The mystique and difficulties surrounding hedge fund employment is probably at an all-time high right about now.
But perhaps no story exemplified the predicament better than the tale of the anonymous Harvard graduate student who had trouble even getting an interview to intern at a hedge fund.
The student, who was enrolled in a joint MBA/JD program at Harvard and armed with an economics degree from MIT and work experience from McKinsey, told his story to Tradestreaming's Zack Miller last year.
Surprised? You shouldn't be. It's actually slowly turning into the norm, said John Pierson, president and CEO of 10X Capital, a search firm specializing in hedge funds.
Business Insider spoke to Pierson for another view on hedge fund employment after listening to Tradestreaming's interview, and combined the two sources' tips into an 8-step guide on getting into the industry.
Take up a sport.
Hedge funds like it if you have everything: charisma, passion for investing, the grades and the Ivy League education.
But, they love athletes, according to Pierson.
So take up a sport, you never know if the experience might be good for casual chatter or make you that much more appealing.
Learn to pitch effectively and swiftly.
"When you pitch a stock, you have to engage them. This is not about showing you've done a lot of work, it's about showing you're passionate about it. So people [who] take in a 25-page PowerPoint presentation and want to run through them, that's not going to work. When you go in there to pitch a stock, you have 30 seconds to capture their attention," the interviewee said.
Pierson recommends always having 2 long and 1 short stock ideas researched to lean back on.
Source: Tradestreaming interview
Specialize yourself.
Generalist positions are disappearing, so it's best to decide early what industry you're interested in and pursue it to specialize yourself, Pierson recommended.
For example, if you were interested in analyzing the tech sector — one of the hottest industries these days — it would be beneficial to study engineering or obtain a science degree combined with economics at the undergraduate level. Then, working for a computer company or engineering firm before pursuing an MBA would be the ideal path for entering a hedge fund.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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See Also:
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