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Bridgewater Associates Reviews
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    Bridgewater Associates Reviews

    Updated January 11, 2019
    306 reviews

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    3.3
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    Bridgewater Associates Founder, CEO and President Ray Dalio
    Ray Dalio
    181 Ratings

    Employee Reviews

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    Pros

    • "Filled with smart people who know what they are doing" (in 49 reviews)

    • "You learn a lot about yourself and develop a thickness to your skin" (in 16 reviews)

    Cons

    • "I commute from NYC to CT, which ultimately impacts my work/life balance" (in 25 reviews)

    • "Long hours, difficult to move beyond the curve" (in 14 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. Helpful (7)

      "Enjoyed my time there, but make sure you know what you're getting into"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Investment Associate in Westport, CT
      Former Employee - Investment Associate in Westport, CT
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Smart people, interesting problems, core of 'honesty' culture good.

      Cons

      Weaker on diversity, gender issues. Culture training can add a lot of overhead.

    2. "This was an interesting experience"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Management Associate in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Management Associate in New York, NY
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      There are a lot of smart people and you get to learn a lot

      Cons

      There is work and you need to stay on top of it

      3. Join the Bridgewater Associates team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "One of many"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      Smart people, lots of free food

      Cons

      Too many to share. Be wary

    4. Helpful (2)

      "Mysterious place"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Comp, benefits are second to none, free food, good people

      Cons

      High Stress, REALLY High stress, constantly focused on what you do poorly

      Advice to Management

      Lighten up and stop telling people their advancement is capped.

    5. Helpful (1)

      "If you can deal with the culture, you will thrive"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      Culture, friends, compensation, parties are great

      Cons

      Culture, working with people can be difficult, decisions are slow, work-life balance

    6. "Coordinator"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Coordinator in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Coordinator in New York, NY
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Community, Events, Free Lunches, Benefits

      Cons

      Commute if you're in NYC, high stress, the culture

    7. "On this island of “truth” prepare to be outwitted, outsmarted or outplayed."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than 8 years)

      Pros

      Smart people, potential for interesting work in some areas

      Cons

      Smart people doing stupid things, the feeling you’re in a bad remake of 1984

      Advice to Management

      Seriously?

    8. Helpful (2)

      "Consultant"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      Pros

      Very smart folks. People from the world’s top universities are average joes here. Expect to be challenged daily on your thoughts, practices, the why, the how, etc.

      Cons

      Constant debate and negotiation can become tiring. I initially enjoyed this approach, but after a while, i felt it led to over analysis, wasted time explaining and debating the why and how of things over and over again.

    9. Helpful (3)

      "Overall good company but not everyone's cup of tea."

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Critical Infrastructure Support Engineer in Norwalk, CT
      Former Employee - Critical Infrastructure Support Engineer in Norwalk, CT
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      Overall great company, especially if your values are in line with the companies value. I know this holds true for most of the companies but for Bridgewater (BWater) its principles are its CORE.

      Before accepting the offer, would recommend to read a brief about its principles.

      If you want to work at a place where you are not shy to learn from your mistakes, loop and improve then this is the best place for you to work. I have personally learned a lot about my strengths and weakness while working at BWater. Your colleagues (regardless of junior or senior) will point out your mistakes and if you are ready to face them, learn from it you will love working at this place.

      Compensation, Benefits and Company events are the best I have ever seen.

      Cons

      Make sure you get a 100% clarity of your job responsibilities.

    10. Helpful (10)

      "hypocrisy"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      +pay
      +hours are mostly controllable outside the core investment groups
      +lots of people who were wildly successful in their former lives wandering the halls so there is interesting stuff to learn

      Cons

      -you'll have to watch hours of videos per week training you on a culture that seems like largely common sense
      -you may get a good one, but most managers will isolate, torment, and eventually fire you if you try to act in accordance with the "culture" by criticizing your boss
      -senior management lies about basic business facts that are widely known and you have to deal with the gaslighting effect of all your peers ignoring that

      Advice to Management

      stop pretending to be something you're not - lots of people would happily work just for the money you're willing to pay, but the hypocrisy in the culture is just soul crushing. Evidence for this: how easy is it to hire a consultant vs. an employee, and in most cases you happily just hire the consultant.