Long story short, it was a complete waste of time.

A recruiter from Larry Paulson reached out to me. She said that I checked every box for the role they were hiring for and asked me to send my resume to proceed. I sent the resume at midnight and received a rejection the next morning, before business hours. It stated they had spoken with the hiring team and I wasn't a match (which I interpreted as low work-life balance). I didn't think much of it, believing that whatever happens, happens for the good of both parties.

Then, after almost a week, the same recruiter reached out again, admitting it was a mistake on her end and they wanted to reconsider me. I wasn't having it; that was totally unprofessional. To me, it just signified that they had interviewed another candidate who didn't work out, so they were settling for me (or something similar). If they were doing this in the first round, there were no guarantees they wouldn't do so in later rounds, which would lead to stress and wasted vacation days.

They also low-balled me with a salary range of $250k-$350k in NYC. I told the recruiter that the lower end was equivalent to $110k in Texas, where I live (according to an online currency converter). This would be a pay cut from my current job, even if I accepted the middle of the range. I stated I was looking for nothing less than the top of the range if they wanted me to interview with them. I was dropped after that.

I've heard great things about DE Shaw, but I guess I'll never apply due to their horrible interview process.

Are you interviewing with any other companies?

Where are you working right now?

Are you open to move to NYC?

What kind of pay do you expect?

Have you applied to DE Shaw in the last 6 months?