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Every day I take it upon myself to tell thousands of new college grads about exciting entry-level jobs. You’d think I’d pay enough attention to notice a company that does a ton of college recruiting, has a great work culture for young people, and is right in my “backyard.” Apparently I don’t. I came across a job listing for Bridgewater Associates and was intrigued because they are located in Westport, CT – the town where I went to high school. I figured I must have heard of them at some point and since forgotten about them. My curiosity continued, and I checked out their location on Google Maps. Then I saw this photo tagged for their location, and it hit me. This company is located on the banks of one of my favorite trout streams! Any good job searcher should know to never ignore the opportunities that are right under your nose. So, right off the bat, we know that Bridgewater’s people get to work in a beautiful location and have a great way to spend their lunch breaks if they’re interested in piscatorial pursuits.
Pure Alpha
I’m sure that my anecdote has left you wondering what exactly Bridgewater does. They currently manage “$140 billion in global investments for a wide array of institutional clients, including foreign governments and central banks, corporate and public pension funds.” Many would call them a hedge fund (although they don’t seem to be too keen on that terminology). The company is based on a strategy called “Pure Alpha,” which is based on separating “value-added return from active management” from “return from passively holding a portfolio” to create optimal portfolios for each. They’ve beaten global markets for 15 years, so it is apparently working for them.
Alpha Entry-Level Jobs
Bridgewater Associates appears to be making a lot of money, and it seems like they’re looking to spend that money by hiring new people. Their Job Bank has a variety of opportunities, many of which are targeted at new college grads. Their College Recruiting page shows 3 young people – one in a hoodie, another with her feet up on the desk, and another sitting on the desk – and mentions 4 positions that are typically geared towards the entry-level. These are Management Associate, Investment Associate, Operations Associate, and Portfolio Accountant. These are general job descriptions and not specific listings, but they offer great insight into what you’d be doing in one of these jobs.
Bridgewater is all about being different. They appear to be very relaxed with flex-time and casual dress, and they seem to do anything to encourage the free flow of ideas. They’re not offering your typical finance jobs. They seem to be extremely friendly to young people, and have one of the best online entry-level recruiting presences we’ve seen. They are located in Westport, CT, which is certainly not a hotspot for social opportunities (I can vouch personally for that), but New York City is just an hour train ride away.
Browsing Bridgewater Associates’ job listings is a different experience than what you’d typically be accustomed to. In some ways it’s really helpful, and in others it’s a little irritating. They ask you to pick from 14 areas and then view jobs by area. There’s no way to view all openings at once. Since multiple areas may interest the same candidates (especially entry-level candidates who may not have a clear idea of what they want to do), it would be a lot more convenient to find just entry-level positions listed somewhere on their College Recruiting page. Not all of the jobs geared towards new grads are finance heavy – there are also entry-level opportunities in support roles. Applying online looks easy, and you can apply for multiple positions with one application. If you doubt that your major will be a good fit for a particular job, just take a look at Bridgwater’s Employee Profiles. You can view them by Job Title or Major, which will show you that there’s even a place at Bridgewater for History and Chemistry majors.
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
- BWater.com
- Careers at Bridgewater Associates
- College Recruiting at Bridgewater Associates
- About Bridgewater Associates
- Bridgewater Associates’ Culture
- Bridgewater Associates’ Philosophy
- The Bridgewater Associates Process
- Profiles of Bridgewater Associates Employees
Seriously considering a job at Bridgewater Associates and want to know more about the area? Leave a comment, and I’ll answer any questions that you may have.
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{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
HAHAHAHAHA. Nothing about this paragraph is in the LEAST bit true. Save yourself a lot of time and hassle, find another hedge fund. There are plenty of them around.
“Bridgewater is all about being different. They appear to be very relaxed with flex-time and casual dress, and they seem to do anything to encourage the free flow of ideas. They’re not offering your typical finance jobs. They seem to be extremely friendly to young people, and have one of the best online entry-level recruiting presences we’ve seen. They are located in Westport, CT, which is certainly not a hotspot for social opportunities (I can vouch personally for that), but New York City is just an hour train ride away.”
Hi AR_750,
Thanks for your input. If you notice the language of the paragraph that you quoted, we used words like “seem” and “appear” based on the image that is portrayed by Bridgewater Associates on their website. They’ve certainly put in the effort to sell themselves as a different type of hedge fund, so we’re willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s hard to take anonymous comments seriously when they don’t even include any statements to back up an opinion.
Maybe we were wrong about Bridgewater Associates – it’s hard to know for sure – but we can say that they do a heck of a job presenting their entry-level job opportunities online. There aren’t many companies that we can say that about.
Also, I can ensure you that the truth of my statement about Westport, CT’s not being a hotspot for social opportunities is very true.
You can not base your entire opinion off a website. That is the part i find ridiculous about your post. My advice to you would be to go on linked in, or some other site as such, and talk to people that have/do actually work there. Or even better, go on an interview there yourself. Any schmo can make a website that makes their company sound like its all free money and cupcakes. I assure you, most places are neither. I did not mean to lump in the Westport comment, i agree, its a town devoid of social interaction, full of yuppies, future Yale closet cases.
Hello again,
You’re right, we can’t base our entire opinion off of their website, but we can use it as a starting off point to encourage our readers to look into employment opportunities with Bridgewater. That’s why we also encourage our readers to heed our articles – like this one on Digging Dirt on Employers. Every job searcher should do his or her due diligence before deciding to work anywhere.
