Got an offer from Bridgewater - investment engineer, productionize research strategies 185/80/50, bonus - target 80, range 0-160 based on personal and firm performance (1-5 rating system for both) Last year TC - 190 ~2 YOE Some other processes going on. Have a couple of days left for 2 weeks, should I accept? Pro- higher pay, benefits Con- location, long non compete, non quant engineering work Edit - Got a verbal offer from Barclays for front office quant role. Yea to get the exact figures, but they said they can match/exceed 320 Opinions?#finance
40% base raise is pretty good
I’m scared that since it’s a non quant fund, exit opportunities could be very specific. Overall, seems like fundamental alpha is going down over time. Don’t want to sacrifice on long term for a short term raise. What do you think?
Exit ops seem plenty given HF experience. Would be more concerned about location but could be worth a shot, you’re pretty young
run away - read about their dots system, its fucked up like actual black mirror shit. had a friend who worked there and she cried everyday. there are much better and less toxic places to work
Yikes was she in software? Thanks for the info. I don’t mind pressure but why do something crazy if there’s a better offer
Nah she was in finance. But how much better can tech be? 🤷♂️
Bridgewater does macro investment and fundamentals. So it won’t be quantitative trading like other hedge funds. As an investment engineer, you will use the internal programming language (similar to Scala) to systemize the investment logic. Be careful about the culture and make sure it is for you. Highly recommend you to dig deeper into principles and employee reviews. In addition to competitive, fast-pace working environment and bad WLB, the culture can be very intense and causes a lot of mental stress. Lots of employees seek medical and mental help outside of work to deal with mental breakdown. I’m not exaggerating. The company is also aware of this and provides great benefit and medical insurance for employees to cope with work related stress and mental help. The environment is for certain type of people deff not for everyone.
How is the pay etc? And exit opportunities long term?
Curious, why do you tolerate it? There's so many better places to go where you can be treated like a human and get better comp
Prepare for long hours. Less WLB = 80 hours a week. If you are ready to take it, enjoy!
Heard it’s 50 for 3 rating or target bonus and 60 for 4 rating of 1.5 target. Already doing 60 here lol. Do you know someone who worked there?
I second this, I used to work 60+ hours weeks
Haha I know the dots system well. I used to work at BA years ago and on my first day I got written up because someone had to get up out of their chair to let me in. You will have no WLB, have to substantiate and defend any perspective or idea you have and if they even get a whiff you are not inline with any if Raydaddys principles - your gone. For all of this I’d be targeting 300-400 TC. Good Luck.
The target TC is 265+50, w a recalibration at year end. If 4 then 285+50. Still worth it u think? Ray s going out now I think?
I have about the same experience as you and had my initial grant at 345k, and I work around 35 hours a week with little to no stress, highly recommend moving to tech if you want any semblance of wlb as you will always be a second class citizen in finance
I don't think I've heard of people who've worked (or even interviewed) at Bridgewater and had a positive experience, outside of probably Ray Dalio
Hahaha interview was quite simple compared to some other grueling ones I’ve faced. Easier than banks too
Side note, can you please please refer me to HRT? Trying to squeeze a tight timeline, happy to provide info/LinkedIn
Run. Far. Away.
Experiences?
Interviewed there, which was odd in and of itself. This was a few years ago, but they basically start a sound recording of every interview so they can play it back later. Plenty of friends work/have worked there. Toxic as it comes.
So this is like an E4 equivalent offer? How much do they pay at higher levels?
Yea essentially. Heard a whole range. From next year on, they give u an option to choose your split to try and 2x your bonus. 400ish is what I can think of at senior maybe?
2024 Presidential Election
17h
1206
Uh oh: President Trump leads Biden 49% to 43% in a two-way race.
Cars
Yesterday
1953
Cyber truck killer: Chinese version of EV truck
Ask Blinders
20h
924
Why Pronouns shit captured US ? I don’t see this anywhere else
AMA
Yesterday
3133
I have worked at TikTok US core tech for 3 years. AMA.
Health & Wellness
14h
882
Issues with sleep
Bridgewater is ruthless. Be prepared if you join; they're (in)famous for making (adult) employees cry.
Thanks, personal experience or connections?
Connections