“I recently had a LinkedIn audit call with Arnau as part of my WSO Academy program, and it was one of the most practical and useful sessions I've had so far. I came in thinking my profile was in decent shape. I left with a clear picture of how recruiters and bankers actually see it, and a concrete list of changes that will make it work much harder for me.
Some background: I'm moving from corporate finance into investment banking, corporate banking, and private equity. I have an MBA in Corporate Finance, a PMP, and several years of finance and project management experience. Making that kind of move depends heavily on how you present your story, and LinkedIn is often the first place a recruiter or analyst sees it. That's why this session mattered so much to me.
From the first few minutes, Arnau was well prepared, direct, and focused on what actually moves the needle. He didn't just give generic tips like "add a professional photo." He went through my profile section by section and explained why each piece matters to someone in finance who's quickly scanning candidates. His feedback was honest without being discouraging, which I really appreciated. He pointed out where my profile was underselling my experience and where it wasn't clearly showing that I'm aiming for banking and PE.
What stood out most was how he helped me think about positioning. My background covers corporate finance, project management, hospitality, and real estate, and it can be hard to make that read as one clear story. Arnau helped me connect those experiences to the skills banks look for: financial analysis, modeling, managing budgets and capital, and working with senior stakeholders. He showed me how small changes to my headline, About section, and experience bullets can make that story obvious within seconds.
The session was also very actionable. I didn't leave with vague ideas. I left with a short list of specific edits I can make right away. That matters a lot when you're job hunting and every week counts. He also shared advice on using LinkedIn more actively, such as engaging with the right people and content, so the profile supports my networking instead of just sitting there.
I also want to recognize the overall WSO Academy experience. Between the modeling bootcamp, the company research work, the mentorship, and sessions like this one, the program has given me structure and support during a career transition that can otherwise feel isolating. This call was a good example of what makes WSO different: the people coaching you understand the industry you're trying to break into and give feedback that reflects how hiring really works.
If you're a WSO member and haven't booked a LinkedIn audit yet, I'd strongly recommend it. It's a short time commitment, and the return is significant. Your LinkedIn profile is often your first impression, and having an experienced set of eyes on it is worth it.
Thank you, Arnau, for your time, honesty, and practical guidance. I'm excited to put the changes in place and keep building toward my goal of breaking into investment banking.”
My advice, and maybe you've already done this, is that before you start with the technical stuff, I would take a step back and evaluate if IB is something you really want to do. The only possible way you can really do that (w/o an internship) is to talk to people in the industry. I'm sure that there are plenty of alumni at a HYPSW that you can talk with to learn more about banking, so just email them to setup a time for a phone call or even coffee.
If you're long past this stage and definitely know that you want to do IB, there are plenty of guides online that you can read to get your foot in the door. These guides include, but are not limited to: the Breaking into Wall Street Guides (BIWS), WSO Guides, Vault Guide, and the Rosenbaum and Pearl Investment Banking Book.
Other than that, you can try to land a small part-time finance internship/job during the upcoming school year if that's something you're interested in. It'll certainly help you with future recruitment processes and most of those interviews are not technically based, so no worry there.
Hope this was helpful and feel free to PM if you have any other questions.
Ah! Thank you so much for the thorough response! I did go to a few on campus information sessions during the school year and have talked with a couple of recent graduates who went into IB. As of now, IB has piqued my interest, but I'm not sure I'll know 100% if it's right for me until I experience a taste of it for myself. I guess that also comes from not knowing anything about the technical side.
Out of those guides you listed, which one(s) do you think is the most beginner-friendly?
And regarding the part-time internship/job during school, I'm not sure it'd be feasible to do one of those. I'm kind of locked into campus haha
Thanks again for you help!
I've really only gone through the BIWS guides and Rosenbaum/Pearl IB Book so those are the only two I can give credit to. Pretty sure the other two are just as good, just haven't gotten the chance to go through them.
Well, that's that. You're toast in life. Might as well drop out and work at McDonalds.
Hey no need for the sarcasm man. It's not like I was complaining that I'd be a failure in life. Just wanted to give a bit of info about my educational background so people could give more specific advice.
Speaking of McDonald's, a McChicken sounds pretty good all of a sudden...
What are freshman classes like at HYPSW?
I can't speak for all these schools. I can't even generalize about my own since it depends on your specific course load. The intro econ classes I took weren't bad at all, but the math classes I took were pretty challenging.
What math were you in?
Entering junior year and I was just like you a year ago and wanted to reassure you that you shouldn’t feel lost at all. My peers who got the best offers from my school were not gung-ho banking from the start of college. If you can hit the ground running sophomore fall, you’ll likely get a stellar offer. People always seem like they’re further ahead than you but they’re probably not.
Poster above mentions calling alumni and I think that would be helpful, but first you could start with older students you know. Is there anyone in your student orgs who is pursuing banking and can offer insight into their decision? I definitely hit up my friends I knew who were in banking and received honest answers without feeling like I was annoying bankers with (what seemed like at the time) basic questions. I’d also read some of Mergers & Inquisitions’ articles on banking – take the humor with a grain of salt just as you would with inaccurate posts on WSO – I found these articles extremely useful when I was attempting to learn more about the industry and lifestyle on the job.
From there, if all sounds well, I’d also recommend flipping through the Rosenbaum & Pearl textbook (tons of PDFs online) not really for technical knowledge at this point, but for some background. It’ll run down some valuation concepts. You may not and probably won’t understand a lot of it yet (I didn’t during my freshman summer either, had 0 accounting/finance knowledge) but found it helpful as a primer to see if you think the concepts are interesting.
PM me if you have questions, I remember feeling lost too freshman summer. Landed several offers and owed it to taking it slow and starting with those things I mentioned.
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