Bridgewater Associates ex-recruitment boss reveals the secret ‘unpopularity’ interview test he used on hundreds of candidates at the hedge fund

If you’re job hunting, add one more secret test to your growing list of things that can quietly cost you the role: An ex-recruitment boss for Ray Dalio’s hedge fund Bridgewater Associates revealed that on top of the usual résumé red flags, he’d also judge candidates on whether they’ve stayed in a cushy job too long.

Dave Kline, who spent nearly a decade in senior recruitment and C-suite roles at the world’s largest hedge fund, calls it the “(Un)popularity Contest.” And it’s one of five tests he used to separate high performers from everyone else.

“Have they walked away from something safe for something risky?” David Kline just wrote on X, adding that is the answer is no they don’t get hired because “they’ve never actually bet on themselves.”

In his eyes, not only does that reveal their level of self-assurance, but also whether someone can drown out the noise and trust their own instincts when everyone around them is telling them they’re wrong. “You want someone who’s survived feeling alone before,” Kline added.

So he’d specifically ask hundreds of Bridgewater candidates what they walked away from in........

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