Public bio:
After 25 years on multiple roles in Financial Services, IT and management of people, accounts and companies, I am happy today to take time to share my experience and expertise to other executives.
Public bio:
• 17 years of work experience in venture capital and private equity backed start-ups and scale-ups, strategy consulting, and
leading multinational corporations
• Industry experience: (Digital) consumer goods, e-commerce and marketplaces, platform and subscription business models,
strategy consulting
• Functional experience: Company scaling, commercial growth, D2C and digital growth marketing, business development,
operations, strategy development and implementation, (digital) product development, program and project management,
end-to-end transformations
• Worked in South Korea, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, US, UK, Eastern Europe
Public bio:
I’m a Quantitative Analyst with 6+ years across UBS and Citi, working on derivatives pricing, risk, and Python-based financial modeling in front-office environments. A big part of my role has been bridging the gap between theory and practice: investigating pricing/Greeks breaks, improving model performance, building testing frameworks, and translating complex outputs into decisions people can act on. I’m especially passionate about mentoring—helping others build confidence in quant topics, Python workflows, and interview-ready thinking without losing the “why” behind the math.
Public bio:
JC Oelofse is a visionary global executive and investor with over three decades of experience leading high-impact transformations across retail, finance, infrastructure, and venture capital. As the Chief Strategy and Investment Officer at Evago Global Capital, he guides investment strategy and business transformation for a diverse international portfolio.
JC has held senior leadership roles across continents, including serving as Group CEO of AEO Holdings, where he led a $450M business transformation and scaled operations across multiple sectors. He has founded and grown successful businesses, driven post-merger integrations, and advised boards on governance, ESG, and growth strategy.
An advocate for innovation and sustainable impact, JC blends executive leadership with a hands-on approach to digital transformation, capital structuring, and stakeholder alignment. He holds an MBA from Boston College and has completed executive programs at Northwestern University and Carnegie Mellon.
JC is a frequent keynote speaker, mentor to C-suite executives, and an active contributor to nonprofit leadership, with a global footprint across New York, London, Pretoria and Nairobi .
Public bio:
Michelle is an M&A investment banking professional with 4+ years of experience who has worked across New York and London, on deals spanning multiple continents. Her coverage has spanned consumer and retail, natural resources, technology-enabled businesses, and fintech, so she understands both how to break into banking and how to move between fields when the path isn't linear. She holds an MBA from Cornell University. Expect direct, practical advice and honest feedback on where you stand. Keen to give back to people earlier on the path she has walked.
Public bio:
Sholto brings over a decade of corporate finance experience to complex M&A transactions, capital raises, restructurings, and corporate actions. With Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)) and CFA credentials, Sholto specialises in sectors spanning technology, healthcare, financial services, industrials, mining, and infrastructure, delivering tailored transaction structuring and financial modeling solutions. Collaborating with clients and stakeholders, Sholto ensures seamless execution through comprehensive due diligence, valuations, and strategic negotiations. Sholto's work is rooted in a commitment to precision, integrity, and client-focused outcomes. Leveraging expertise across a number of disciplines, Sholto enables businesses to achieve transformative growth.
Public bio:
Strategy & M&A professional with 10+ years’ experience in cross-border deals, mid-market execution, and capital structuring. I’ve worked across industries and geographies, helping businesses grow, transform, and optimize value.
Now exploring strategic or advisory roles in fast-moving, global teams — especially where capital meets clarity. Based in Germany, fluent in English, open to remote or hybrid setups across Europe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can’t find an answer? Please send an email to [email protected]
The WSO mentor service runs at a very slight profit (~5-10% net margin) in order to help motivate amazing professionals to provide great (free) advice in the forums (many mentors have green "mentor" buttons next to their usernames) which strengthens the entire WSO community. Luckily, there is a surprising number of elite professionals within the WSO community that love giving back to motivated candidates. We also recently automated the mentor matching with an algo that helps reduce the manual work needed on the backend should a requested mentor not be available. Prices range from as low as $57 up to $997 depending on the package you purchase and the mentor you select. Given the success of our service and the number of repeat clients we have, we know that we can afford to run on thin profit margins and serve thousands of applicants. We also know that many of you will follow the advice of our mentors and invest in additional courses and/or services from WSO.
After checking out, your request will immediately be sent to the mentor you selected. You will be expected to fill our some basic information (location, industry preference, etc) along with upload a Word version of your resume in order to help the mentor decide if they feel like they are a great match. As soon as they accept (usually within ~9-12 hours), an email will be sent making an introduction. Your mentor will introduce him/herself and then proceed to review your current resume and/or offer times when you can connect for a mentor session. Over the following days, you will schedule a time that is mutually convenient for you initial phone call to go over what you need help with (mock interview, career consultation and/or both). If you would like to continue with this mentor, you can schedule more hours anywhere from 1 hour to 3+ hours with him/her over the following weeks & months.
