IIT Hyderabad student bags Rs 2.5 crore offer, institute’s highest package since 2008. About Edward Varghese

The 2025 placement season also reflected a broader improvement in outcomes at IIT Hyderabad.

A final-year computer science engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH), secured a Rs 2.5 crore job offer during the 2025 placement season, marking the highest package recorded by the institute since its establishment in 2008.

The offer was received by Edward Nathan Varghese, 21, who will join Optiver, a Netherlands-based global trading firm, as a software engineer from July. The appointment followed the conversion of a two-month summer internship into a pre-placement offer (PPO).

According to IIT Hyderabad, the package is the largest ever offered to a student at the institute. The previous highest offer stood at around Rs 1 crore, recorded in 2017.

Speaking to The Times of India, Varghese said Optiver was the only company he interviewed with during the placement process. “This was the first and only company I interviewed for. I was ecstatic when my mentor indicated that the firm would be extending me an offer. So were my parents,” he said.

Varghese, who was born and raised in Hyderabad and later completed his schooling in Bengaluru from Class 7 to Class 12, said he remained confident despite a broader slowdown in hiring. “I knew that the IIT tag would draw companies to our campus and that the effect of the present job market would be minimal,” he said.

He added that his early focus on competitive programming played a significant role. “Since first year of engineering, I was into competitive programming and among the top 100 in the country. That too helped me crack the interview, along with the curriculum that gave us the option to do a wide range of courses. I was lucky to get a PPO.”

While two students were selected for the Optiver internship programme, Varghese was the only one to receive a full-time offer. The internship comprised two weeks of training followed by a six-week project. He will be based at the firm’s Netherlands office.

Beyond placements, Varghese has held multiple leadership roles on campus. As per his LinkedIn profile, he served as Overall Head at the Office of Career Services at IIT Hyderabad, leading eight student managers and nearly 250 coordinators. Prior to that, he worked as an Internship Cell Coordinator for close to 11 months.

Academically, Varghese secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 1100 in JEE Main and AIR 558 in JEE Advanced in 2022. He also appeared for the Common Admission Test (CAT) in 2025, scoring a 99.96 percentile and securing rank 120.

The 2025 placement season also reflected a broader improvement in outcomes at IIT Hyderabad. The average package rose by approximately 75 per cent compared to the previous year, increasing from Rs 20.8 lakh in 2024 to Rs 36.2 lakh in 2025. During Phase 1 of placements, which concluded in December, students received 24 international offers, The Times of India reported.

Mayur Vaidya, Faculty-in-Charge of the Office of Career Services, said the institute’s focus extended beyond headline packages. “More than packages, our target is to ensure that all students who want to get placed receive a good offer,” he said. “Along with tech jobs, we are also concentrating on providing good opportunities to core engineering students by giving PSUs and core engineering companies early slots.”

Vaidya added that outreach efforts were ongoing to attract more recruiters by highlighting the institute’s flexible academic calendar and course diversity. He said Phase 2 of placements was expected to see more postgraduate students placed with domestic firms.

As of now, 196 postgraduate students out of a total of 650 have received offers, with an average package of Rs 22 lakh. Among undergraduate students, 62 per cent of the 487 who registered for placements have secured jobs.