What do I say about my previous company during the job interview?

My first job out of college (2005) was for a hedge fund that was one of the larger ABS RMBS CDO managers. I left in 2009 when the company started going down, since then I have been working as a software developer. Right now I work for a large company in a healthcare field. I see a lot of jobs postings where they require someone with finance skills and programming skills/experience, I feel like I could compete for those jobs. I have the skills they look for and done both of those types of jobs.

My question is what do I say about my hedge fund job? The problem is that since then they had SEC investigate them, and numerous lawsuits against them by investors, counter parties etc etc. Basically when you Google the name of the company the first 2 pages are articles about the fines they had levied against them, lawsuit information, all ugly stuff. So what do I say? Do I just trash them, or say what a great place it was to work? I thought the rule is to not talk badly about previous jobs, but I don't know if it applies there. Also, its very important for me to convey that this was my first job out of college, I was a junior employee, and I didn't do anything illegal my whole time there.

3 Comments
 

IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANYTHING!

Sorry to use caps but in all these situations, there is only one answer. The have asked you for an interview, if the two companies are in the same space, they already know about all of the stuff. If you asked directly, tell them that you were a junior and if they don't just stick to how much you learned and that some people you really liked but needed a change.

No-one wants to hire a complainer, so don't be that guy

1percentblog.com
 

There are good things I can say, it was a nice place to work as far as money and atmosphere. I am more worried that if I say good things about that company it would be seen like I am condoning the illegal activities, or that I turned a blind eye to them while I worked there.

 
Best Response

Consequuntur eum dolore tempore quisquam dolore ipsum. Possimus asperiores impedit enim nulla ut velit.

Illum voluptatum velit maxime in dolorem quasi ut quasi. Veniam et quas est eos facilis. Vel quia id dolorem deleniti. Eum voluptas autem officia tempore. Explicabo veniam suscipit tempore et. Officiis repellat labore molestias non quisquam.

Cum voluptatem rerum sunt sit possimus. Enim optio amet laborum consequuntur non ipsum dolore.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (47) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (74) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”