Typically the match happens within 12hrs. If your preferred mentor has not responded within 9 hours or they indicate they can't take you on as a mentor, we will notify other top mentors that have the most in common with the mentor you selected (based on our matching algo). These backup mentors will indicate to you if they are available and you have the choice to move forward with one of them, get a refund or wait longer for your preferred mentor. If for whatever reason we cannot match you in time and/or there are no mentors that are available that you'd like to work with, we will refund your purchase in full, no questions asked.
We have an incredible team of 1,000+ dedicated mentors across top firms all around the world. Our #1 goal is to make sure you are placed in the hands of the most competent and detail-oriented professional in your specific target industry. This coupled with our strict process ensures a smooth and thorough experience. Why do we use actual professionals? The answer is simple: they are the ones ACTUALLY SCREENING APPLICATIONS for their own firms! They know what it takes to make it out of the trash pile and into the interview pile. On top of this, since we have been doing mentor sessions for over a decade across THOUSANDS of clients, we are able to immediately identify a top mentor and feed them more clients to ensure happy customers like you (due to our strict screening process). Our team includes investment bankers at all the top bulge brackets and elite boutique banks as well as private equity, hedge fund and VC professionals at the most prestigious funds. We also have reviewers at the top management consulting firms in the world, elite prop trading firms, top corporate finance roles as well as other related finance careers.
Usually these are all self-limiting beliefs, but if you're unsure if we are a good match for you, please send us a quick email to [email protected] and we can send over some bios if we think there might be a potential good match for you.
Too Young / Too Inexperienced: We do NOT recommend our mentor service until you at least have at least some relevant WORK experience that we can leverage. For the young clients out there, this means an internship, ideally in your target or related industry. If you are still in high school, it is unlikely that you have this experience. The earliest we'd recommend doing a mentor session is early freshman or early sophomore year as you prepare for summer internship recruiting. If you have no relevant experience then it probably doesn't make sense to sign up for the service. Our mentors are amazing, but they aren't magicians. If you tell us you really want to be in Investment Banking or Private Equity (for example) and everything in your background points to law or medicine, it's going to be an uphill battle. On the other hand, if you have unrelated experience but you have started the transition process by taking relevant classes and joining relevant clubs and associations, we'd love to work with you. You may not be the most competitive candidate, but we will highlight the most relevant education and functions at your current job that would translate well across industries.
Too Old / Too Experienced: We DO recommend our mentor service for more experienced professionals that are looking to make a transition or have an interview coming up. We have several very senior mentors that can answer the tough questions and make sure you are up to date on the latest trends in your target industry. However, before you move forward, we encourage you to give yourself an honest assessment. If you are looking to make the transition and have not made any steps outside of considering this mentor program, you probably aren't ready. If you've taken steps (education, new degrees, courses, etc) and feel like you're ready, we're on board and eager to help!
Yes, but if you have a negative attitude you are unlikely to have success. If you think a mentor session is an automatic referral, please don't bother to hire us.
Yes, our mentors often do refer our clients for open positions at their firms (over 20%), however, this should not be asked of our mentors to avoid a conflict of interest and it should not be expected as part of the service. It is up to you to impress the mentor if this is your goal, however, we believe you can gain much more out of the experience by being honest about your weaknesses and concerns with the mentor so there can be an open dialogue on how to improve your chances.
The only discounts are for larger packages and more hours purchased at once. This is an incredibly labor intensive 1-on-1 service using finance professionals that typically make well over $200/hr and are doing this primarily to give back.
This is a personal question and the answer is naturally subjective. If you are serious about landing a job in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, trading, asset management, management consulting or any other competitive industry, it's more than likely that the answer to that question is a resounding "YES".
Career services advisers at your school are not screening applications for interviews...neither are your classmates. If you do happen to have a friend in the industry, are they going to take the hours necessary to give you a realistic mock interview? Odds are that their time is limited outside the office and if they do give you some guidance, it won't be as thorough as our expert mentors. If you look at the competitive nature of recruiting nowadays, why would leave your application up to chance when many of these jobs pay well over $100,000?
Join the 1,000+ candidates just like you who have already used the WSO Mentor Service
If you’re reading this, you’re here for a reason: because you want to be one of the very few who gets an an elite job and because you need help doing it. The choice really is yours. And your opportunity really is limited.
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