With that said, many of the companies that we look at don’t do a very good job of presenting themselves online. When we see a company that invests money, time, and effort in creating a good recruiting presence, that signals to us that they put a high value on talent. It’s not always an accurate indicator, but it’s right more often than not. That’s why we decided to share Bridgewater with our readers. If any schmo can make a website that makes their company sound great, then why do so few companies actually do so?
We welcome others to join the conversation and share their comments on experiences working at Bridgewater Associates.
There’s a reason that we allow comments on our posts. We want there to be thorough opportunity for conversation about companies and there jobs; however, it’s hard to take someone seriously when they hid behind the veil of anonymity. Moreover, it’s interesting to see that you are posting from an IP address that happens to be a company that Bridgewater invests in. I can’t be sure that this is a motivating factor in your comments, but it is certainly suspicious. Your claims have been vague and negative, if you can’t be specific and use your real name to post, then there’s really no sense in your leaving any future comments.
As someone who has had some experience working for Bridgewater, which AR_750 pretty clearly has not, I would say that your initial assessment was fairly accurate. It is a very unusual place to work, and the no-nonsense culture is not for everyone. But for the right type of person, it can be a very challenging and fulfilling experience. They do have both a relaxed dress code and a work environment that tries to encourage a free flow of ideas, so I don’t know where AR_750 got his information. They are also an extremely friendly place for a young person to work, if only because they have a very young workforce (many of the managers are themselves only in their late 20s or early 30s, to say nothing of the entry level people).
I guess I’d just have to suggest that AR_750 actually try looking at the company for himself before he makes such strong comments. The recruiting website – like any company’s recruiting materials – paints an attractive picture of what working at Bridgewater is like, but other than the usual rose-colored glasses I don’t find anything in there that is misleading or inaccurate. AR_750 must have something against the company that he isn’t revealing.
Bwater’s culture is very different from most financial companies, and living that culture is one of the key elements to being successful there. Anyone who says “Sure, find another Hedge Fund” knows nothing about Bwater, and well… Someone with the mindset of AR_750 probably couldn’t survive a week. But for the right people (cream of the crop, Ivy League are just the bare minimum) it’s an amazing place to work, be challenged, and very well compensated.
I worked there, it was great when I “pretended” it was internally; If you’re not MIT, RIT, Yale, Harvard, Princeton,…forget it! Depending on what division you work in may dictate how your experience is. I can say from personal experience that it sucked. I’m very intellectual, Ivy league degree…and it sucked, basically an all day pissing contest, “I’m smarter”, “NO, I’m smarter” “No…I am” “Well then submit an issue on it, explaining why you’re lack of ability in seeing my superior intellect is preventing you from agreeing that I am smarter” It was a joke. Let me tell it like this, if you’re into going to work everyday and giving 100%, then being graded a C or B- for the span of your career there…then apply. GOOD LUCK! The only 1 good thing is the money is good for a second, then you’ll realize getting the life sucked out of you isn’t worth it. Oh, and there’s some hot chicks there…that’s about it…just MY opinion based on experience.
It looks like we have some serious mixed feelings about Bridgewater. The consensus is that they only hire grads from elite / Ivy League schools, but other than that it’s either awesome or really sucks. Maybe it’s both depending on who you are and what your personality is? It’s too bad that most of the comments have been left anonymously.
I got an e-mail from someone at Bridgewater who wanted to discuss some of the things that I wrote about in this post. That seemed like a big positive, because he seemed interested in improving the user experience on their Careers page. I responded quickly, and also told him that it might be a good idea to comment on this post. I never heard back from him.
I still think Bridgewater Associates looks like a very intriguing place to work. These posts are just a starting point for research anyway. They are by no means the final word.
Well Willy, mistake number 1 is letting anyone at Bridgewater know you’re writing about them publically, positive or negative…they don’t want people speaking about them publically. One of the first forms you sign with them is a confidentiality agreement… so the likelihood of them ever posting something on this forum is 0%.
I mean really, do a search on google for any other forum that speaks about Bridgewater…first off there very hard to find, second if you did find one, you’d only see posts from former employees like myself, or wannbes.
They could give a shit what little people like us think of them. They’re not a publically held company, you would never be a customer of Bridgewater…so they don’t care.
My personality is adaptive, I can make it in any environment…someone who worked at Bridgewater who no longer works there can automatically be assumed to be less than. I’m a thorough bred, I got hired after all. It’s an ultra, ultra, elitist mentality that would make anyone’s stomach hurl.
Good luck.
And Willy, don’t be so cavalier, as in acting like you’re interviewing them as a company…they hire 1 out of every few thousand people. If you aren’t being agressively pursued by them, or don’t know anyone on the inside that could help you in the door, I’d say forget it, you’re wasting your time.
Hi,
I recently interviewed at Bridgewater. Some of my thoughts are below. Feel free to disagree with anything I write, these thoughts are based on my impression of the firm from the interview process and what others have told me who worked/interviewed there. Also, I have listed some questions I have about Bridgewater.
* They target graduates from the “elite” schools for entry level positions, but they have hired from outside of the ivy league. Experienced hires come from all over the place. It seems the most important thing to them is you can take/give criticism, you are intelligent/creative, and are competent in your field.
