Yes they certainly do: a lot of HF analysts come from banking, equity research, and long-only shops.

I think you’re one biggest advantage should be that you know how to pitch stocks and you’ve followed companies before. Listen, when it comes down to it all HF’s just want to make money and if you can pitch them really interesting ideas on both the long and short side then you’re in! I’d have your investment ideas down pat and be ready to talk about why you like the them on the long or short side. Being a long-only guy make sure to have a good short.

Don’t get too hung up on “do HF guys like these kind of people” but be more worried about how you’re going to impress them in the interview.

I absolutely agree. The one criticism will be “can this guy short.” So that will be your biggest hurdle. The common misperception is that long only analyst don’t do “value added research.” Value added research means, you don’t just buy a stock cause it’s cheap – you dig up some quality intel that says the company is going to do better or worse than expected. For example, if you are researching a homebuilder, you figure out they adopted a new selling strategy of selling foreclosed homes, and the margins are just as high and they are selling twice as fast, and the street isn’t on to this fact. That kind of research makes you a good analyst – if you can prove you can do that kind of work, than you are likely great at shorting too.