Hedge fund quant recruiter: "I sent 500 graduate CVs. 5 were accepted"

Getting a graduate job in quant trading and technology at a hedge fund is hard. Funds like Millennium and Balyasny boast official acceptance rates of less than 1%, however it's unclear how many of those are actually elite candidates. Recruiters suggest the situation for top students unfortunately doesn't seem much better.

Who is your Ideal Employer in finance? 💥 Answer our survey for a chance to win $1k

One hedge fund recruiter, speaking anonymously, told us that, for one client, he "submitted over 500 candidates, all from top tier universities with firsts or 2.1s within STEM." Of those, five were given offers. The recruiter said "there are a huge amount of graduates with computer science, engineering and math degrees who can't find work." Christina Qi, former hedge fund founder and CEO of fintech Databento, said via social media that she has "spoken to students with perfect GPAs and internships at tier-1 shops who still struggle to land a role in today's market."

This isn't necessarily a problem for the funds themselves. The recruiter said "the very top graduates still find their way to Jane Street, Citadel and the like. There's almost an obsession amongst them to work at those firms." While the AI revolution is thought to have impacted low/mid-level hiring in quant finance, the recruiter said those firms won't be affected; "it's the lesser known and less prestigious firms that will have to compete harder."

If even only 1% of top tier candidates get offers, then what is it that distinguishes them? The recruiter said that "ultimately, it's down to raw thinking performance and ability to pick something up quickly in interviews." These firms often ask a wide array of confusing brainteasers to test just that. Math Olympiad medals for quant researchers and open-source contributions for quant developers are also tried and tested methods of standing out.

The recruiter said your specific university doesn't matter, but "most of the brightest do go to the top universities, so it's a good indicator." MIT, for example, is the top source of talent for both Jane Street and Citadel Securities, despite the latter being "school agnostic" in its approach.

For elite entry-level talent, an unusual phenomenon is also emerging. There are rumors that major hedge funds are handing out paid non-compete clauses to their interns. On Levels.fyi, for example, one PhD quant said they've got a three-month non-compete period that's longer than their actual internship.  

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: Telegram: @AlexMcMurray, WhatsApp: (+1 269 237 3950). Signal: @AlexMcMurrayEFC.88 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libellous (in which case it won’t.)