“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.”
Plenty of info on here but they pay extremely well, have enforced Saturday's off (certain groups), and force you to take vacation days every year
How much vacation?
Brother works at Blair. Protected saturdays are not very strongly enforced unfortunately.
Roommate works at WB and would say Saturday’s generally are protected from what I’ve seen (usually at least 3/4 in a month). His group head has gotten involved when MDs expected Saturday work
I've only heard great things about William Blair (specifically their Healthcare group - Healthcare Services - as you mentioned). Overall, they seem to be on pretty sizable M&A deals and heard that the exit opps are solid.
Appreciate it! Could you expand on some of the things you heard? Like the work culture perhaps?
Two things:
Tech is the biggest group, not healthcare. Contrary to undergrad perception, it might be the, if not certainly one of, the most dominant tech investment banks for the mm/umm space. I think there’s often a dated reference point for many people that read this website since this website is old, and the tech franchise at WB didn’t really exist prior to the late 2000s.
Work there so if you are very curious, you can PM. Biased, but hard to find people that worked there that have negative things to say about the firm minus industry negatives.
can you talk about recruiting from blair? Have heard you have to keep it on the down low and its discouraged.
This is really too complex a conversation to write out. Since I’m aware people are often afraid of messaging or I might not respond when this post gets looked at years in the future, I’m going to try and explain a few things.
1) WB is growing a ton, so they want people to stay. This isn’t a bad thing, it more is an indication that they treat people well. Early on if an employee shows promise, they usually are asked if they have considered a long-term path at the firm etc. I think you have more pressure to stay in the sense that they aren’t trying to throw you out the door after 2 years like many firms do.
2) This doesn’t mean they sabotage your recruiting efforts or anything. In fact, I’d argue quite the opposite. I have a ton of friends that approached MD’s a year in and said, “hey, I think I want to consider buy-side roles” and the MD’s helped place them. I also haven’t seen any animosity toward people leaving that gave notice early. Plenty of people that used to work at the firm come back for happy hours or maintain relationships in the group I’m in.
3) I think undergrads seem to think investment banks are culturally identical across their firm and they aren’t. There can be huge variance even within a group at a bank, let alone between groups. Ultimately, leaving a job is going to come down to how you handle it and the people you work with. No matter where you are, there isn’t a hard and fast rule of “GS is thrilled when everyone leaves” or “WB says you can’t recruit”, it’s based on individual relationships and your relationships at the firm. You could tell one MD and they might say, “you are abandoning us, how dare you etc.” and another one that says, “super happy for you, please come back if you ever need a reference or want your old job back!” It’s based on the people not the firm.
4) A difference in recruiting I did notice is regarding the pressure to recruit. There isn’t huge buyside recruiting pressure at the firm and I think I have seen an equal number of individuals exit to startups/grad school/ off-the-path exits as PE. I knew a huge amount of people that point blank didn’t even attempt recruiting because they wanted to do something else. At other firms I think there is enormous pressure to recruit/ people that don’t are branded failures or it’s office gossip that “x didn’t get a megafund offer” I saw none of that behavior and found recruiting was a bit more under the radar. That said, the people that did recruit were all very successful/ got UMM funds.
Wonder how HL's Tech team compares to WB after its acquisition of GCA
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Decent wlb or no?
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