* They have a no nonsense and open culture. If you say something that doesn’t make sense they will tell you that. They will also tell you if you’ve done well. If you get defensive when criticized, they’ll ask you to leave.
* They are very passionate about their jobs and they work a lot. A 12 hour day sounds pretty standard. It’s not a place to ride out your career, it seems that if you go there you will work long hours and will be expected to produce.
Some questions for those who have worked there…
* In theory, Bridgewater employees do not let their egos interfere with work, but is that reality?
* Do employees undercut each other/how much competition exists between employees? Do employees form friendships with each other or is it entirely business all the time?
* Do the employees have personal lives (girlfriends/boyfriends, husbands/wives/children) outside of work?
* If you have worked there, what did you like about the firm? what did you dislike?
* Where do people go when they leave Bridgewater?
Thanks in advance to anyone answering these questions.
@It sucked there – If you’re a former employee, I don’t really understand the necessity of remaining anonymous. It’s obvious that you didn’t like your experience at Bridgewater, and I’m happy to have you here sharing your perspective. I think your comments would be much more meaningful if you posted with a real name and e-mail address and were a little bit less inflammatory. Would that be a violation of your confidentiality agreement? All I know about you is what you’ve posted and what my server logs tell me about how you got here, and I don’t think it’s appropriate to reveal that without your permission.
One thing that I can say is that some of your assertions are downright wrong. Bridgewater does seem to care what I think, considering I was e-mailed by a gentleman who is a Communications Associate at Bwater. He never responded to my response to his e-mail, but I just followed up now. Hopefully he will get back to me, and maybe even comment on this post. He seemed happy to have had us feature Bridgewater’s entry-level jobs, so I don’t see how letting Bridgewater know that I’m writing about them is a mistake.
I’m not an expert on Bridgewater. I chose to feature them on this site, because their job opportunities for new college grads looked compelling. I did a decent amount of research on them, but this post is meant to be a starting off point for job seekers to begin their research. I’ll continue to publish your comments, but I ask that you use a more respectful tone.
On another note, you said it yourself that Bridewater only takes the elite of the elite. If someone is that good, then he or she should act like he/she’s interviewing the company (as opposed to being interviewed). To be honest, everyone should take that perspective when searching for a job. I don’t care how much of a reach it is for you to get the job, you need to show that you value yourself highly. Confidence goes a long way.
@MBS – Thanks for your comments. Your perspective and observations are appreciated, as is your tone. Great questions! I hope you get some detailed answers.
I think Bridgewater’s “no nonsense” culture is the reason for the mixed feeling. One thing the poster with such negative opinions did say that was spot on was this: “Let me tell it like this, if you’re into going to work everyday and giving 100%, then being graded a C or B- for the span of your career there…then apply”.
That is Bridgewater in a nutshell – set the bar as high as possible, then triple that. If you find the idea of being stretched with incredibly difficult work, told very precisely and very critically where you have succeeded and where you have come up short, and then being given even harder work for the next go around to be an appealing one, then you will like Bridgewater.
If you aren’t somehow who takes criticism very well or would simply prefer not to be criticized so harshly in the work environment, especially if you are performing the basic necessities of the job well (showing up on time, doing your work, etc.), then I think it is understandable that you would find the environment at Bridgewater very off-putting, and you may not last long. Bridgewater is an unusual work environment that some people are going to love and others are going to be completely put off by. The only thing you can do is see it for yourself and try to judge your own personality fit.
MBS: I have only a short experience with Bridgewater thus far, but I can try to answer your questions. Maybe an employee with more experience will stumble upon this blog and give better answers later.
(1) I did not see examples of ego getting in the way, though the people are generally very strong-minded and open in voicing their opinions, so you have to get used to a lot of open conflict in the decision-making process. I never saw anyone attempt to undermine the decisions that were made because of ego or otherwise compromise the best efforts of the company, however.
(2) I did not see any examples of employees undercutting one another, and the employees absolutely form friendships with one another. It is not at all an “all business” environment in that sense.
(3) Absolutely, though they all understand that Bridgewater is not a 9-5 job. If the idea of having to cancel a dinner date because something came up late at the office is anathema to you, Bridgewater (and really the entire finance industry, at least from what I have seen) might not be the best place for you. That’s not to suggest that it happens every night (it definitely isn’t investment banking…), or even very often – but it does happen.
(4) I love the place. It fits my personality very well. Very challenging, very intellectual, and ultimately a very fun place to work. I think personality fit may be more important than almost anything else when considering Bridgewater.
(5) Some have gone on to other hedge funds or asset management groups, many stay with Bridgewater for a long time (there is no fixed term of employment, such as the 2-year analyst programs at some finance companies), and many simply switch gears all together. They hire a lot of people who are liberal arts majors or other non-stereotypical finance types, so it isn’t too surprising to hear of someone leaving the company to go to law school or something similar.
First off Willy, if I wanted to be known, I would have identified myself as such from my first post.
Blogs are opinions; I don’t care how long or short someones career was/is at bwater, opinions I’m sure would be all over the board.
People who love love bwater are making big big bucks, more than just 150-200k. They are also people that are considered veterans, or newbies who haven’t yet realized the harshness of the culture.
I can tell you from experience, (and this may be depending on division) that my boss and some of my colleagues expressed they were losing their sense of humor there…and that was because there was absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel.
