I applied online. I interviewed at Bridgewater Associates
Difficult interview
Application
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Bridgewater Associates
Interview
I used a headhunter to get a foot in the door. After a pre-screen including several personality tests I had a 30 minute phone interview probing my background. While they emphasized no prior experience was required, they wanted to make sure I had demonstrated the appropriate interest in trading and finance before.
It took over a month before they could schedule me for an interview.
They provide a lot of resources online, including Ray Dalio's 'Principles', you will want to read these and really figure out if the culture is attractive to you or not.
The interview process lasted from 8 to 3, and they will cut it off at any time if you're not what they're looking for, they are frank about that. I won't reveal the details of the interviews but I think being personable, energetic, smart, and applying parts of the principles where appropriate go a long way.
Receiving feedback on an offer took about 10 days, there were a few delays outside of either parties control.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
During the group discussion portion, they will provide one or two topics, randomly drawn from their database of questions. Be prepared to think on the cuff about something unrelated to finance that you may known little about.
A great interview process that was accelerated due to an outstanding offer deadline. The culture is intense and direct, however, I got the sense that Bridgewater is a great place to work. A little different than the average prop-trading interview. It focused more on execution, process evaluation/understanding, and culture fit.
I applied online. I interviewed at Bridgewater Associates
Interview
Initial phone screening where they made sure you were a competent speaker. Second interview was technical and focused on knowledge of FX and different algorithms. It was nothing crazy, but just prepare
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Here is this specific algorithm x, how would you utilize it?
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Bridgewater Associates (Bridgeport, CT) in Jun 2019
Interview
Simple at home excel case study (not timed) ==> Phone Screen ==>In person interview with 2 timed math quizzes and then 2 1:1"case studies" which were not difficult but extremely open ended and they wanted you to think out loud.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Volume of a security has been observed for two weeks. You implement a VWAP strategy. Half the day is over, and you are only 20% filled on your order. What's your move?
Was given an order book and asked to estimate fair value. Then asked to execute a trade on that order book and asked to think about how I would execute the trade and what I would need to think about. The answer they wanted was - what is your probability of getting filled at each level, and also what is the most your superior is willing to pay.