A great place to start a career in investments
Pros
Bridgewater hired me right out undergrad (where I was a Liberal Arts major) as an Investment Associate. I've been here for 3.5yrs. I'm really glad I came for the following reasons: -I've found the culture really fulfilling - work with brilliant people who push me hard to get better, but care a lot about me. As a result, I think I've grown a lot here. -The Investment Associate class - a nine month crash course on how to be an investor - was outstanding. Better (and harder) than any class I took at school. -Even past the first year, strong focus on training and developing. "Trading game" is a good example of a training tool - Bridgewater will take the other side of any global macro trade you want to make (big or small), and your profit or losses comes out of your bonus - a great way to get your hands dirty in markets and testing your ideas. -Work is hard, thought provoking, and interesting. I seem to be more challenged and stimulated by my work than my friendsw who pursued other careers (esp. banking and consulting). -Great career opportunities. High ability to try out different roles to get different experiences. -I work with really fun, cool people. Really like my co-workers and bosses. -Lots of resources and willingness to experiment with good, innovative ideas. A place where you can be very entrepreneurial if you are able to do it. -The set of clients and folks that pay attention to our research is impressive - you have the opportunity to influence the understanding of people who matter. -People and policies are flexible and reasonable. Easy to go to the gym or a run the middle of the day. -Beautiful office, in the middle of basically a forest and wetland. -Great pay and benefits, particularly if you stick around for a few years.
Cons
-Biggest for me is location in Westport CT rather than NYC. -Relatedly, Bridgewater's telecommuting options suck. In certain departments and role, you can't work from home without a (rare) exception for a particular project. -Hours aren't great, though not banking bad. I average working about 9-9 M-Th, 9-5 Friday, and 2 hrs on weekends. (totaly of 55-60 hrs). Lots of flexibility though (Usually I can leave early no problem if I want to) -For those who may want to switch careers within macro hedge funds, you got to wait a couple years (go to business school) due to non-compete agreement. -I love the culture -but its not for anyone. With open feedback, you have to have a thick skin sometimes. -Company facing growing pains related to a lot of new hiring over the last 4yrs, including inexperienced people bumping into eachother.