I'm not sure it's enough to experience something once and then assume it looks like that across the industry, it's very context-dependent.
While I've done zero attempts to work at any hedge fund, I know plenty of people who both had success when wanting to join one (even though some of them were under-qualified) and people who failed (some who were over-qualified).
Oh most certainly. But that industry has a reputation for a reason, no? I would expect every place to have different culture, interview processes, etc.
