u/izo_dii

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I recently applied for the Optiver FPGA Internship (2027 Start) and somehow got invited to the online assessment.

Here is the honest truth: I am completely underqualified. My only background is a couple projects, like a UART project, and an stm32 project. Plus, im going into 2nd year, and as a MEng student (4 year course) my "main" internship application year is next year.

However, I want to use this as a reconnaissance mission. I know HFT firms like Optiver have incredibly high technical bars, so I want to take the test just to see what they expect, brain-dump everything afterward, and use it as a study roadmap for when I apply to grad roles next year.

The email states it's a 90-minute proctored HackerRank test (desktop app) consisting of:

• Multiple-choice questions
• "Complete the sentence" questions
• Coding questions

Since I have exactly one week until the deadline, I have a few questions for anyone who has taken this or works in HFT:

1. What kind of theory shows up on the MCQs? Should I be looking into Clock Domain Crossing (CDC), timing analysis, computer architecture, networking protocols?
2. What are the typical coding prompts? Are we talking sequence detectors, FIFOs, arbiters, state machines?

I have absolutely nothing to lose here, so any advice on what to look out for during my "recon mission" would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

Background & Current Situation: I have just finished my first year of an MEng in Computer Systems Engineering at a target UK university. I am preparing for the 2027 summer internship cycle, which opens in the next month or two.

Target Roles & Locations: My main targets are FPGA RTL Design, Bare-Metal Firmware, and Quant/HFT roles (e.g., Jane Street, Optiver), as well as stable hardware roles in the British Defence sector (BAE, Leonardo, etc.). I am currently located in England and applying primarily to UK-based internships. I am fully willing to relocate domestically for the summer.

Citizenship Status: I am a UK National (SC-Eligible), meaning I do not require visa sponsorship and am eligible for defense roles. (Note: I plan to remove the "SC-Eligible" tag when applying to HFTs, keeping it only for Defence contractors).

Why I'm Seeking Help / What I Changed: I posted an earlier version of this CV elsewhere and got roasted for having an "exaggerated first-year" vibe. I have since completely overhauled the document based on that feedback. I moved Work Experience to the top, removed basic fluff (like listing .gitignore as a skill), and grounded my main HFT hardware project by focusing on the £3,000 grant and the actual architectural work I am doing.

I also went through the subreddit wiki thoroughly: I switched the LaTeX font to Palatino for screen readability, unmasked my URLs, fixed my dates to use exact months instead of seasons, and removed all in-text bolding from my bullet points.

Specific Feedback Requested:

1. Technical Density: Are the bullet points under my Projects and Work Experience too technically dense for a first-round, non-technical recruiter to parse, or is this the exact right level of detail for the engineering managers who will read it next?
2. General Polish: Are there any glaring issues, readability problems, or wiki formatting errors I've missed before applications officially open?

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thank you for the feedback all. This is applying for the 2027 internship cycle, I have just completed my first year of university. Changes were - Work experience moved to the top. Reworded the Quantum angle of the internship (talked more about c++, parsing etc) The Leadership and Extracurriculars section was removed and the project was put at the top, and explained much more than simply stating that we received a grant. Also it says a future date, we have been approved for the grant but it's given to us in september (why its a future date and not May 2026 or something). Removed the 'using git' bullet point. Added back an old project I completed that previously wasn't on there as there was space. Instead of saying "ubuntu 24.04", I have just written Linux in the Technical Skills section as some said its better. The Header line thing doesn't say Quantum research anymore. Also added Expected Graduation instead of saying "present". I have made the bullet points very specific and technical, is it too much, I could just say STM32 instead of the full name as it goes through a recruiter first, who could be non technical. Also will remove the SC-Eligible from some applications (the hft internship ones).

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