How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (2024)

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How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (1)

How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (2) How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (3)
  • The biggest hedge funds are battling it out to attract and retain top talent and outperform peers.
  • Business Insider has talked to elite hedge funds to get a peek into their recruiting processes.
  • From internships to how they hire for tech, here's what we know about getting a job at a hedge fund.

How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (4)

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How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (6)

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The war for the best hedge fund talent cuts across all levels and positions. Firms like Citadel, Point72, D.E. Shaw, and Bridgewater are in constant competition for the best and brightest to help them gain an edge in the cutthroat investment industry.

These funds, which have grown into behemoths, are now contributing serious time and resources to recruit for internship and training programs that could better guarantee them a steady employee pipeline.

Eye-popping pay, prestige, challenging work environments, and the promise of working with some of the best investors in the industry means they have a pretty attractive proposition to offer.

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Internships at quant fund D.E. Shaw can pay up to $22,000. Entry-level analysts and software engineers get paid above 6 figures a year. Portfolio managers with winning strategies can take home millions.

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Business Insider has talked to some of the biggest hedge fund managers about how they attract talent, as well as ways to join their ranks and be successful at their firms. Here's everything we know.

Internships and fellowships

The opaque and secretive world of hedge funds might not necessarily be an obvious choice for many college graduates. Massive money managers are launching new programs to change that and attract young, diverse wunderkinder at earlier stages than before.

  • Inside Balyasny's ATLAS Program for High School Students
  • Why Balyasny, Bridgewater, and Point72 are engaging students from underrepresented backgrounds about hedge funds
  • Bridgewater's chief diversity officer explains how the hedge fund is using its new fellowship program to create a pipeline of diverse talent in finance

How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (7)

Internships have also become huge talent pipelines for some of the biggest multi-strategy hedge funds in the industry, which employ armies of traders and engineers. Programs are uber-competitive and harder to get into than many top Ivy League schools.

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  • Here's how to land a spot at Citadel's elite summer internship
  • A D.E. Shaw internship could land a dream gig at the secretive hedge fund. Here's what it takes.
  • What it takes to stand out as an intern at Steve Cohen's Point72 and land a job offer, according to 2 portfolio managers and its program director
  • Citadel's Ken Griffin's advice to interns: Hustle during your 20s and be aggressive when asking for a promotion

Analyst and investment training programs

Typically, hedge funds acquire their investment talent after a few years of working at an investment bank. Increasingly though, the industry's top players are paying graduates to train through intensive programs that can lead to joining investment teams straight after college.

  • How to get accepted into Point72's ultra-elite analyst training program, whose acceptance rate is less than 1%
  • This Citadel training program is harder to get into than Harvard and can lead to a six-figure salary with the elite hedge fund after graduation

Even the way up-and-coming portfolio managers cut their teeth has evolved.

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  • How Dmitry Balyasny's $21 billion hedge fund is looking to get ahead in the war for investment talent
  • Inside Point72's boot camp for developing all-star portfolio managers, where Steve Cohen is known to grill up-and-comers who think they're ready for the big time

Tech jobs and training programs

Quant shops have long been battling it out with the finance industry and top tech companies for top technologists. Engineers and algorithm developers are key to helping researchers, data scientists, and traders develop cutting-edge investment strategies and platforms.

  • Inside Citadel's exclusive engineering program that's helped the $47 billion hedge fund snap up talent from Google and Goldman Sachs
  • Here's how to get a job at Billionaire Izzy Englander's Millennium, from the programing language to know to the interview questions to prep for
  • Millennium is on the hunt for engineers in Miami. A top tech exec for the $58 billion hedge fund details the firm's new training program.
  • Inside Man Group's popular training program for non-tech employees that teaches them skills to automate tasks and reduce errors in their work

Other resources, including recruiter insight and how to dominate a 5-hour interview

  • Inside the hedge-fund talent war: How elite funds are battling for star portfolio managers
  • The talent brokers of quant trading: The headhunters at the forefront of Wall Street's systematic-trading and data-science hiring frenzy
  • Try our searchable database of more than 350 Wall Street headhunters to find your dream job in private equity, investment banking, or hedge funds
  • Meet the Gatekeepers: The top private equity, hedge fund recruiting firms to get a buy-side job
  • Inside the 5-hour psychological interview that can make or break your career at Citadel, Blackstone, and other finance titans

Read next

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How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72 (2024)

FAQs

How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, Millennium, or Point72? ›

Analyst and investment training programs

What are the odds of getting a job at Citadel? ›

As we reiterate here often, getting a job at hedge fund Citadel or electronic market making firm Citadel Securities, is hard. Fewer than 1% of people who apply are successful. But there are ways of increasing your chances.