One thing to note is the following: the interview process is rigorous, generally there’s a fairly good sense on both sides that the candidate/new hire is a good fit… so must not diminish the interview process into thinking someone “isn’t cut out for it” They certainly don’t want to throw money away. There’s always the exceptions where it truly isn’t a good fit.
John L…the only reason why you may see bonding among your team/colleagues is because they are the only friends they have…when a company expects 10+ hours from you aday, and feeds you lunch everyday, doesn’t that little bell go off in your head making you think “they really must think it’s more productive to keep us here, feed us, so we don’t leave or have a life” . . well that’s why they do it. bwater is smart in every sense of the word.
John L, I strongly disagree with bullet points 1) and 2) . . number 3) is speculatory and kind of useless example.
John L bullets 4) and 5) I think are ‘you’ in your honey moon phase of being happy to net 10-15k a month, happy to have a job in this economy, and just whatever.
Willy good luck as I’ve said 2 times before. This blog has served as more of a healing process from the whole experience than informative…geeez thanks Willy. Who should I mail the check out to? LOL – JK.
DNS: RI.EAST.COX.NET – that’s all the info I’ll disclose about myself. Sort of obvious if I once worked in Westport, CT.
Willy, get out your Samsonite as you’ll need to move from CA to CT . . Woo Hooo . . because bwater doesn’t think highly of employees that want to work from home…and CA is a bit far.
Ciao!!
@It sucked there – That’s much better. Thanks for being more civil this time. I think you might be mistaken though, I have no interest in working for Bridgewater. I have a job that I love, and it’s running this site. A move wouldn’t be necessary either. I don’t know where you got the idea of my being in CA, but I can assure you that I live no more than 15 minutes from Bridgewater’s office.
As for the check, just PayPal me. All you need is my e-mail address, which you can find quite easily on this site.
When I did a domain query for (onedayonejob.com) it revealed an address in CA. Sorry for sounding presumptuous.
Our host is located in Cali, that’s why that came up. I work out of CT right now, but will be making the move to Chicago in the next couple of months.
Hi, Thanks for your posts its very interesting. I actually am a 2 time loser at interviewing at Bwater. Will not take another. I am an experienced hire as they like to call it with more than 15 years experience and command a pretty high salary for a “Non-Ivy League-er” It all comes down to culture. You can have all the experience in the world and it wont matter if you cant take criticism or back down from conflict. That is why I lost twice. I never truly subscribed to the philosophy and ultimatley I think they can see right though it. I think someone said if you dont buy into their Mantra dont bother. This is the hard truth. Read Ray’s deal…if you say to yourself…they hell with that…then don’t even think about walking into the buliding. Turn around and go somewhere where its normal.
Take it from me as someone who was there for 2+years:
When it comes to Bridgewater, do not judge a book from its cover.
In theory the culture of the place sounds great, no hierarchy, you are encouraged to challenge authority, completely open environment. In practice though, the place is a nightmare.
For me personally no matter how much they paid me I would not work there again(FYI: the salary was great but I felt as I hold sold my soul to the devil)
There were too many things that I could not ignore. Like an earlier poster said it was like a daily pissing contest trying to prove who’s smarter, who is right, do you agree if I am right, if not then we have to have a drill down meeting to evaluate your thought process. And yes these drill downs were pretty much you and your team in a conference room with no holds barred interaction. You would then be evaluated, graded, and diagnosed(you have a lack of knowledge, lack of character) – I have seen moments where for example a woman was driven to tears and the only reaction to this was her thought process is bad…..she was being emotional…..
Personally for me, that was not the kind of office/workplace/environment I could surround myself in and be happy. If you enjoy constant arguing, publically chastising your colleagues in then you will enjoy this place. Not going to lie there were a lot of good perks there, great salary, free lunch, great company outings. But something in my heart always told me that something is not right there, and many times it had an eerie almost cult-like environment.
Happened on this site while researching bwater. Hardly the most flattering portrait of bwater, but the picture painted is certainly informative. I went to their site and found it more than a bit remarkable that they ask applicants to provide SAT scores…..I haven’t compared my SAT scores since high school…..and even then doing so seemed a bit juvenile.
Oh yeah. It seems that bwater’s AUM have decreased significiantly over the past year. Their site posts current AUM at $150B, but I read that they had over $200Bn in April ‘07. Any idea how much of the loss is investment related and how much is client redemption related? Also, anyone have any insight into their performance in ‘07 and ‘08?
Hey Scoop,
Believe it or not, SAT scores are one of the best ways to predict on the job success. A lot of people hate to hear it, but it’s been scientifically tested. One of the worst predictors of job performance is an interview. It may seem juvenile, but it’s not.
As for your other questions, I have no idea why they are managing so much less capital now.
I recently interviewed at Bridgewater for an experienced level position (10+ years of experience). My perception of the company matches MBS in most areas (ex. I am not from an Ivy League background, but I am among the top in my field, and still being persued). I think that if you are a match for the company’s personality then I think it can be a very very good fit for someone. Personally after reading Ray’s philosophy, I was nearly in tears over how excited I was to have a chance to work in this type of enviroment. After both the phone and in-person interview process, my enthusiam has actually increased. I can however see how many (read: most) people are going to be unable to adjust or mesh well with that type of work enviroment and find it a very hostile workplace.
