Commonfund Interview Questions

7 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (92%)

The Interview Experience is a score from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the donut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire dataset.

4.2
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (71%)

The Interview Difficulty is a score ranging from very difficult (red) to very easy (green) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more insights, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire data set.

2.5
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (52%)

The % of Interns Getting a Full Time Offer chart is meant to provide a realistic estimate of the hiring practices of the company based on the reviews at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few reviews). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to the simple company average and away from the average of the entire data set.

50%
  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%
  • 80%
  • 90%
  • 100%

Interviews at Commonfund

Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Intern
Year 2021
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Generalist
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2021
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Generalist
Location Wilkins
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2019
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Business Development
Location New York
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Very Easy
Intern
Year 2019
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Asset Management
Location Wilton, CT, USA
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2017
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Investment Management
Location Weston
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2017
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division N/A
Location Wilton
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2013
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Commonfund Capital
Location Wilton
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Easy

Interview Questions & Answers - Commonfund Examples

Intern Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: October 2021
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Interview
Consisted of 1 phone interview, then three separate video 1on 1s once you have passed the subsequent interview.
Interview Questions
Walk me through a DCF. What if you used levered instead of unlevered free cash flow?

Business Development Intern Interview - Business Development

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: November 2019
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Was a very quick and easy process. Applied online to multiple positions within the firm, HR emailed back asking for a phone interview. Only one interview and then accepted the position.
Interview Questions
There was not any.

Asset Management Intern Interview - Asset Management

Anonymous interview candidate in Wilton, CT, USA
Interviewed: November 2019
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Submitted online app from a Linkedin posting. Was contacted a few weeks later and was later interviewed by one analyst and one associate over the phone. After the initial phone interview, I was ghosted.
Interview Questions
Nothing too difficult. Mainly questions about my background and past internship experiences. The group i was interviewing for was only looking for one intern so fit was obviously incredibly important. Some questions included: In your opinion, what is the ideal portfolio for a large pension fund? How might an endowment fund's portfolio differ from that of a pension plan? What are some different kinds of private equity investments (co-investments, secondary, direct investments, etc.) Why did you choose your school?

Investment Associate Interview - Investment Management

Anonymous interview candidate in Weston
Interviewed: March 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Recruiter put me in contact with junior members of investment team, scheduled interview from there for about an hour. All interview questions were fair and straightforward, heavy bias was toward technical questions, especially with regard to prior/current work experience rather than say, straight technical brainteaser. Also asked to walk interviewers through investment case study.
Interview Questions
Hyper specific questions with regard to analysis done in job prior to current role. They were fair questions but not something I would remember precisely (or would expect others to remember) off the top of my head given I had role over a year prior whereas, if asked with regard to current role I think more realistic. I was able to give rough approximations, which they seemed to be totally fine with (don't think they actually expected an exact answer). Given it was a first round, I definitely did not expect the intensity or complexity of the questions, which is entirely my fault. I expected largely a "screen" with broader background questions so I took the interview during a rather busy time at current role and was fairly braindead for interview as a result. Again, my mistake. But would suggest to all those interviewing to make an effort to thoroughly review/study up as first round was a-typical (in my experience) in terms of topics/questions.

Analyst - Strategic Group Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in Wilton
Interviewed: January 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Group Interview
Interview
Set up phone interview with director of HR and director of strategic group and then contacted to go in for an in person interview.
Interview Questions
They were interested in learning background of an Investment Policy Statement that many Institutional Investors have as a guideline for their investment process. Mainly talked about what they do and the main weaknesses that there are with an Investment Policy Statement. Asked what a good asset allocation would be for a Foundation and Compare that to an asset allocation of a Pension Fund. What is the typical range in an assets allocation can differ from its investment policy statement as most include only target percentages?

First-Year Analyst Interview - Commonfund Capital

Anonymous interview candidate in Wilton
Interviewed: January 2013
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
3-4 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Other
Interview
Long process involving a recruiter. Initial phone screen with recruiter. Then an hour-long phone interview. Then an Excel test. Then a 6-hour in-person interview where you meet around 8-10 people and do another Excel test. The interviews are mostly behavioral and background related, without much technical aspects. The two Excel tests are not hard either, focusing mainly on formatting, consistency, documentation (i.e. footnoting things), and attention to detail. The process lasts a long time - multiple months - but the people at Commonfund Capital are incredibly nice and caring.
Interview Questions
The Excel tests were the hardest part. Attention to detail, formatting, consistency, and footnoting are key parts here.
One person did ask me a lot of questions regarding "Tell me a time where you..." and included "failed," "failed with a team," "went against what you were told but succeeded," "got in trouble," etc.