“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.”
At an EB and have close connections across most BBs and EBs, will add my views and can weave into consensus from the comments.
Firstly, I think it really depends which of the BBs you listed. CS is in a pretty tough spot rn and being there versus at BofA or Barclays would probably change my decision in your shoes.
Secondly, this forum massively plays up EB exits in London - this is particularly true for the American EBs. I honestly don't think that going to any of the EBs would materially improve your exit opps from a top team at Barclays / CS / BofA. I would say that in either case you are likely to have similar HH reach-out regarding exits. Therefore most of my recommendations are based upon my impressions of culture and the pay structures.
In your position I would probably not look to lateral to LAZ / MOE / RTH / CVP. The pay at all four will be better than your current pay (CVP more than others) but given the scale of the differences and the equally sweaty lifestyle I just don't think it would be worth it for you. CVP obviously has great pay but CVP London is not CVP NY for exits - pretty good culture and retention if you're planning on being a lifer.
I might consider PWP and EVR. PWP because I hear decent things about the culture and the pay is stellar and EVR because the pay is very decent (not as good as PWP) but seems to have a decent culture on the whole. EVR is somewhat caveated by the fact that you might end up in a worse team which would likely offer you worse exits than your current position and that some of their teams are pretty sweaty.
I would probably actively consider PJT given the stellar pay, strong generalist pool across rx and advisory, and a pretty supportive culture from what I have seen. This is not to say that I would definitely leave for PJT but it's probably the one I'd give the most thought to.
Given all of the hype around EBs I think it's very easy to slip into a "grass is greener" mindset if you're at a BB but quite frankly I would seriously think about whether lateralling would really be worth it if you're planning to exit fairly soon. In this industry, we tend to be highly competitive perfectionists and are always looking for that next step up. I just question whether the effort required to make this "step up" in your case would truly be worth it.
Great answer, thank you. Can you elaborate on why not Lazard or Roth? Cheers
Sure. Nothing against either bank - know plenty of smart people at both and both have strong exits. It comes down to what you'd be gaining from all the effort of switching. At An2 I'm pretty sure both now pay ~70 base and obviously decent bonus so you'd make maybe 5-10k post-tax on your current equivalent role for the year (at CS would be closer to 10k+). Given that you're interested in exiting soon (probably next year based on your timeline) it's not massively worth it to go through the hassle of recruiting just to then leave for a one-time post-tax benefit.
I'm not sure what team you're in right now so not sure where you'd be headed at Roth or Lazard but there are some very sweaty teams in both (worth noting Lazard in my limited experience tends to be sweatier on the whole than Roth if you take an average team in London). Could honestly have grouped Evercore with these two but they pay slightly more and do seem to be a bit more flexible on lifestyle in general from what I've seen.
Great, thanks a lot
Not sure how good the exits at EVR in London are - if you do a quick Linkedin search, there aren't a lot / any Evercore alumni at the megafunds in London. It might be because we compensate associates well or the more senior you get, the better your lifestyle.
Culture - really depends on which team. Some teams are not as sweaty whilst some teams are super sweaty.
PJT is a very good opportunity if they'd interview you (note it is super technical - think you have a to be a finance nerd to get in). Pay is top of the street now - as an Analyst 3, you're making £95k base. Exit opps are pretty decent as well - one went to Softbank, another went to Angelo Gordon. Think the M&A and Rx experience helps a lot.
No point moving to Lazard, Rothschild, Moelis as their exits won't be as good as yours.
Thanks. What's the consensus on the salary increase at Evercore, given that it's pretty substantially lower than some peers? Is it still being reviewed?
As I said before, greed is good so can the salaries be higher, definitely. I also think there's only one firm that's higher than us which is PJT (at the analyst level)
However, I think they'll bridge the gap with our bonuses.
Also, once you get to associate level, your bonus starts getting tied to your team's P&L (I think, cannot confirm but this is what I've heard).
Super helpful. Good to know that it gets a bit easier as an associate at EVR, mind sharing a bit more on hours etc? Also, which teams would you classify as sweaty? (Feel free to not answer if it puts you in a bad situation)
9:30am start, a 30 minute nap during the day, walk out to get dinner (so around 15 / 30 minutes) and can potentially go to the gym on some days.
Days vary, can end at 9pm, can end at 11pm, can end at 4am (never for a pitch, only for live projects where the client decided to send you comments at 9pm / 10pm)
To answer your question re headhunters. Dartmouth / Arkesden Partners are the go to for these opportunities.
Thanks, I'll be damned if I go through another recruitment process with Dartmouth Partners lol
They're pretty good once you get to experienced hired level.
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