Hudson River Trading Recruiter Interview Questions
& Process

I had a bad time interviewing here. The interviewer was not focused and seemed distracted by their computer while we were talking, which made me uncomfortable. Overall, it was not a good interview. After a week of waiting, I had to follow up to get an automated rejection email instead of a direct response to my message. The whole experience was really poor.

I was so excited to interview with HRT but I had a really disappointing experience. Recruiter reached out to set up an initial interview, but none of the confirmation emails/invites specified who would be conducting this interview. Since it was the initial call, I assumed I'd be speaking to the Recruiter but when I joined the Zoom voice call, it was actually the hiring manager. Make sure you double check who you'll be speaking to - not sure why they didn't think it was important to let candidates know this information proactively! Hiring manager call went well, and I was moved to the next step which was a 90-minute take home assessment. I assumed (incorrectly again) that this assessment would be about my skills as a Recruiting Coordinator (scheduling interviews, creating a great candidate experience, prioritizing work, responding to last-minute changes, etc.) Instead, I was asked to create a full 3-week itinerary for a European vacation including flights, hotels, and at least one special activity in each city that required additional transportation. How does fully planning an international vacation in 90 minutes demonstrate someone's abilities as an RC? Maybe someone who's had the privilege of wealth & time to do lots of international travel (especially to the specific cities required in the assessment) would've found this easier, but it still makes no sense to test candidates on vacation planning - that doesn't actually have anything to do with the job! I have no idea what the team was looking for or measuring - whatever it was, I didn't have it because it was radio silence for almost 2 weeks until I followed up asking for an update. The whole experience was topped off with a generic rejection email, so generic that I'm almost certain it's the same one they use for candidates who don't make it past the application review. So disappointed that folks leading & recruiting for RCs would make this many missteps, especially during a time when so many amazing RCs are out of work with very few roles like this popping up.

The interview process was rigorous. It started with a recruiter screen, followed by an assessment, and then an interview with the hiring manager. After that, there were three more interviews with team members: two 45-minute sessions back-to-back, and then a 1-hour assessment with the hiring manager. They even flew me out for this part. Next, there was another interview with the Head of People, a team meeting, and reference checks. This whole thing took over a month, and I didn't even get to the final round. Some of the team members I met were condescending. The process was also disorganized with several reschedules. They seem to only want Ivy League grads, so I felt it was a waste of my time. It felt like a humiliation ritual, where they strung me along, wasted my time, and then rejected me days after scheduling a call.