William Blair Reviews

Former Employee – worked at William Blair as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Best investment bank in Chicago. Most colleagues are nice, and culture is different from NYC firms.

Cons – Not as prestigious as bulge brackets. Analyst turnover is extremely high.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at William Blair full-time for more than a year

Pros – gain some experience if you never had a job

Cons – not good if you have kids

Advice to Senior Management – none

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at William Blair

Pros – Work Life Balance
Pleasant Working Environment

Cons – not many factors to motivate individuals to go the extra mile; no promotions, standard raises

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at William Blair

Pros – Work across Industry Groups and various product advisory

Cons – As an investment banking analyst expect more secretary tasks oppose to finance. In addition, there needs to be a major change in the IT (everyone runs a bit slower here).

Advice to Senior Management – INNOVATION!

Current Employee – been working at William Blair

Pros – private ownership, culture, conservatiive, intelligent individuals, nice people, considerate

Cons – slow decision making, partnership makes all decisions based what maximizes their payout, support roles have little say in direction of firm

Advice to Senior Management – improve communication, walk around and get to know the people in other departments, be friendlier

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at William Blair

Pros – Very good work environment
Great Internal Advancement and transfer opportunities
Great Partnership opportunities for professionals
No real issues with management

Cons – Not a very diverse environment
Very conservative and lagging in technology and innovation
Can get stuck in careers without advancement opportunities

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on retaining your best workers
Performance oriented compensation

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at William Blair

Pros – Blair is and has been historically a fine place to start and maintain a career. Well regarded within the industry and by employees, the partnership structure rewards performance.

Cons – If you're not a north shore protestant, you're not going to be in the inner circle. This is old school, white sock, carriage trade, private partnership snobbery at it's finest.

Advice to Senior Management – Get rid of the idiotic casual dress code. This isn't 2000. No one wants to see it. Dress to impress not to recruit.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at William Blair

Pros – Chicago prestige and connections are strong
Friendlier than most investment banks
Chicago has a low cost of living relative to NY

Cons – NY bankers look down on bankers from everywhere else
Some of the middle managers when I was there weren't very effective leaders

Advice to Senior Management – Continue being the friendly alternative to NY based banks. Work to improve the leadership skills of those in mid level management positions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at William Blair

Pros – Good company for investment professionals, but not anyone in MIS or operations. Those who "bring in the money" will be treated well and compensated for it. Those who make the place tick will not.

Cons – There is no career path for MIS employees. There are no opportunities for advancement despite claiming to be an entrepreneurial environment. Overall, being in MIS, regardless of experience, it is a backwards career move due to a lack of respect for opinions or experience.

Advice to Senior Management – Overall, William Blair as a company needs to start to care more about its operational employees or they will leave. Helping people do their jobs efficiently and helping to make sure people are recognized for doing a good job would be a good step in the right direction.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at William Blair

Pros – Investment Management has nice office space. Profit margins are high, so it is good to be a Partner/Principal.

Cons – Technology is old, flat screen monitors replaced CRT in 2008! Many of the internal business practices have been around for decades, the firm is not progressive. The firm does not reinvest into itself or the support/operations side of the business. Principals/Partners cash out each year.

Advice to Senior Management – It's good to be a partner.