyone benefits. Across the board, the people here are curious, value autonomy, love exploring new challenges, and want to work on cool projects.

What was your experience working with other interns?

My intern class was great. I think Optiver did a great job fostering an environment where everyone could learn from anyone. It was fascinating to see how others in my class approached different problems. When you are first starting, there are a million things to learn and explore. On your own, there are not enough hours in the day. But with a team mentality, you can share what you discovered and then also learn from those around you.

The social side of the internship was just as memorable. We had a bunch of large group activities so we could get to know each other better—some of my favorites included a boat to go out on the lake, beach volleyball and nice dinners downtown. We also had smaller outings with our “buddy group” where a few interns and full-timers would plan fun activities to explore Chicago together. My group went to a comedy show! I was honestly surprised by how outgoing and welcoming everyone was – it made returning for another internship, and later joining full-time, an easy decision.

In Part 3, we follow Jason abroad to Optiver’s Amsterdam office for his second summer with us, where trading real capital, spotting pricing inefficiencies, and being fully embedded in the team marked a major turning point.