What you need to know if you want a job at an elite firm like Citadel, Point72, or Millennium

• The biggest hedge funds are battling it out to attract and retain top talent and outperform peers.

• Insider has talked to a number of hedge funds to get a peek into their recruiting strategies.

• From internships to how they hire for tech, here’s what we know about getting a job at a hedge fund.

The war for the top 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.

Internships at quant pioneer D.E. Shaw can pay up to $20,000. Entry-level analysts and software engineers get paid above 6 figures a year. Portfolio managers with winning strategies can take home millions.

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.

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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Investment training programs

Typically, hedge funds acquired 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.

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.

Other resources, from recruiters to know to how to dominate a 5-hour interview

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