Have a first round interview with William Blair coming up and was wondering if anyone had insight about their interview process. I was surprised to find that it was an hour long interview (never had a 1st round be so long).
Are they known to ask technical questions? Or is it mostly fit? I have IB experience but it was at a boutique so there was no formal training/learn as you go type of experience so not too confident with technicals... I'm assuming that it's definitely going to be a combination of both with it being an hour long.
Also, anyone know what the Chicago office is like in terms of hours/culture?
Thanks in advance guys!
I would say there is a good chance that it will be two half hour interviews back to back with two different people. I haven't interviewed with Blair but that is what I have experienced with every 1 hour interview I've had.
Regarding not being confident with technicals, here is a sure fire way to get CONFIDENT with them... first off, how much time do you have? Do you have the BIWS guide? If you have a few days to week and have the guides I would SERIOUSLY suggest buying a couple packs of the big ass note cards (5"x8") and literally writing out the questions on one side and the answers on the other. Also, get the multi-colored ones so you can do Accounting on green, Valuation on Blue, DCF on Yellow, etc which helps.
This probably takes 5-10 hours but writing them ingrains that stuff in your mind as-is and then its so easy to review stuff on note cards vs reading through a 50 page PDF. This might be over-kill but I did this and after writing them and reviewing for a few days I don't think I will ever be nervous about the technical portion of an analyst-level interview ever again... that and I've also come to the realization that I will probably get the same 10ish technical questions in any interview I am in (note: I only have exposure to Midwest MM which are typically more laid back and more focused on fit ... I assume?)
Do you mind sharing the most common 10 technical interview questions that you've received?
Not sure if you saw my response to your PM but...
-Walk me thru DCF and comps analysis -Walk through 3 financial statements -Discuss how 3 statements link together -What happens to all the statements if xyz happens (i.e. Depreciation goes down by 10) -How do you calculate FCFF and FCFE -EBITDA and EBIT (what they are/concepts, situations/companies where one makes sense more than the other) -Calculate WACC and concept behind it -Enterprise Value vs Equity Value (how to move from one to the other, how they are used in multiplies, etc)
You should not expect these, but they should make for good practice:
1 - In what scenario would you expect a decrease in net working capital? What could this tell you? 2 - What will happen to your WACC if you increase the fractional amount of debt in the capital structure? 3 - What are three reasons two comps would trade at different multiples? 4 - How would a $10 increase in D&A flow through the financial statements? 5 - Assuming zero taxes, how would a $10 increase in D&A flow through the financial statements? 6 - How would a $10 increase in D&A affect your DCF valuation? Comps valuation? 7 - When would D and/or A be imbedded in COGS versus SG&A? 8 - What sorts of things should you add back when "sanitizing" your comps? 9 - Why don't you walk me through how a sale would run through the financial statements? Lets assume $100 in revenue and $60 in COGS. 10 - What's going on in the market? Tell me about an M&A/Spinoff/Restrux you have been following? Where is the DOW? Thoughts on QE3?
Blair's highly regarded in the MM space in Chicago. First round interviews aren't especially technical, and if I remember mine correctly, mostly focused on fit and passion, though your mileage may vary depending on your specific interviewer. That being said, at some point, you WILL get technical questions and you WILL have to answer them well, so do practice that.
From what I understand, William Blair, as one of the larger remaining private-partnership investment banks, seriously values fit. So stay loose.
Thanks for the responses guys.
OP how'd the interview go? And was it for FT or SA?
Ahh gotcha, appreciate it man!
No problem!
I know this has been pretty much answered already, but figured I'd give my experience anyway. Blair had OCR at my school at the end of November, I had a 30 minute interview which was completely fit questions. However, my interviewer was an associate who had only been working for 3 months... The other interviewer was a VP and I think he also asked all fit/behavioral questions. Blair is a great place to work, one of my good friends is a second year analyst there. They work him extremely hard, but I think him more so than others. He says that's what happens when you are a top analyst there. I second the suggestion to get the Breaking Into Wall Street guide. Definitely worth the money, everyone at my school uses it and it walks through and explains every answer.
William Blair Interview (Originally Posted: 12/05/2012)
Does anyone have experience interviewing with Blair? If so any things to be aware of prior to the interview or questions that they are really big on. Reading the company database, it looks like they focus lot on fit, but I am interested in hearing your all's perspective/thoughts. Thanks for your help.
Also interested.
And:
What is this atrocity?!Yea I don't even know.
I remember during the tech questions, they had a decent focus on knowing the financial statements. One that caught me off guard was when they asked what the 3 most important line items were on the financial statements.
Double post, but what is the answer to this?
NI, Cash, Total debt? This is completely a guess
Is this Boston?
Chicago- does Boston office do SA recruiting? Pretty sure it is mostly S&T and a tiny office (and didn't know they took interns)
Two years ago, I had two good friends (guy and a girl) that I went to school with that interviewed for the same summer internship spot there. The girl was a sophomore, and the guy was a junior. I know both of these people very well (for different reasons) and I know that they would both ace the fit or personality questions, but the girl is better with the technicals. The girl, depsite being a sophomore, got the job. So while fit is important in any interview, definitely focus more on the technical side, because that is what got her the job.
Agree with rogersterling59's points. You obviously need to nail the technicals but WB puts a good amount of emphasis on fit since they have a blue collar attitude
Bump
And did the technical questions mainly arise during the super-day when being interviewed by more junior people, or did they take place over the phone as well.
I'd check the Company Database...pretty sure we have some Interview Insights with William Blair
I actually dont know the answer to the question I gave before. This is the one that caught me off guard. And I think the question may have been what 3 line items are most important on income statement rather than all 3 financial statements.
I said EBITDA since its closes to FCF, but after that I literally made up my last 2 answers - I do not remember what they were since I knew they were wrong. If anyone can shed light Id appreciate it. That question will haunt me forever, in addition to another one I got from JPM...
I'm gonna bump this up. Anyone else have any insight- the company database has some stuff, but nothing too specific and it is fairly limited.
Bump if anyone has anything else they know about the interviews with Blair.
William Blair-Interview (Originally Posted: 08/18/2010)
Hi guys,
I have a question for all the experts on board. I will have an interview for an M&A Analyst position with William Blair. After doing thorough research, I have a pretty good understanding what to expect at an ib interview. However, is there anything specific to William Blair I should be prepared for?
I am also curious, if there is a difference in the interview process when interviewing for a position in the UK as opposed to the US?
I would appreciate any ideas and thoughts!
Thank you!
A good friend of mine works at WB. He said the technicals all are basic but fit is very important. He is a waspy vandy guy if that is any help...
Friend just started at WB and I had a friend interview at WB for SA last winter.
WB people are very thrifty. kind of laid back but intense in their work from what i hear.
interviews are basic techs but agree with CMUbanker above in that fit is really important. their analyst class is pretty diverse in terms of school backgrounds. There are people from asia, morehouse, vandy, northwestern etc etc
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