Why Hedge Funds Don’t Call You Back and What You Can Do About It

Okay, you’ve scored and aced an interview at a hedge fund, but you didn’t get a call back or even an e-mail to say “Thank you, but no.”

According to Adam Zoia, chief executive at Glocap Search, it’s not much of a surprise. “It’s more common not to hear back from a hedge fund than it is from a bank or investment firm,” he says. If you have an intermediary – like an executive recruiter – they will often have to chase down the hedge fund client to find out what went wrong, he adds. “They often like to keep their options open.”"

It’s still pretty common for a hedge fund not to have a dedicated HR person. They’re full of traders who might do the interviewing then, in the next moment, go back to the screen. Larger hedge funds are beginning to bring HR people onboard – folks they’ve poached from banks and bulge bracket HR departments. But it’s a slow process to get hedge funds organized on the recruiting side, and HR people who’ve joined them are often met with resistance. Change is hard, observes Zoia.

So, what’s the best way to score a hedge fund post? First, flooding the industry with resumes usually doesn’t work. If they want you, they will. Remember, there’s some vetting done first. Keep getting the resumes out there, but make sure they’re targeted and come with an introduction from an insider or trusted associate of the fund whenever you can. That’s the best way to get an interview that will help you leave a lasting impression.

Comments (8)
  1. I understand your points, but that being said, I’ve found there’s a lot of “candidate abuse” out there.

  2. I agree.The abuse must be stopped. There alot of good qualified people out there,and what they are looking for the so called perfect candidate does not exist.

  3. Same thing happened with me at Citadel, aced the interview, HR emailed and said I did great, then no offer. I also found out through an inside source they hired no one. Total waste of time, I better not see any of them crossing the street in front of me because I will not hit my brakes.

  4. The worst is when they meet you just to grill you on investment ideas and they never really had a real opening in the first place.

  5. Same thing happened with a firm named Capstone, for an ops role I applied for right thru this very site. I came in for an initial interview, and believed I did very well. I followed up with HR (via email and voicemail) as I was told to do after a week, and did not get one acknowledgement. Very unprofessional, but certainly not surprised since this is becoming the norm.

  6. How can I trust this article when the second sentence calls BlackRock a hedge fund? They are an asset manager, far from a hedge fund. Lost faith in the author, sorry.

  7. So many companies are so sinister when it comes to treatment of candidates. In this economy, to play these games borders on sadistic.

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