Software Developer Intern
DRW · Chicago, IL
$225,000from the description
Jul 14, 2026
Chicago, IL
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A ten-week summer internship at a proprietary trading firm where interns build and deploy performance-sensitive software for trading and risk systems. Day-to-day work may involve writing exchange data decoders, market data normalizers, or trade communication tools. The role suits students in computer science or related technical fields with grounding in object-oriented programming and an interest in low-latency or systems-level development.
Junior level · Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI · Internship
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 4,350 people in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 3,250–5,600
Applicant volume Heavy — This req sits in a large pool with little in its requirements to thin it, and auto-apply tools fire at everything in the occupation. Applying early and leading with the rare skills below is what gets read.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $137,335 (middle half $106,829–$171,337). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
This is a 10-week summer internship, not a full-time role. The $225,000 figure is listed as an 'annual base salary range' — this is almost certainly an annualized equivalent of the intern's hourly/weekly pay, not a full-year salary.
The JD lists C++, Python, or Java as a single interchangeable requirement under the requirements section ('excellent software development skills in C++, Python, or Java'). C++ is emitted as the primary must-have with Python and Java as alternatives; Python and Java are also listed separately as preferred to reflect that any one of the three satisfies the gate.
Network programming (TCP/IP), multithreading, computational intelligence, algorithms, real-time programming, and GUI programming are framed as 'exposure to' — explicitly optional/nice-to-have language — so they are marked preferred. Only TCP/IP and multithreading are concrete named technologies; the others (computational intelligence, algorithms, real-time programming, GUI programming) are concepts/methodologies and are omitted per extraction rules.
The role requires active pursuit of a Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in a relevant discipline with an expected graduation date between December 2027 and June 2028. No completed degree is required, so the degree requirement is set to None.
Seniority is set to Junior given this is a student internship role with no professional experience requirement.
Posting is for a internship engagement — the market benchmarks below price full-time roles, so read the comp comparison with that in mind.
Read the full posting
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