Hello, I am a junior trying to land a hedge fund postion and i need advice i have been rejected by two hedge funds one in Chicago and the other in Connecticut.I have a few questions.
1. People that work at Hedge Funds how were you successful in the interview process ? ( I felt really good in both interviews but was rejected)
2. What are some good Hedge Funds that recruit Undergrad Students ?
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Bridgewater recruits undergrads
Was rejected by them & Grosvenor....
I talked to some distressed PE funds and few HFs, and they all said that they require previous IBD experience and don't consider undergraduates
Most undergrads have no skills and no idea about what HFs do, so the burden is on you to articulate why you want to be there and why you would be a valuable part of the team.
I obtained my first HF job out of college as an oil analyst. During the interview, my employer (and future mentor) and I conversed about investment ideas with great interest from both parties. I had been a nerd throughout college and read almost every book about investing with great detail. With that said, the amount of knowledge I acquired was a lot, and during the interview, I let all my acquired knowledge naturally flow out, with smiles and a bit of charisma. Its important to note that although knowledge is important, compatibility with others is equally as important as hedge funds are businesses whose success depends on human interaction. As an employer now (not saying much, I only have 3 employees), if a student were to go to great lengths -as I did fresh out of college- and politely state to me their interest and passion for investing, I'll grant him/her an interview. I don't care about the degree their pursing, I only care about the passion and value they will bring to my fund. My three employees all came to me and during their interviews, their love for investing and communication abilities secured their jobs.
Citadel, Renaissance Technologies and Bridgewater. Most hedge funds especially small to mid size ones don't have the resources or energy to recruit college kids, its all up to you.
In the end, the best interviews are the ones that let a prospective employer know your interest is genuine and that you can serve value to their company. Act natural and view the interview as a chance to show your passion for finance and instead of just answering questions, lead it into a conversation.
Thanks so would it be okay just jump into my investments strategy at my last interview they were mostly asking me behavioral questions and it felt very awkward to change the subject i.e weakest aspect, what's def of success... etc.
Transition into it naturally, if they don't ask, don't answer. If they ask you if you have any questions, ask a question that would direct the conversation in your favor.
but how do you find these funds... they're like needles in haystacks.
Grosvenor is a FOF. Bridgewater, RenTech, Citadel, DE Shaw all recruit undergrads. Landing an offer at any of those out of undergrad usually requires a great amount of pedigree (most recruit almost exclusively at H/W) and a large amount of demonstrated interest in investing.
Right, but the list of targets is still short. Getting into these funds is hard: the kids who go to these funds either (a) had offers from BB banks or (b) could easily have gotten them.
Only people I've ever seen or heard of going to DE Shaw/Citadel/Bridgewater without a connection straight from undergrad were Wharton and Harvard kids. I go to a pretty top target too and we definitely don't have that opportunity (without a connection).
Do you work at one of those funds? Any information from the recruiters side would be appreciated.
His comment is actually true though they mostly do target Ivies when i was in the interview they stated this but now they are starting to target other top private/publics i may have an interview with SAC capital can anyone tell me how to succeed in this interview ?
There are still a lot of good funds if you don't focus on the name cuz some hf with high return are actually small teams (or not as big). I interviewed with some HF when I was looking for SA; most of them only hired for 1-2 kids. So you have to be very good. Funds asked me everything I learned about (including politics/philosophy), books I read about (a PM asked me how do I think of Peter Lynch's strategy when I mentioned Beating the Street, another asked me about Soros when I mentioned he studied philosophy), and past investing/internship experience I had and the general investing/market questions. So basically you need to be better than anyone else among whom they interviewed, which is not under your control. So don't feel bad if you get rejected. You will have your own answers to what I have mentioned as long as you are really passionate about investing. And you can't control if they like your personality or your answers.
One of the big fund rejected and asked if i wanna be considered for another team. So why they rejected me? probably the other kid was just simply better than me
Yes i appreciate your response i never looked at it like this i'm very competitive and prepare very well for my interviews so i'm just trying figure out where i went wrong. I may have another HF interview setup so i realize there always more funds out there but i was very intrigued by Bridgewaters philosophy even though there are many bad things out there about them i.e High turnover rate. Besides investing strategies are there any other things that really make a candiate stand out...I actually mentioned my interest in multiples subjects since i'm double major with a minor so i don't think they felt i was boring...
i'm a college senior who will be heading to a full time position at a hedge fund this summer, so maybe i can help? the best thing i think you can do as a junior is just try to get internship experience on the buy side, it doesn't necessarily have to be at a hedge fund. join related organizations at school, invest on your own, and try to get a summer internship on buy side if possible. My stats: top tier ivy league school (HYP) dual major in math and econ term-time research assistant position in the econ department 3 summer internships at BBs in asset management
i got the position through my school's on-campus recruiting. make sure that you have some long/short investment ideas ready, have a good understanding of current events and the markets, and maybe review a few brainteasers while you're at it. the more quantitative course work you have under your "relevant coursework" section of your resume, the better they also like people who are entrepreneurial, so if you've done anything extracurricular-wise that displays that, be sure to bring it up!
also, sometimes hedge funds will offer unpaid internship opportunities to undergraduates. you might want to consider one of those if you can afford to do it and you want to get your foot in the door.
Thanks for offering your helps but here's why your advice might not be applicable
Most kids struggle to get one and you someone had one after your freshman, sophomore, and junior year...at BB... Said another way, you have advantages in your life that cannot be replicated by 99% of people.Sit quisquam rerum reiciendis neque. Repellendus est autem harum doloribus. Quibusdam quod possimus cupiditate neque dolorem dolorem. Ducimus rerum et eveniet quibusdam. Ut aliquid necessitatibus necessitatibus quam. Odit omnis deserunt accusamus iste. Sed rerum quos quaerat commodi est nisi.
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