As for the $200bn to $150bn comment, I asked about that myself, I was given the explanation that it’s actually grown. they manage ~$165bn in cash/wealth mgmt, and about $50bn in the “hedge fund” (which is a tearm they were very clear they didn’t like). Many sites only report one number or the other, and some report the two combined.
What do they criticize you on?
What is defined as a job poorly done?
How much do they pay you?
What’s the avg. amt. of hours worked per week?
Was there ever a moment where you felt buried in work?
Were your assignments overly difficult or filled with lofty expectations?
Anyone with experience, can you please respond?
Having worked for Bridgewater as a contractor for 7 years I think I have more time in than most of the young crowd they hire.As a 20 somethings Harvard Grad you will live in a Beach front house costing $15,000 a month. You are fed well and work 14 hour days. % years ago the people at Bridgewater were friendly and a great group to work with but the high turnover rate and total lack of communication turned it into a very strange enveronment. I think Ray is a great person but when a company grows to fast the people at the top loos track of what is really going on.Yes you must trust those below you to keep you in touch but I watched egos grow at alarming rates and power corrupts.If those with money invested saw how much is wasted and how much alcohol is consumed they might consider moving even with the great track record. It is only a matter of time until the head knows what the tail is doing. I do wish them luck with China Care, Rays charity run by his son.I contracted at the Bridgewater location for 23 years and worked with people like John W Hnery Inc. now the owner of the Boston Red Soxs. I became a casulity of new ego’s and most likely kickbacks but I worked with some really good people that work very hard. If you want to work for them just keep a recorder on you at all times and CYA Good Luck China Care.
Interesting conversation. I was recently contacted to interview at this company and I am glad I stumbled on this page. In making an observation of the conversation thus far… it seems that bwater is an environment where employees are pushed hard and compensated accordingly. After reading Rays philosophy, I could see parallels to what was already being described on these posts….bwater culture is made up of smart people pushing each other to be smarter, even at the expense of being discovered wrong or incorrect.
Sure, most would probably like to be though as “smart” or “tough”, as these carry positive connotations associated with success. But I think what is also being said in this conversation is that while challenging, this environment can (and probably does) turn into a contest of not who is right… but instead… who is more right than you.
This can make for great fuel for productivity amongst the workforce as everyone strives to come up with better ideas in favor of the company… but I can also see how producing 100% in an environment where no high is too high… can probably turn into an environment where exhaustion(and probably binge drinking)is rampant.
I should have stayed with Ray back in 1985 working at the Bridgewater Wilton barn office. Little did I know to heed their advice to stay for they had “something big” about to happen. Had I had any sense whatsoever in that naiveknowbetterthaneveryone blonde head on mine with my gibbs girl degree, I might be pretty darn well off today
Sorry I left ya Ray Dalio I miss sitting at your desk pretending to smoke yer pipe He is brilliant and was then and FUN. I traded my futures and had five kids instead
Steph (walczak) Young Not aN ivy leaguer couldhave been though
Former telecommunications Queen
Maybe I’ll look at entry level jobs again soon
I interviewed at Bwater recently, and I am expecting to hear reviews on how I did soon. Their style of interviewing you can tell they are trying to figure out your personality and if it will fit with their culture, which the interviewers were very proud of (compliment Ray Dalio’s philosophy and you will get an earful about the wonderful culture). I am not sure how I did not the interview, and I am not sure I want the job if I did alright. I would be an “experienced” hire, and I am not out of an Ivy. I am guessing I do not have the pedigree for them, and I am not sure they are for me. I had to fill out a personality profile and a team assessment before the interview. The process certainly was interesting if nothing more. The people I met were nice and interesting, and they looked tired. I work crazy hours in my current job so working hard and giving 2000% does not scare me, but I do not know if I want to be openly criticised on a daily basis. I am not a wall flower, and I do not shy away from confrontation, but seriosly, I am not sure what I think of B-Water. This is a very useful conversation though. Thanks for all of your posts. Does anyone know how old Ray Dalio is?
Let me first say that I can’t represent Bridgewater’s opinion on anything here, but as a current employee, I can give some perspective. Also, note that while Bridgewater often recruits from Ivy schools, it’s by no means a requirement – I’m a perfect counterexample.
“What do they criticize you on?”
At Bridgewater, everybody is trying to get to the best result, always. You’ll receive criticism (and more importantly, will be demanded to give criticism) on anything which doesn’t align with this goal. If this sounds odious, stay away. If this sounds exciting, Bridgewater might be a good fit for you.
“What is defined as a job poorly done?”
Same as anywhere else – the only difference is that they’ll be more honest with you.
“How much do they pay you?”
Plenty.
“What’s the avg. amt. of hours worked per week?”
I think this varies by subgroup. The general goal is a 50 hour work week, but many people work more. You keep your own hours, and are expected to be mature and professional enough to keep yourself working hard.
“Was there ever a moment where you felt buried in work?”
If this ever happens, you need to raise the issue. That’s the beautiful thing about Bridgewater – if you get too much work, and can explain why it’s unreasonable, you can change your situation. If you can’t communicate this, you’ll fail.
“Were your assignments overly difficult or filled with lofty expectations?”
Mine haven’t been, but if they were, I’d push back. Again, if you can explain why the expectations being placed on you are unreasonable, you can overcome the situation.
