5 ms·

I had the most unprofessional interview experience of my life with Bridgewater. They contacted me out of the blue and had me go through one phone interview, th

I had the most unprofessional interview experience of my life with Bridgewater. They contacted me out of the blue and had me go through one phone interview, their culture introduction and quiz on their website, a HR round with a recruiter, and a coding project. After I passed all these, I was put in another phone interview. (Note: I am in the West coast.) Remember, these clowns were trying to recruit me. I was at that time working as a Research Scientist in X in one of the big firms over in the West coast. A good part of the interview was spent by them disparaging X. Then they ended the interview with "We have all the information we need, we won't be calling you." I felt like I had been hazed by a couple of dimwits who were not even that good at it. This article assuages my worry that I was being unreasonable.

xitrium 10y ago
You probably weren't a culture fit :P I actually prefer getting feedback about why someone chooses not to go forward with me as it helps me improve. For that reason I think interviewing at Bridgewater can be valuable as you can explicitly ask them what you did right and wrong and they'll tell you without sugar coating it. And don't forget, the reason most companies don't give this kind of feedback is to prevent any allegations of discrimination, so they're not exactly heroes either.
- kafkaesq 10y ago
  It wasn't just that they didn't give him feedback -- it was the overt snarkiness of the interviewers' closing remarks that seems very telling about the Bridgewater culture.
sambe 10y ago
Many companies interview for competitor intelligence. Did you consider that they wanted to get some idea about how one of the big firms was doing (in) X?
- cscurmudgeon 10y ago
  Yes, that is a possibility that I considered going into the interview. But coming out, I was fully convinced it was not the case. Why? They had asked me no more than textbook questions about X. It is commonly known my firm uses X. It was really quite comical (from a third person perspective, not from mine though, :D). I believe a lot of very good people do get hired over there (I know one extremely good person there), but the culture of "radical transparency" turns them into asshats quickly. As they subconsciously think if they are not being an asshat they are not being transparent. Shame though as Ray Dalio seems like a nice guy from his interviews and talks.
Retric 10y ago
I think this is a large part of why Finance pays so well. You pay more when the environment sucks, so people who want to be paid well have a large incentive for continuing the trend. Sadly, it works because having an unethical staff and an incentive structure can pay off when tricking customers is the #1 way to make money. Ex: Do you know every fee pulled out of your 401k? Most people I asked did not even realize there where any costs associated with their company's plans. PS: It's not just the poor/middle class falling for this. Look at average VC returns with and without their 2/20 fee structure.
m52go 10y ago
I had an incredibly positive experience with Bridgewater. I didn't get an offer, but I witnessed their celebrated "radical transparency" first-hand. Everyone was respectful and courteous throughout, from the recruiter to the CCO who interviewed me. The moment I'll never forget: when the CCO came back to the conference room to tell me they weren't going to give me an offer. Most people would stop there, maybe say sorry, and send me on my way. Nope. He asked me, "what do you think?" and "do you think this is a reasonable decision, why or why not?" and "how could we have improved the process" etc. I reasoned with him. We had an amazing, rational, open conversation. I learned why they rejected me. They learned how their process could be improved. Remember: this is with a C-level executive of the world's largest hedge fund, not some rinky-dink middle-manager. A similar conversation took place with the recruiter as she walked me out. We complain so much, on this forum especially, about how flawed the recruiting process is. Yet we almost NEVER ASK FOR FEEDBACK. These guys are doing that, with every candidate who walks through their doors, and they're finessing their process bit by bit. It shows. Perhaps all parts of the company aren't like that (it's quite large, especially by hedge fund standards), but I was thoroughly impressed with the side of Bridgewater I experienced.
- abecedarius 10y ago
  What is a CCO? There seem to be a lot of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCO
  - indiosmo 10y ago
    In the context of hedge funds, I'm assuming compliance.
    - m52go 10y ago
      Yah—Chief Compliance Officer.
- bayonetz 10y ago
  I don't think it is fair to say "we almost never ask for feedback". Every dev I know asks for feedback during the interview process. They rarely get it because of strict company policies on not giving out feedback. Simply asking does not make a company give feedback. I've found feedback can be gotten from even the strictest companies though but it has to be "hacked", for example, by asking somewhat indirect but still very feedback-related questions to your interviewer at the end of your sessions when you get 5 minutes, etc.
shin_lao 10y ago
Dissing X was probably a way to test your fitness with their culture. If you answered neutral and political correct stuff, you failed their test. (This is only speculation I have never interviewed with them and only know them through customers).
ryandrake 10y ago
Most interviews I've ever gone through could easily be characterized as hazing. At least these guys told you right away NO rather than doing the typical passive aggressive "Silicon Valley Silence" routine. Another commenter here mentioned that he was actually provided feedback on his interview performance, which is a huge plus.
brazzledazzle 10y ago
In my experience HR in big organizations doesn't always tell interviewers if a candidate is an applicant or being recruited. Always fun when you ask a question that reveals a lack of communication like that.

