\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/GettyImages-2152360494-e1723836190604.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Citadel has an ultrahigh bar when it comes to hiring, and even after being hired, traders still have to contend with the cutthroat expectations of billionaire founder Ken Griffin.<\/p>\n
To get a job offer at the top hedge fund, prospective hires have to undergo an assessment process that includes questions about their childhood goals and accomplishments, the Wall Street Journal <\/em><\/a>reported. They must also demonstrate an aptitude beyond the job\u2014because financial wizardry won\u2019t always cut it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hire people who are winners in life. Winners in finance is often not enough,\u201d Griffin, the founder and CEO of Citadel as well as the founder and non-executive chairman of sister company Citadel Securities, told the Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n In fact, several of the firm\u2019s employees are also top performers outside of finance, such as champion powerlifters and chess grandmasters<\/a>.<\/p>\n As one of the firm\u2019s core values states, Citadel Securities only wants top-tier talent at the firm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are here to win,\u201d its website states<\/a>. \u201cWe are constantly improving and are committed to out-thinking and out-executing our competitors. We take on what others dismiss as impossible and solve the hard problems that others walk away from. This is why we hire the best.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Citadel Securities\u2019 CEO told the firm\u2019s graduating class of interns to dominate the financial world by mirroring some of the world\u2019s fiercest competitors: Olympic athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Taking inspiration from an employee outing he took to watch Olympic track and field events in Paris, CEO Peng Zhao told the outgoing interns to strive for the top of the podium, Business Insider<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope many of you in this room will win gold in the field of financial services. I hope that the future champions of capital markets are in this room,\u201d Zhao said in a conversation with the firm\u2019s chief people officer. \u201cIn fact, that\u2019s not my hope \u2014 that\u2019s my expectation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Such high expectations are in line with the competitive nature of the firm, which generated net trading revenue of $2.3 billion in the first quarter<\/a>, up 68% year-over-year, thanks to its proprietary algorithms that profit from slight price differences across markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n To even make it to Citadel Securities, the interns had to stand out in a crowded pool of about 85,000 applicants and overcome an acceptance rate of 0.5%\u2014lower than that of elite colleges like Harvard and MIT.\u00a0<\/p>\n Haydn Gwyn, a former intern who was later hired as a quantitative trader at the firm, described working for Citadel Securities as \u201cchallenging\u201d and \u201cstimulating,\u201d according to an interview<\/a> on the company\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n Later in the conversation with the firm\u2019s chief people officer, Zhao called out several top Olympic athletes, including French swimmer Leon Marchand<\/a>, who won four gold medals and set several Olympic records.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI really appreciated the tiny difference between the gold medalist and the swimmers that weren\u2019t on the podium,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about tenths and sometimes hundredths of a second.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the interns, Zhao said they can succeed if they strive to emulate the competitiveness of Olympic swimmers.<\/p>\n \u201cLike those swimmers, we often compete to be just a little bit better and faster, and we take home the gold,\u201d he told interns. \u201cSo remember that that\u2019s what brought you here into this room. That\u2019s what will bring you onto the top of the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n