To anybody considering Bridgewater, my biggest piece of advice is to read this: http://www.bwater.com/home/philosophy.aspx – if that gets you fired up, interview. If that scares you, avoid Bridgewater.
The last post was the most accurate – FYI.
as a former FTE of 2 yrs, I will tell you bwater is not for many, and if you say it is for you, or you think it is for you; so be it, you’re only fooling yourself. they rave so much about their special culture, emphasis on culture…because to an earlier post… it’s true, there is a cult like atmosphere there… not a boys club…something much different and slightly sinister.
and to another previous post, the current employee Ian . . .yeah, “raise the issue” sure…tell me when anyone gets any work done… raising an issue every now and again would be good if it wasn’t abused and utsed for petty items. It’s like saying ‘I love you’ to everyone, everyday, all the time, the meaning and purpose get dimished, as does the usefulness of their issue log tool–because it’s over-utilized. When I worked there… someone forgot their badge, so they had to call a bwater employee to let them in, would you believe the employee that let that person in submitted an issue log basically stating that time was lost, their activity for the day had been negatively impacted due to having to get up and walk downstairs to let the person in…
With bwaters issue log process, there’s no simple way to log an issue, it becomes a dissertation on the ‘impact’ of the issue you’re raising, the short term and long term solution, those accountable, and morec–Ridiculous!! Issue logs at bwater have no currency becaused they’re submitted too often and things never get resolved. How can one hardly think there’s any trust among any of the employees at bwater with a tool like that in place. The company is comprised of 99.9% alpha-male/female personalities… egos are over the top… they all criticize too much lacking any form of tact or professional social graciousness, under-appreciative, with next to no proclivity to change themselves. bwater credits themselves in saying their success is because of their out-of-the-norm culture, yeah right… their success is because they have extremely intelligent employees working there. the culture and “different kind of company”, removed hierarchies is a bunch of BS… it’s to get current and future employees to conform… so bwater can suck all the blood out of you. culture, challenging each other on a day to day has nothing to do with it. programs are still coded, research will always research, the 150 IQ you have today, you’ll have tomorrow, it has nothing to do with culture…so compute that data because that’s the truth…and if you disagree, fine… your status is “River front property on Denial”
It’s only a matter of time before the company crumbles, in that I mean an internal uprising, people threaten to leave to manipulate better work environment, things like that… then they’ll sell off some of their business to competition, thin their staff, get lean again and rebuild with 50 employees.
here’s a little something to chew on… for all those bwater entusiasts and supporters. here’s the #1 hedge fund firm in the country philosophy/culture: DE Shaw & Co
Note there’s nothing said about critizing superiors, colleagues, or subordinates to be successful there. DE Shaw is successful just fine, and #1. So again, the culture, philosophy is not the winning ingredient to their success, it’s said so everyone conforms, so you feel inadequate if you don’t conform, less than, not as smart…all BS people!
bwater’s philosophy statement is a 10 paragraph start at brainwashing you, DE Shaw is a simple and appropriate 2 paragraphs and they manage to get the point across… bwater…please… no hierarchy–yeah right… then everyone would be colleagues, no subordinates, no superiors except perhaps ray.
At the D. E. Shaw group you’ll be working with people trained in a variety of disciplines in a collegial, casual environment in which corporate hierarchies are kept to a minimum. There is no dress code (you won’t see many suits and ties), the firm is flexible in its approach to time away from the office, and many positions don’t have fixed hours. New hires often enjoy surprising amounts of responsibility, and we encourage collaboration, personal mentorships with senior team members, and the open exploration of ideas. As a result, many employees feel that the firm combines some of the most attractive features of academia with considerably greater rewards.
There are also abundant opportunities for rapid professional growth. One of our managing directors literally started in the mailroom, and it’s not uncommon for people to move between departments if there’s a fit for both the firm and the individual. Career paths are governed primarily by the evolution of an employee’s interests and abilities.
Seems like good compensation at Bridgewater is one of the few the consistent themes in this thread. Can anyone elaborate on the details of the comp (e.g. base, bonus, other) for some key roles like senior investment associate, senior management associate, client advisor, etc
Could anyone discuss the specific interview process? Are there brain teasers and math problems? I am set to interview for an Operations role and usually this division is not as competitive as Investment Management or Trading. Thanks in advance.
Hi all! I am starting the process at interviewing at Bwater next week, and I am reading all the posts to this site for some info on the organization. I am at the beginning of the process (Stage 1 phone interview) and I wanted to know if anyone could discuss the specifics around the interview process? Many thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
The interviews mainly strive to evaluate your goodness to fit. So long as you can replicate Dalio’s philosophy in your reasoning, you will make it. The firm is strong on its philosophy and will never deviate from it.
For anyone that needs interviewing advice—Bridgewater isn’t for you. You aren’t the caliber individual they would ever hire or if you got lucky and hired you’d never last. I never thought to ask I was confident in my educational background, experience and ability to interview. If you’re concerned about your future interview just know the interview process is grooling—working there is way more a challenge.
Not For You is absolutely right. The process is indeed rigorous. Though, I hear that interviews in Ops are much less grueling than for other positions – I can only attest to the Investment Associate interview.
Not for you, Bridgewater is also not for people that can’t spell Grueling.
Anybody working there know about a area called trade gen? is this
front or back office? How are the exit options?
