IIT Hyderabad student bags Rs 2.5 crore job offer by the only company he interviewed for

Edward Nathan Varghese, a final-year student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad, has been the talk of the town after he got the record Rs 2.5-crore placement offer from a Netherlands-based company, Optiver. This, according to IITH, is the highest package ever received by a student in the history of the institution, since its commencement in 2008.

Who is Edward Nathan Varghese?

Edward Nathan Varghese is an IIT Hyderabad final-year student who will start working as a software engineer at the global trading firm Optiver in July. The 21-year-old got the offer after turning a two-month internship into a preplacement offer (PPO).

Add Zee Business as a Preferred Source

He was born and raised in Hyderabad, and then shifted to Bengaluru to study from class 7 to 12.

Mentioning his interest, he wrote on his LinkedIn profile, "My interests span algorithms, competitive programming, finance and management. I'm eager to explore these domains and connect with like-minded individuals."

Varghese, a Computer Science and Engineering student, described his internship at Optiver on LinkedIn: “Worked on CI/CD and automation for cloud infrastructure at the firm. Received a full-time return offer.”

According to the post, his work spanned critical automation projects, which earned him the coveted full-time position post-graduation.

Edward Varghese's competitive programming credentials

Varghese has also given prominence to his competitive programming statistics and acknowledged his feats, such as:

1) Codeforces: Candidate Master (max rating 2079)

2) Codechef: 6 Stars, max rating 2263

3) ICPC: 4-time regional finalist, best rank: 12th at Chennai 2025

Additionally, he worked with IIT Hyderabad’s programming club Infero, where he was Head Overall and Core Member, to promote and mentor the competitive programming culture at the institute.

Edward Varghese's professional and leadership roles at IIT Hyderabad

Varghese has been a leader in several capacities at IIT Hyderabad:

1) Overall Head, Office of Career Services (OCS), where he was in charge of a staff of eight student managers and 250 coordinators from five cell groups and facilitated the initiatives that empower students in their career development through placements, internships, and other opportunities.

2) Internship Cell Coordinator, where his responsibility was to liaise with over 30 companies, including Cisco, Zinnia, Yokogawa, and Imaginarium, among others, for placement drives.

3) Furthermore, he was a member of the Board of Strategic Advisors, IICPC, and contributed in a part-time advisory capacity.

IIT Hyderabad Placement season highlights

IIT Hyderabad, in an X post, confirming a media report about Varghese's offer, said that the institute "records an outstanding placement season in 2025, with 24 international offers secured and average packages increasing by 75 per cent."

It further added that "this success reflects the combined efforts of our talented students, dedicated faculty, and the Office of Career Services (OCS), IIT Hyderabad, which plays a vital role in facilitating recruiter engagement, student preparation, and global outreach."

About Optiver: The global firm that offered Varghese the record offer

Optiver, the company that Varghese will be working with as a full-time employee, is one of the global electronic market-making firms with its branches in Amsterdam, Sydney, Chicago, Austin, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, and Singapore.

The company is active in various financial markets and provides liquidity in listed derivatives, cash equities, ETFs, bonds, and foreign currencies. According to the company, it stresses on ESG products and technological advancement, which makes it one of the places for finance and technology talents globally.