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    Bridgewater Associates Reviews

    Updated July 11, 2018
    296 reviews

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    Full-timePart-time
    3.5
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    Bridgewater Associates Founder, CEO and President Ray Dalio
    Ray Dalio
    176 Ratings

    296 Employee Reviews

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    Pros

    • "Incredibly smart people in a culture that invests heavily in deep, honest relationships" (in 45 reviews)

    • "You learn a lot about yourself and develop a thickness to your skin" (in 15 reviews)

    Cons

    • "I commute from NYC to CT, which ultimately impacts my work/life balance" (in 24 reviews)

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

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Great company"

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

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      brilliant learning curve, great pay

      Cons

      no real cons for me love everything

    2. Helpful (1)

      "Executive Assistant"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Detroit, MI
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Detroit, MI

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

      Pros

      Smart, Wonderful People Work at Bridgwater

      Cons

      The Hotter to Fire, The Harder the Steel. You Will be Stronger and Better After Working There.

      3. Join the Bridgewater Associates team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. Helpful (1)

      "Terrible and great"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      Work with brilliant people every day

      Cons

      Often times those people lack EQ

    4. "Investment Associate"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Investment Associate in Westport, CT
      Current Employee - Investment Associate in Westport, CT
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Bridgewater Associates full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Learn a ton about markets.

      Cons

      Hard culture to live with for a long period of time. Very negative.

      Advice to Management

      Chill out

    5. Helpful (1)

      "Work hard play hard"

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

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      Everyone's voice is heard. Praise and criticism are given freely. Free lunch, snacks, drinks, dinner if you work past 7pm, onsite gym/showers and fun team building events.

      Cons

      Criticism is given too freely. Expected to work 10+ hours a day, work life balance is non-existant.

      Advice to Management

      Value your subordinates more. Turnover is high, and would not be if everyone felt important not just department heads.

    6. Helpful (2)

      "Not for everyone"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      Challenging environment, bonus structure, benefits

      Cons

      Not for everyone. Extremely negative and competitive environment.

    7. Helpful (2)

      "Pro/cons"

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

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

      Pros

      Nice rewards benefits and work environment

      Cons

      The management philosophy is flawed. which means you either buy into it and all is great or you are skeptical or otherwise and this place is not for you.

      Advice to Management

      Be honest with yourselves, the world/ your company is not egalitarian!

    8. "Great Place to Start a Career"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      Pros

      Best in class training program, very smart colleagues

      Cons

      CT location, Emphasis on culture has potential to distract from day-to-day

    9. Helpful (8)

      "Not as special as it thinks it is"

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

      I have been working at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      People are genuine, they share their views openly (by and large) and you can really get to understand the different ways that different people think
      You learn a lot about yourself and are challenged to think more thoroughly, more strategically
      High salaries, good benefits (healthcare, 401K contribution)
      A lot of options for lateral moves within the company

      Cons

      Skills training for young talent virtually non-existent. Not even basics like excel/data analysis which are expectations in many jobs.
      Some departments go through huge turmoil and don't have stable leadership with all of the kinds of problems that leads to downstream
      Huge turnover, especially in management and administrative roles
      Some things about how the company runs just don't make business sense (use a lot of specialized software developed in house for various management process but don't use any project management software)

    10. Helpful (8)

      "A learning experience"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at Bridgewater Associates full-time

      Pros

      Bright people who challenge you all the time. You learn a lot about yourself and develop a thickness to your skin. I took a lot of learning away from my 3 year experience there.

      Cons

      Do not agree that you have to experience so much pain to progress and evolve as a professional. It's not practical for people to always be in pain.

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