Hedge Fund Interview Process Timeline

Background: I met a L/S multi-billion $ hedge fund PM at a conference, he told me he was growing his team and we exchanged info. I later did a phone interview, two in office interviews where I met with five people in total and performed an in office modeling test. I was finally asked to perform a case study on a company.

Fast forward eight weeks since I submitted the case study, for which I was given a week and spent maybe 40 hours total, I have heard barely a peep out of them. I received an email from the PM confirming receipt of the case study and got a call from HR who told me that it was early in the process and that I would be called back in for another interview when candidates had been whittled down.

I don't want to pester the PM and I understand that he was likely consumed with earnings for the past month so I reached out to HR a couple weeks ago and they told me to be patient. I understand that it can be a long process but should I assume that I'm out of contention? Or is it possibly standard to take this long? Probably just stressing for no reason but any insight from someone who has gone through the process would be helpful. Thanks

12 Comments
 

You need to believe man. Do you believe in life after love?

On another note, 8 weeks seems like a very long time. Did you ever ask when the potential employee would start working?

 

I'd sit still. Maybe theyve been too busy to really think about the hiring process. No need to sound desperate or annoy the PM. Also, gotta believe that HR is being honest with you re: patience and that they'd be professional enough to tell you that you're out of contention if you are.

 

Do you have previous top tier IBD experience or experience at a top tier fund. If not, what the f*** do you expect? Hedge fund jobs are extremely hard to get.

Sounds like you got dinged.. 8 weeks? No.. Maybe if were 4 rounds of interviews it could take 2 months.. but if you haven't even done round 1, that doesn't sound too good.

 

Relax bud, no need to be a dick. IBD experience makes no difference on the timeline. Don't forget earnings season so things get busy...

wikileaksDo you have previous top tier IBD experience or experience at a top tier fund. If not, what the f*** do you expect? Hedge fund jobs are extremely hard to get.

Sounds like you got dinged.. 8 weeks? No.. Maybe if were 4 rounds of interviews it could take 2 months.. but if you haven't even done round 1, that doesn't sound too good.

 

Like people said - interview processes can last a long time - and involve multiple courtships. That being said... in my experience, if they like you (kind of like a trade) they aren't going to sit around and not move things forward as quickly as possible.

I think 8 weeks is excessively long to not get a respond back either way - and you should contact the PM and ask the status . People do get busy and he just might have forgotten, but most likely one or two things is happening: 1) they are looking at other people 2) you are good enough to keep around in case but not anything pressing 3) people hate giving bad news (though I think this is poor form - you need both constructive and negative feedback)

Good luck.

 

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