Who cares! grooling grueling – - you’re a petty idiot. Certainly only a fool would call someone out on this blog about spelling. I wasn’t an English major nor do I care! Harvard UnderGrad 2002, Stanford Grad 2006– get a LIFE!
Wharton 2006, Oxford 2008 – you get a life
So, does anyone know about Operations at Bwater? Is it as tough as the other premier departments?
jb2008, I’m not sure what is going on with you. You’re claiming Wharton ‘06, Oxford ‘08, yet you’re posting from a not Wharton or Oxford e-mail address. There are certainly reasonable explanations for that, but it looks fishy. It’s also fishy that you’re using two handles – jb2008 and Not for you Not for you.
Also, you’re calling someone out for spelling grueling wrong, yet you used the phrase “evaluate your goodness to fit.” You’re also writing like an insider in one comment, and then asking a basic question in another. You have inconsistencies all over the place, so maybe you should tone it down.
There’s no need to get into pissing matches here. Bridgewater is a very competitive place to work, and it seems to create a lot of anger for people. Maybe you need thick skin to work there, but I can guarantee that being an asshole can only take you so far – at Bridgewater or elsewhere. Treating people rudely and bragging about where you got your degree from will only make you look like a fool in the end. Chill out, and try to leave comments that add value, or don’t comment at all.
My apologies for trying to make this into an argument – the forum is not about that and is disrespectful to you Willie, which I don’t want to do – but Not for you, it’s only fair that people are asking for interview advice since Bwater is a unique place and not many understand the specifics of their process, as it is different. Anyway I apologize to you too not for you -
Interview process to my memory differs division to division. for me it was a phone interview with the manager I’d be reporting to. a few days following the phone interview I was called in for a face to face. that interview consisted of 3 individuals that would be at a peer level–(I exchanged a hello and goodbye with the individual I spoke with on the phone) however he did not attend the in person interview. after 2.5 hours of speaking with the 3 individuals I was then met by someone from another division who asked very abstract ‘nothing to do with the position’ questions… lastly I met Ray Dalio himself. almost 4 hours in total. I also received follow-up calls from 2 of the 3 individuals I met with all together days after with more questions. It was a very interesting, challenging, painful and intriguing experience. it was definitely the type of intellectual environment I’d been wanting despite the negative feedback I’ve provided in earlier posts. again I really think it depends on the position, the culture within the division the position exists, and you.
another important tip I will add to the interview process that may help is this… try not to explain what you did for each of your former and present roles–(this is very unlike 99.9% of most interviews) what usually happens is you will learn about the challenges of the current division, expectations of the role you’re interviewing for, and then the interviewers will want to know how “you” will excel and be a superstar in your role at bridgewater with those challenges/expectations. try not to reflect back on former and current positions… they serve no use to bwater interviewers. their objective is to see if your skill level maps to their current needs by hearing you explain how you’ll approach each challenge. sort of unfair process because it’s difficult to learn an environment such as bwater without proper discovery.
To it sucked there, do you know anything about the trade gen area? curious
to know if its considered front or back office. Also I heard once you
leave this company, you cannot work for another hedge firm for two years. any
truth?
Thanks for the input IST
Interesting chain. I like the tension! Hope my interview goes well tomorrow!
MQ, how did your interview go?
Anybody know anything about the group interviews for the entry-level jobs? Or know anything about the Portfolio Accountant jobs in particular?
I am interviewing for the facilities department, receptionist to be specific. I understand the interview process is rigorous at Bridgewater, however, could it be tailored for specific departments? In which case does anyone have an idea of what to expect for phase two- facilities department?
If you can’t take the heat, cry on your Mama’s apron
what is the interview process for experienced hire? do they usually conduct a phone interview then proceed further to face-to-face? is it one round or more?
From what i gathered, it sounds like they are not too interested in your experiences but more so on your analytical and logical thinking? is it similar to those consulting interview questions, where they love to ask you ‘how many golf balls are in this world?’
@Curious mind
For experienced hires it is a first round screening process over the phone. They get very detailed with aspects of your resume and want to know it in and out. Think of it as a sanity check to make sure you are not BS’ing anything on your resume. They might also target specific things about your resume that might have similar ways of thinking to the current job you are applying to.
After the first initial screening, if you are called back, you will go visit the Westport campus. You will be required to fill out a Meyers-Briggs style questionnaire before heading on over, either the main one or the one at Nyala Farms. Most likely you will meet a series of people for a two on one interview process. Usually a senior and a more junior guy. They will again ask you detailed questions about your resume, try to understand your manner of thinking. On many occasions they will challenge your thinking to see how you react under pressure and why you made certain decisions in your life and if they were the right ones.
For the investment analysts type positions they do ask “brain teasers” of sorts. There are a few books out there that can help put you in the mindset, but the closest that this comes to are those off the wall questions often asked by Google and Microsoft that test your intellectual and analytical ability. Questions like how many manholes are in New York? Or if you took a cup of coffee and a cup of tea, poured a teaspoon of tea into the coffee cup and poured a teaspoon of that coffee/tea mixture into the tea cup what proportion of tea and coffee would you have in each cup.
After that, if they like you, you might go for another round of interviews, and if you’re high up enough meet Dalio himself. Then you will get an offer…
Hi,
I have an interview coming up in a couple of days – I would be what is considered to be an experienced hire.