xitrium 10y ago

You probably weren't a culture fit :P I actually prefer getting feedback about why someone chooses not to go forward with me as it helps me improve. For that reason I think interviewing at Bridgewater can be valuable as you can explicitly ask them what you did right and wrong and they'll tell you without sugar coating it. And don't forget, the reason most companies don't give this kind of feedback is to prevent any allegations of discrimination, so they're not exactly heroes either.

kafkaesq 10y ago
It wasn't just that they didn't give him feedback -- it was the overt snarkiness of the interviewers' closing remarks that seems very telling about the Bridgewater culture.

sambe 10y ago

Many companies interview for competitor intelligence. Did you consider that they wanted to get some idea about how one of the big firms was doing (in) X?

cscurmudgeon 10y ago
Yes, that is a possibility that I considered going into the interview. But coming out, I was fully convinced it was not the case. Why? They had asked me no more than textbook questions about X. It is commonly known my firm uses X. It was really quite comical (from a third person perspective, not from mine though, :D). I believe a lot of very good people do get hired over there (I know one extremely good person there), but the culture of "radical transparency" turns them into asshats quickly. As they subconsciously think if they are not being an asshat they are not being transparent. Shame though as Ray Dalio seems like a nice guy from his interviews and talks.

Retric 10y ago

I think this is a large part of why Finance pays so well. You pay more when the environment sucks, so people who want to be paid well have a large incentive for continuing the trend. Sadly, it works because having an unethical staff and an incentive structure can pay off when tricking customers is the #1 way to make money. Ex: Do you know every fee pulled out of your 401k? Most people I asked did not even realize there where any costs associated with their company's plans. PS: It's not just the poor/middle class falling for this. Look at average VC returns with and without their 2/20 fee structure.

m52go 10y ago

I had an incredibly positive experience with Bridgewater. I didn't get an offer, but I witnessed their celebrated "radical transparency" first-hand. Everyone was respectful and courteous throughout, from the recruiter to the CCO who interviewed me. The moment I'll never forget: when the CCO came back to the conference room to tell me they weren't going to give me an offer. Most people would stop there, maybe say sorry, and send me on my way. Nope. He asked me, "what do you think?" and "do you think this is a reasonable decision, why or why not?" and "how could we have improved the process" etc. I reasoned with him. We had an amazing, rational, open conversation. I learned why they rejected me. They learned how their process could be improved. Remember: this is with a C-level executive of the world's largest hedge fund, not some rinky-dink middle-manager. A similar conversation took place with the recruiter as she walked me out. We complain so much, on this forum especially, about how flawed the recruiting process is. Yet we almost NEVER ASK FOR FEEDBACK. These guys are doing that, with every candidate who walks through their doors, and they're finessing their process bit by bit. It shows. Perhaps all parts of the company aren't like that (it's quite large, especially by hedge fund standards), but I was thoroughly impressed with the side of Bridgewater I experienced.

abecedarius 10y ago
What is a CCO? There seem to be a lot of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCO
- indiosmo 10y ago
  In the context of hedge funds, I'm assuming compliance.
  - m52go 10y ago
    Yah—Chief Compliance Officer.
bayonetz 10y ago
I don't think it is fair to say "we almost never ask for feedback". Every dev I know asks for feedback during the interview process. They rarely get it because of strict company policies on not giving out feedback. Simply asking does not make a company give feedback. I've found feedback can be gotten from even the strictest companies though but it has to be "hacked", for example, by asking somewhat indirect but still very feedback-related questions to your interviewer at the end of your sessions when you get 5 minutes, etc.

shin_lao 10y ago

Dissing X was probably a way to test your fitness with their culture. If you answered neutral and political correct stuff, you failed their test. (This is only speculation I have never interviewed with them and only know them through customers).

ryandrake 10y ago

Most interviews I've ever gone through could easily be characterized as hazing. At least these guys told you right away NO rather than doing the typical passive aggressive "Silicon Valley Silence" routine. Another commenter here mentioned that he was actually provided feedback on his interview performance, which is a huge plus.

brazzledazzle 10y ago

In my experience HR in big organizations doesn't always tell interviewers if a candidate is an applicant or being recruited. Always fun when you ask a question that reveals a lack of communication like that.