Are any funds hiring?

im working with all the major headhunters and it seems as though recruiting has completely dried up. havent received any interviews lately and the headhunters dont even seem to be sending out any job postings at all (compared with a few a day months ago). are any funds currently hiring/should hiring pick up again in january?

 

had a similar experience thus far, looking at only HFs, mainly distressed. have had a bunch of interviews but many have ended with "we are not going to hire anybody at this time and continue looking". guess in this mkt hedge funds are in no rush and can afford to be extremely choosy..

 

I was using a couple of recruiters to help get hedge fund interviews, but like you said, that pipeline dried up dramatically. Actually, the one thing that got me 3 interviews was writing unsolicited cover letters (with a resume of course) to over a hundred hedge funds in my area.

I wrote a cover letter which also explained my willingness to work inexpensively and without bonus for 6 months in return for the opportunity to learn from the best (flattery always works). I wasn't sure if it would work, bu ta da! The list I got was from www.HedgeFundJobList.com

Also, don't even bother with Craigslist ads, I didn't get a single response from any!

 

its too soon to tell.

the fed minutes came out and said the situation is bleak with continued losses in the 1st half of 09 and a slow growth in the 2nd half but not enough to make up for the 1st half.

people are speculating some point in 2010, speculate at some in 2011 barring any other ridiculous blow ups.

We're about to enter a Great Depression. Don't you want a president who's already dressed for it?

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 
Cornelius:
its too soon to tell.

the fed minutes came out and said the situation is bleak with continued losses in the 1st half of 09 and a slow growth in the 2nd half but not enough to make up for the 1st half.

people are speculating some point in 2010, speculate at some in 2011 barring any other ridiculous blow ups.

We're about to enter a Great Depression. Don't you want a president who's already dressed for it?

It'll be interesting to see when things start to turn. I suppose the hiring market isn't going to materially improve until people start seeing positive quarterly news and there's better visibility.

 

bateman - your exiting your BB voluntarily? sorry to hear if that's not the case.

a bunch of my friends were let go from bear/UBS/JPM in early 08, and even then, they said headhunters were nigh useless - it's all networking with people from school. never hesitate to ask an obscure contact for a favor. good luck.

 
Best Response

Here was my situation:

Despite the market, 2 months ago I voluntarily decided to leave M/B/B after 2 years for a complimentary pre-MBA role, with the buy-side in mind. While I wasn't definitely going to leave, I wanted to dip my toe in the water to see what's out there via the list of headhunters who somehow got my email address. I did use both the headhunter and alum approach, but only secured interviews via headhunters. Although alums were very willing to speak with me, none led to an interview as most seemed to be in rough spots.

Each of these was through a different headhunter and each headhunter was from a boutique shop vs. the large global houses, which I found to be absolutely abysmal. Candidly, while I'm very pleased with the way things worked out, there were a lot of opportunities I inquired about and never heard back from. According to the head-hunters, based on my background if it were 2006 it would've been no problem to line up any number of brand name LBO shops, but the world has changed. For reference sake, here's a snapshot of 4 of the opportunities I chose to interview for:

1)Prestigious Global Hedge fund: dinged because I "lacked investment experience vs. other candidates with significant previous buy-side experience"

2)Mid-market PE: Decided I didn't like analysts doing all sourcing, all the time; it was founded by Silver Lake guys, so same analyst model.

3)Big name fund of funds: Decided I just didn't want FoF.

4)Fortune 50 strategy/m&a: loved the company and prestigious team, was an upgrade in both comp and lifestyle, track record of previous analysts moving to HBS/SGSB/interesting internal roles at post-MBA level, and of all opportunities this would give me the greatest actual deal experience I wanted. Amongst other reasons, I chose this.

Seems like a lot of people on this board are thinking "I want lbo pe at a mega-fund no matter what" and go for that. I was more of a "I can do a 3rd year in mgmt consulting or maybe there's a position out there I like and will offer a different, interesting pre-MBA experience". Don't think either model is better, but I do think flexibility is critical if trying to make a move in these conditions. And perseverance.

 
raider4ever:
Here was my situation:

Despite the market, 2 months ago I voluntarily decided to leave M/B/B after 2 years for a complimentary pre-MBA role, with the buy-side in mind. While I wasn't definitely going to leave, I wanted to dip my toe in the water to see what's out there via the list of headhunters who somehow got my email address. I did use both the headhunter and alum approach, but only secured interviews via headhunters. Although alums were very willing to speak with me, none led to an interview as most seemed to be in rough spots.

Each of these was through a different headhunter and each headhunter was from a boutique shop vs. the large global houses, which I found to be absolutely abysmal. Candidly, while I'm very pleased with the way things worked out, there were a lot of opportunities I inquired about and never heard back from. According to the head-hunters, based on my background if it were 2006 it would've been no problem to line up any number of brand name LBO shops, but the world has changed. For reference sake, here's a snapshot of 4 of the opportunities I chose to interview for:

1)Prestigious Global Hedge fund: dinged because I "lacked investment experience vs. other candidates with significant previous buy-side experience"

2)Mid-market PE: Decided I didn't like analysts doing all sourcing, all the time; it was founded by Silver Lake guys, so same analyst model.

3)Big name fund of funds: Decided I just didn't want FoF.

4)Fortune 50 strategy/m&a: loved the company and prestigious team, was an upgrade in both comp and lifestyle, track record of previous analysts moving to HBS/SGSB/interesting internal roles at post-MBA level, and of all opportunities this would give me the greatest actual deal experience I wanted. Amongst other reasons, I chose this.

Seems like a lot of people on this board are thinking "I want lbo pe at a mega-fund no matter what" and go for that. I was more of a "I can do a 3rd year in mgmt consulting or maybe there's a position out there I like and will offer a different, interesting pre-MBA experience". Don't think either model is better, but I do think flexibility is critical if trying to make a move in these conditions. And perseverance.

Good stuff. Who were the headhunters you used?

 

Hic dolores earum et voluptate voluptatem minus ex. Cumque error voluptatibus nobis. Aut consequatur tempora vitae.

Impedit ipsam sed fugit velit est corrupti amet. Sapiente illum sed quia quia commodi. Possimus deserunt ut ut quis quidem quod corporis. In debitis nisi enim praesentium est facere.

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 96.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (24) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (225) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (22) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (249) $85
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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”