Blair struggled through some post Covid growing pains but seems to be doing well as they CONSTANTLY are hiring associates, VPs etc. Any insight into the firm and the direction they are heading? Best groups and exit opps etc.
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performed decently well in 2024/2025, but not where they were in 2021.
Best groups are Tech and HC. have heard as of recent it’s
a complete sweatshop in both of those groups. Comp is in line with street.
The fact that they are always hiring Asso/VP should indicate their issues with retention/churn
People on this forum like to talk down on anything that's not EB/BB, but Blair is still a top MM and has some really solid groups. Hours can be kind of bad, but everyone I knew who worked there said the culture was decent. I've seen lots of great exits too - sure, it might not place the same as something like EVC, but you can get good PE or corp dev jobs out of Blair.
Heavily group dependent….
Which groups are best for exits? WLB?
Depends how much do you value your sanity and wellbeing
Believe most of their issues last few years were related to overhiring MDs in '21 with guarantees that turned the comp pool upside down for a bit. My understanding is that's washed through the system now has turned the corner. Would still consider them one of the top MMs in my sector (industrials)
Complete sweat shop. The reason why they are hiring is because the firm have trouble hiring and retention is low. They aren’t hiring because it’s growing. Average turnover for associates / analysts are around 1 year. You will get good exits for sure, but make sure you can work 90-100 hours a week. Exits will be on par with PS, HL, HW and Jeff.
What are typical exits from them? MM PE at the ceiling? Also how is it lateraling over to WB as far as difficulty goes?
Anyone with a brain could get the job at William Blair. They need people, a lot of folks from comparable firms don’t want to go there cuz of shit pay, long hours and bad culture. Their business model is to hire juniors for 1-2 years and work them to death then they will have another class of analysts and associates come in.
You will be on 5-6 deals at any given time, expect to work 9-3am during the weekdays and 15-20 hours over the weekend. There is no room for anyone to hide, associate / analyst do everything including VP tasks.
No MF PE exit, everything else is a fair game. You will come out very sharp, but horrible experience when you’re there. Treat it as 2 years in Navy Seals bootcamp for finance, you will be verbally beaten and destroyed physically. If you can survive the 2 years, you will be extremely marketable for any job.
This
How’s the Atlanta office?
I’m shocked by the comments here. I understand there were bad layoffs a few years back but it’s wild that a firm known for its great Midwest culture and strong cash comp was able to go down the drain in just a few years.
Are the hours and WLB worse than at a Baird, HL, HW, etc?
110 hours 2 weeks out of the month. Crazy every deal have no analyst or departing analyst. Associate turnover is incredibly high. True sweaty shop. Shitty paid for juniors, senior pay is fine. Directors and MD frequently talk down on junior employee. Super toxic.
Which groups? All?
A lot of deals are cross staffed across groups, with the exception of the transportation services and ADGS in Charlotte. All other groups with presence in Chicago are all sweat shops.
All of the stuff about the hours, understaffing etc is pretty accurate; expect to log off at 2-3am M-F with weekend work most weeks. They churn juniors a lot.
However… anecdotally, if you’re a good senior analyst or associate and make yourself indispensable on a few projects / for a good MD, you can negotiate a crazy premium to market comp at WB if you’ve got the balls. There are a few very skilled associates floating around who threatened to leave and the firm straight up told them to name their number and gave it to them. In the ballpark of 400+ TC.
When I joined Blair (2020-2022 time frame), the shop had an incredibly strong junior culture and other benefits like 0 facetime culture (everyone VP and up basically was fully remote through mid 2023) and a free gourmet lunch. I had a strong team. For someone moving to Chicago with no connection to the area, it was a fun place to start my career and early adulthood. I have zero regrets and think back very fondly on my time there.
That said, Blair’s management fundamentally did not understand the macro environment of the time and over-hired significantly in 2022 both at the junior and senior levels. This led to the Spring 2023 RIF in which almost half of my class (and maybe a fifth of first years..) were let go. Bonuses did not improve for several years in spite of this.
I would be curious to know what it is like to be an analyst at the firm today. Wishing everyone all the best
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