Is it hard to get a job at Point72? ›

People have reported that the interview at Point 72 is difficult. The interview process takes about a month. People have rated the overall interview experience as favorable.

How hard is it to get a job at Millennium? ›

40% of job seekers rate their interview experience at Millennium as positive. Candidates give an average difficulty score of 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) for their job interview at Millennium.

How to get a job at a top hedge fund? ›

Here are eight steps to follow to help you prepare and find a job working for a hedge fund:
  1. Study the financial industry. ...
  2. Earn a bachelor's degree. ...
  3. Secure an internship. ...
  4. Earn a CFA or MBA. ...
  5. Expand your professional network. ...
  6. Find a career mentor. ...
  7. Design your resume. ...
  8. Apply for a position.
Apr 18, 2024

What is the highest salary in Citadel? ›

The highest-paying job at Citadel is a Managing Director with a salary of $929,607 per year (estimate). The lowest-paying job at Citadel is a Front Desk Receptionist with a salary of $44,171 per year (estimate). Citadel employees attributed a compensation and benefits rating of 4.5/5 stars to their company.

How hard is it to get into Point72 Academy? ›

Steve Cohen's Point72 runs an analyst training program with an acceptance rate of less than 1%.

What GPA do you need for Point72? ›

To be a competitive candidate, we generally figure on looking for minimum test scores (SATs etc) at around the 93rd or 94th percentile and a college GPA of about 3.4 or better.

What is the payscale for Point72? ›

The average Point 72 salary ranges from approximately $62,000 per year for Social Media Strategist to $263,000 per year for Program Associate. Salary information comes from 124 data points collected directly from employees, users, and past and present job advertisem*nts on Indeed in the past 36 months.

How much does a Point72 VP make? ›

The average Vice President base salary at Point72 is $185K per year. The average additional pay is $43K per year, which could include cash bonus, stock, commission, profit sharing or tips.

How to land a job at Citadel? ›

A record of academic achievement will clearly help, but on its own it may not be enough. Mitro said Citadel and Citadel Securities' hires include NASA researchers and people who've won math competitions. The firm is unapologetically selective, and if you get a job there, the culture is unashamedly meritocratic.

How prestigious is Millennium Management? ›

In 2019 London-based investment firm LCH Investment ranked Millennium Management 12th on their ranking of most successful hedge funds of all time reporting that since its founding in 1989 the firm had made $22.4 billion for its investors, an average of 14% annually since inception.

Which is the rarest career? ›

1. Wood patternmaker. What they do: Being a wood patternmaker is the rarest job in the world. Wood patternmakers create wooden molds that are used by metalworkers to cast molten metal.

Where do top hedge funds recruit from? ›

Candidates (Who Gets In): Private equity overwhelmingly attracts former investment bankers, along with some consultants and Big 4 and corporate development professionals; hedge funds attract a more varied crowd, including investment bankers, equity research professionals, buy-side analysts at other firms, and sales & ...

Is it hard to get hired by a hedge fund? ›

Hedge funds employ some of the best-paid business professionals anywhere, but landing your first job in the industry is no cakewalk. Building a hedge fund career takes determination, networking stamina, and a fierce competitive streak. Here are some steps to help get you to that interview and then land that job.

Which hedge fund pays the highest? ›

Who Is the Richest Hedge Fund Manager? Ken Griffin of Citadel is both the richest hedge fund manager and the highest paid. In 2022, he earned $41. billion, and by the beginning of 2023 his net worth was estimated at $35 billion.

How many people do Citadel employ? ›

Founded in 1990 by Ken Griffin, it has more than $58 billion in assets under management as of January 2024. The company has over 2,800 employees, with corporate headquarters in Miami, Florida, and offices throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. Founder, CEO and Co-CIO Griffin owns approximately 85% of the firm.

What is the acceptance rate for Citadel interns? ›

That comes after Citadel had approximately 69,000 applications in 2023 with an acceptance rate of approximately 0.5%. The firm had more than 300 interns last year across divisions. The 11-week program which starts with offsite visits in Florida, paid interns a median wage of $120 an hour last year.

How long does it take to get an offer from Citadel? ›

1 answer. 3 weeks. At least 4 interview with various levels of group.

How long does it take to hear back from Citadel? ›

The Admissions Committee continuously evaluate admissions portfolios, with decisions (acceptances and denials) made on a rolling admission basis. Admissions decisions are usually made within ten-to-fifteen days after the completion of an applicant's portfolio.

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