Week 1 — Organizational Culture

The organizational culture at William Blair is very collegial and entrepreneurial. A big reason for this is the private partnership. The partners all split the firm’s profits, so if you’re a part of the firm and the firm wins, you win. It is truly a team-oriented, results-driven culture with no room for trying to step on the person sitting next to you. We heard a lot about how this translates in our first week. They outlined the internship and what we would be tasked with but made it clear that you will get out as much as you put in. There are countless opportunities beyond what is required to demonstrate an interest and commitment to the work. They immediately told us that it would be best to think of our intern cohort as a team instead of six individuals competing for a spot at the end of the summer. The extra opportunities drove that home, as the way they wanted you to stand out was by taking on additional tasks, delivering high-quality work, and driving the entire team forward rather than just yourself. They noted how it would be apparent in our stock pitches who helped each other out because each of us likely has a different strength, so when the entire team improves in an area that you are good at, they assume good collaboration and teamwork. This investment in the success of the whole was also seen during the interview process and our first meeting. The head of the intern program let us know during both the interview and our first intern meeting that they do not give return offers and there are not any spots available at the moment, given that it’s a smaller firm with low turnover. This does not mean that that won’t be any spots, but just that they cannot accurately predict movement in the coming months, so they cannot guarantee anything. If someone does leave and a position opens up, the intern class is usually the first candidate pool they look at to fill that role, so the internship is still a two-month interview essentially. The investment in the team was seen when they followed this up with their plan to expose us to as many areas of the business as possible beyond their department through meetings with employees at all levels. They do this because they don’t want their lack of movement to inhibit our career growth, nor do they want to lose out on good talent as a firm if they don’t have to. Again, the culture is constantly about the team and the firm, so if we perform well in the internship and find out we may be interested in a different area of the business, they are happy to aid in that transition process.