Questions about Bridgewater / Reading Philosophy?

  1. What is the day-to-day work of an investment associate right out of college?

  2. How much do they care about GPA, and what is their approximate threshold to get a 1st round interview?

  3. I asked someone from my college who will work for them this summer (he's extremely smart), and I asked him about his interview process, and he said "it's all philosophy, you just need to read a lot of philosophy and you should be good"... I'm not sure how to interpret that... Does reading philosophy really help in the recruiting process? lol

  4. I will be interning at a BB for my sophomore summer, and I haven't chosen my industry group yet. What do you think would be the best groups if I want to work at a hedge fund like Bridgewater junior summer and after college?

Please answer as many or as few questions as you can.

7 Comments
 

I skimmed over the short pdf version that he posted on his website in 2011, and what I read really resonated with me. What is your take on the book so far? Is the entire book worth the read, or is it mostly a reiteration of a few key points?

 

The book starts with a small autobiography of around 100+ pages. The second part are his work and life principles which are formatted like a study book, this will probably be more or less a reiteration of what you've read.

Personally I think it's worth the read if you're young and ambitious.

 
Best Response

A superficial understanding of Freidrich Nietzsche, John Stuart Mill, and Adam Smith summarizes every "philosophical" finance professional I have ever met.

On Macroeconomics, Ray is very knowledgeable and extremely engaging, but I don't understand why he (and many of his fans) thinks his "true meritocracy" culture is groundbreaking. Everyone believes in meritocracy, but not everyone believes in the same merits.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." --Abraham Lincoln
 

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