Dimensional Fund Advisors Interview Questions

68 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (96%)

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.

3.9
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (84%)

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.

2.6
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (85%)

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.

53%
  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%
  • 80%
  • 90%
  • 100%

Interviews at Dimensional Fund Advisors

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
2nd Year Associate
Year 2018
Job Title 2nd Year Associate
Group/Division Investments
Location Charlotte
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Investment Grade Finance
Location Austin
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Easy
Research Analyst
Year 2018
Job Title Research Analyst
Group/Division Research
Location Austin
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Generalist
Location Austin
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2018
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division N/A
Location Austin
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2018
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Generalist
Location Austin
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Portfolio Management
Location Chicago
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Investment Management
Location Austin
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2018
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investments
Location London Borough of Camden
Experience
Negative
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2017
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Research
Location Charlotte
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Easy

Interview Questions & Answers - Dimensional Fund Advisors Examples

Global Client Group Internship Interview - Sales

Anonymous employee in Charlotte
Interviewed: October 2023
Date Submitted: Oct 20, 2023
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Other
Interview
The interview process consisted of a Zoom screening with the campus recruiter, followed by a Zoom interview with a Director, and then finally a superday featuring 5 back-to-back interviews with people at various levels in the company. Most questions were behavioral, while some focused on the company's investment philosophy. I would suggest heavily researching the firm and having a strong narrative related to why you would like to join them.
Interview Questions
What is something you think that Dimensional does wrong or could improve upon?
Sample Answer

Analyst Interview - Portfolio Management

Anonymous employee in
Interviewed: November 2022
Date Submitted: Nov 30, 2022
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Skills Test
Background Check
Interview
4 rounds. 1st round virtual with Singapore Analyst. 2nd round onsite with entire Singapore PM team + Excel test. 3rd round with virtual Australian Snr PM. 4th round casual lunch with Singapore PM team.
Interview Questions
know dimensional's philosophy, fama french and trade execution
Sample Answer

Intern Interview - Research

Anonymous employee in Austin
Interviewed: October 2022
Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2022
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
The first round was with HR. Asked about the investment philosophy, why I wanted to work for DFA, resume questions. The second round was more technical.
Interview Questions
How do you think our conversation today went?
Sample Answer

Research Analyst Intern Interview - Research

Anonymous interview candidate in Austin
Interviewed: October 2020
Date Submitted: Nov 16, 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Applied through on campus portal and HR reached out to set up a zoom meeting. 30 min zoom behavioral interview plus asked about French-Fama and things like that. Must know alot about company cultutre and mention their youtube channel and blog.
Interview Questions
Typical behavioral questions but the most unexpected was asked to explain exactly what the Fama French Model was and how they discovered it.
Sample Answer

Investment Solutions Group Interview - Advisory

Anonymous interview candidate in Austin
Interviewed: October 2020
Date Submitted: Oct 20, 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
2-3 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Zoom conversation with HR, phone conversation with ISG professional, and a final superday with multiple members of the investment solutions gorup.
Interview Questions
They ask about what you know about the Fama and French 3 factor model. You don't really have to know the specifics, but do know why you would use it over a typical CAPM and how that informs Dimensional's Investment Strategy.
Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Asset Management

Anonymous employee in Austin
Interviewed: July 2020
Date Submitted: Aug 19, 2020
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
1 HR call, followed by 2 technical rounds over phone consisting of mostly SQL and OOPS questions, and 2 zoom interviews with Vice Presidents.
Interview Questions
1. What will you do if your update web service call is stuck?
Sample Answer

Summer Analyst - Research Interview - Quantitative Research

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte
Interviewed: December 2019
Date Submitted: Mar 01, 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Had a coffee chat with a portfolio manager. Submitted an application online. Received skype interview with an HR rep and less than one hour after the skype interview, received a first round phone interview with an analyst.
Interview Questions
SQL querying, how to do inner joins, how to do calculations in sql, reading and writing tables and some introductory database design. Python - pandas, numpy: write some pseudo code for that waits for input. Questions about Fama french and efficient market hypothesis. How is fama french constructed, what are the different forms of efficient markets. Do you believe in efficient markets, why or why not. If you have sorted your fama french portfolios, how would you make sure you have at least some exposure to the market overall.
Sample Answer

Research Analyst Intern Interview - Research

Anonymous interview candidate in Charlotte, NC, USA
Interviewed: January 2020
Date Submitted: Feb 11, 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
3 rounds of interview. First round with HR, surprisingly lots of technical questions about basic programming, etc. Second round with an analyst over phone, last round superday. 4 Interviews and a lunch with an analyst.
Interview Questions
Talk about the 3-factor paper, 5-factor paper. Intuition behind them. EMH. t-statistics and its interpretation. What I have done in my coursework, what class do I like the best, and follow up questions on those. Very detailed questions on resume, they asked about pretty much every little detail on my resume. My experience with data analytics, and modeling. Some fixed income questions because I said I had a fixed income class. Also, the HR round actually asks a bunch of technical questions, so be prepared for that.
Sample Answer

Researcher Interview - Quantitative Research

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: July 2017
Date Submitted: Dec 08, 2019
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
The main questions were about:
1. Efficient Market Hypothesis;
2. Why do you want to work at Dimensional?
3. Explain the Fama-French 3 factor model
4. Tell me about a project you have previously worked on.
Interview Questions
There are a lot of questions they ask that are very similar to each other:
1. State the Efficient Market Hypothesis;
2. Why would you like to work at Dimensional?
3. Explain the Fama-French 3 factor model in detail.
4. What other additional factors do we use in our research?
5. Why is momentum not profitable?

All of these questions are based on materials they provide for you before the interview. The recruiter contacts you with a list of things you should go over before the actual interview. I would also recommend googling some recent news about them.
Sample Answer

Intern Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in Austin
Interviewed: January 2018
Date Submitted: Oct 18, 2019
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Applied online through career portal, then receveied a request to complete a phone interview that was mostly behavioral.
Interview Questions
Just a first round interview so there was nothing too out of the ordinary. Biggest things to note were why you are interested in the firm and the specific role. Know a little bit of background about the firm so that you sound like you've done your research. Additionally, make sure that you know exactly what position you've applied for and what separates this firm from all other asset managers. The firm does pretty niche work so this point shouldn't be too hard to get across in a pretty straight forward manner.
Sample Answer