Bridgewater Associates reviews

Very smart place, run on a series of un-intuitive rules that are more open to interpretation and abuse than anything else. The gist of the Principles is often corrupted to suit an individuals interest. It's the North Eastern United States. Yeah. Expect snow and 1500 dollar apartments with bad insulation. It sucks here. The PEOPLE. Ok. So if you've grown up in this area, and never left, or moved 1 state away, you will likely not notice. But the people are largely bad here. Poor morals, self absorbed, money obsessed. The 3 months a year you can wear a t shirt it's nice though. BW is entirely a political entity now. The concept of the Principles and the reality of what it needs to thrive are two different things. All that aside, you will likely dislike your team, as their job is only made easier and more likely to be promoted by stepping on YOU as a matter of course. It's not a very helpful place that's about the product, because unless you are a trader, you DON'T ACTAULLY DO OR MAKE ANYTHING. Worst year of my life. Truly. Couldn't stand the hypocrisy and group think that's supported here. But hey, i was able to buy a car afterwards.

Its not for everyone. Its a closed system with closed rules that you have to buy into in order to succeed in. Transparency and accountability are great but here they often lead to VERY HEAVY bureaucracy. I have not seen or heard of any employee (not executive) changing anything fundamental about the culture. It is a VERY top down organization. Nothing you do here will be relevant to your market value on the outside. nothing. you gain the credibility of being in a tough place with an amazing culture and great people, but you don't actually do anything which builds your external market value. Go here to learn about your self, gain humility and training in how to think. Thats it. The salaries are also pretty good, but not as great as they used to be. There are two faces to every person below the CEO and Chairman - the face looking up and the face looking down. The one looking down is locked in fear. Fear of loosing their incredible salary and not having any value on the market if they are fired because, ultimately, they didn't do anything that is valuable to the outside world and industry.