Bridgewater Associates Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – Very different than what I expected. I had been prepped/warned that it was a grueling interview process and the interviewers would tear me to shreds. It was not at all like that, it was very conversational and light. That said, my experience was atypical, I think. I did not meet with too many people, and didn't have the group debate interview, or even a phone screen initially. I was brought right in house. I had two in house interviews, and the second actually included me attending a team meeting which was interesting.

They will have you take several personality tests before coming in house, and the results are taken very seriously and used a lot throughout the hiring process.

Negotiation Details – Not thrilled with what they initially offered me. I managed to negotiate about an additional 10% but think if I had gone any higher, it might have backfired. From what I understand, they typically low ball you and hope you'll accept. Negotiate, but do it carefully.

Interview Details – Starts with 30 minute phone interview followed by a 4 hour interview. A lot of repetitive information. Tiring and exhausting. I don't think anyone will enjoy working there.

Interview Details – Several phone screens - very in depth. Followed by MBTI & 2 other tests. Interviewed w/same 2 people I spoke with on phone in-person & found them terribly rude & disrespectful.

Interview Details – A 30 minute phone interview where everything must be discussed in the abstract. You get too specific and they probably won't call you in for a second-round interview. You will get grilled on thinking in the abstract; this is usually triggered when you say something that relates to bridgewater principals

Reason for Declining – Seemed like a cult. Must drink kool-aid, even when you know drinking kool-aid is bad for you

Interview Details – Professional, high achieving culture. Lots of smart people around. The average age is quite young -- looks like they want to grab very smart people out of college and get them used to the Bridgewater culture before they get trained out in the "real world". Constant feedback is required. The right types of people will flourish here but it's a meritocracy and you have to have thick skin. I'd venture that most high achieving college grades will nevertheless fail as they have not grown up with the type of criticism and tough feedback this place delivers.

Interview Details – I was contacted by a recruiter via email. I believe that he found my resume and contact information from my account on Monster. We had a scheduled phone interview that lasted about 40 min a few days later. After that, he reviewed my responses and would get back to me if he determined that I would be an appropriate candidate for Bridgewater.

He did approve of my qualifications and submitted me as a potential candidate. Soon after, Bridgewater contacted him and informing him that they would like to bring me in for an interview on-site. This occurred roughly 3-4 weeks after our initial contact.

Before the interview, I was required to complete 3 personality/skill assessments online that measured my accumen for working in a team, my Myers-Briggs personality, and the type of role my personality would lead me to play.

The onsite interview was a group interview with 3 other candidates for the Administrative Assistant position at their 400 Nyala Farms office. They were very blunt that we were not competing against each other for a single position but rather that they wanted to see how well we worked with others.

After making a round of introductions, we did a group exercise that I believe went on for too long: they asked us to create a list of the qualities of a person that we believed would make them an excellent candidate for Bridgewater and then rank the top 3. This turned into a 40 minute exercise that was beyond the point of neccessity and became kind of awkward. Eventually, one of the two interviewers told us to finish up in 3 min and we moved on to Q & A.

They asked us what we have done thus far that would make us suitable candidates and to describe our greatest strengths and weaknesses. Make sure not to simply boast of your superior intellect but rather express some humility and speak on how your success has helped others and improved a group as a whole.

When speaking on your weakness, be careful not to leave it as an end-all weakness but rather as a crutch that you have found ways to counteract and are actively working to improve upon.

Interview Details – Bridgewater came to my school to recruit for the Technology Associate position. I handed in my resume and a few days later was schedule to have a phone interview. The whole process was quite similar to all of my other interview processes-- no huge curveballs.

Interview Details – This was the weirdest interview process I have ever been on. The first step was giving me and another candidate both a technical test with a scenario and how we would deal with it. After 20 minutes they had us defend our solutions against each other. Then we did the usual 1 on 1 interviews and then they gave me 3 topics (Abortion, Violence on TV, something else). They had me choose one, a side of the topic I wanted to defend and then gave me 10 minutes to prepare my argument. They then sent 2 people who take the other side of the argument and try and get you worked up. Lots of good cop, bad cop, etc. I believe the goal was to make sure you can talk in a meeting without getting excited about something, but I would rather be excitable and passionate on how I feel something should be then talk and accomplish nothing. I like to make decisions and like managers who make decisions

Interview Details – Watched some culture tapes and then spoke with 2 interviewers. Did a couple of case studies. Cultural fit is most important to them (at least for this position). No matter how good you are at what you do, if you don't spend enough time thinking and enjoy the thinking process, you'll probably have a hard time working there - they told me this right after the interview that I won't fit in their culture. I don't completely agree with what they say, but I think it's good that they're being so honest, saves time for each other.