I am VERY interested in knowing the average salary for the Fund Accountant/Portfolio Administrator position; does the base alone touches 90k plus? ANY, and I beg you that ANY “helpful” feed back would be appreciated BEYOND words!
Thanks!!
Interesting reading. I currently work at BW, and here are some things more things you should consider if you are planning to work there. First off it, it is an “open” environment, meaning anyone and everyone can and will point out your weaknesses at any time. There is a well-defined pecking order, where your manager (or the person most likely to give you grief) will have his or her manager or grief-giver, and so on up the line to the Ray-man, who gives it to all. The “discussions” are generally one-sided, and as other writers have said, generally devolve into pissing contests with no resolutions or outcomes. Nothing seems to ever get fixed, no direction known.
They will call you out for the way you speak and write, which can be unsettling for anyone, especially an experienced hire. The worst sessions are the issue log meetings, which are generally pre-determined before the actual meeting is held and fairly well-scripted. There is a planned outcome, and the receiver is generally best off quickly admitting an error early and forestalling further probing. BW has an established 5 step problem resolution process, but it is rarely used. I have never witnessed anything that went past the problems stage, i.e., no solutions or changes in the processes or causes. Often the “root cause” is defined as someone’s personal shortcoming, and not really the real root of the problem.
BW believes it takes about 18 months to fully inculcate a person into their culture. It will be a long and possibly tortuous process. There are over 100 mgt. principles from the Ray-man himself, and people tote copies around with them and refer to it as if it were the Bible. Reminds me of an old joke, where there were a bunch of guys in a prison, and every once in a while a prisoner would shout out a number and everyone would laugh. Finally one of the guards asked what was going on. One of the prisoners said that they all were in jail so long together, that they all knew the same jokes so well, that after a while the prisoners just shouted out a number and everyone knew what the joke was.
Same at BW, someone refers to principle number 71, and everyone nods in sage agreement.
BW has grown too quickly the past few years, and they are suffering for it. As several other readers have stated, they have hired very young, inexperienced people from the best schools — that’s one of the principles — hire great people, they’ll figure it all out. They do not have a middle level of management, and are especially lacking seasoned people who have actually accomplished anything, and they are suffering for it. The young and smart people just don’t know how to get things accomplished. That, and a lack of people skills prevents them from really establishing teams with clear goals, tasks, and deliverables.
In some areas — IT, Security, DR — they are incredibly messed up and don’t know how to fix them. The people responsible for the messes are still there and resist any organizational or operational changes, usually under the guise of principles and culture. So a vicious cycle of “rinse and repeat” to coin a favorite BW-ism, continues where inexperienced, ineffective, and incompetent people continue on, resisting change and outside influence.
Wow, this is probably the first time I have read every single comment on a blog posting like this. Some heated discussion. I’d have to agree with the original post the BW does have an amazing number of entry-level opportunities (which, in an economy like this, I’m thankful for).
I am supposed to interview for a Research Data Analyst position for BW. Do current, or former, employees have any information that may be useful? What are daily duties like? What is the compensation like? I know the compensation is “enough” or “plenty”, but I currently live in NJ. Is it worth moving to CT for?
I have a few other opportunities that I’m interviewing for as well, all in the NYC area. BW seems more like my place though – long hours, competitive environment – I thrive on things like that.
Input would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hello,
Does anyone know what a typical job of a trader is like at BW ?
Are they hiring any traders at this point ?
Thanks.
As more than a year employee of BW looking to leave, I strongly suggest to think twice before joining.
You can learn something there (as long as you filter out bs) but company had passed the stage where it worth staying. But if you’re looking for just yet another job – might be a nice, though very very stressful, place. And it’s stressful not because of hard and interesting work, but BS and “negative” culture.
Hi employee,
Could you care to elaborate on “negative” culture ? Do you know what kind of work does traders do there ?
Thanks.
negative culture:
* issue log and drilldowns aka “pissing contests” (these are quite real and almost never lead to their goal – better outcome)
* very high people rotation and attrition rates in certain departments
* not very smart, but “culturally fit” people are in the middle
* almost cult-like environment
trader job in BW is not very creative. In a nutshell: trader has list of trades, and is responsible for executing them according to the instructions.
Thanks for the response, Employee.
Based on what you said, it appears that a trader is not allowed to make his own decisions. That makes the job dull and significantly less challenging. Technically, he should not even be called a trader if all he is allowed to do is executing the trades according to the instructions. Although, not having to make a decision does make a job less stressful. Do they still pay a huge salary for a trader job ?
Thanks again.
Bob, that all depends on what you consider a “huge salary” And if you’re used to making a “huge” salary i find it interesting you’re asking if BW does.
Is it that you’re currently trading and not making “huge” money and feel it’s deserved–i.e. never made “huge” money?
or
Is it that you make “huge” money and are wondering if you will maintain your “huge” salary and then some by making the transition to BW?
In either case very amateur–you never made “huge” money kind of question.
all these posts are very helpful – and its interesting to see how different people react to different environments. one thing i am curious about is how they deal with “praise” in this “open” environment. Does it exist? Or does the open environment only refer to negative conversation? for those who have worked at bwater – have you ever gotten any praise for your work?
Anyone have any insight on the Research Data Analyst position? Responsibilities, salary, bonus, etc…?