alpha fmc interview questions

• Why are you interested in consulting?
• Why are you interested in the work we do?
• Are you willing to travel with work?
• What are your interests outside of work?
• Why do you think you would be a good fit at Alpha FMC?

Alpha Stepping Up Programme Case Study

Interviews for Top Jobs at Alpha Financial Markets Consulting

Consultant Interview

Consultant Interview

From a finance perspective, keep abreast of the latest trends and have a good idea of what asset management is, what asset managers do and how they are different from other areas of the financial industry. Ensure you have a good understanding of exactly what the firm does. From a consulting perspective, hone your ability to work logically through a case study, and make sure you have a clear line of thought.

We caught up with Ed Bonnell, Analyst at Alpha FMC, to hear about his experiences to date.

1. Alpha is a small company with a lot of exposure to senior people, and it’s growing quickly

It’s a very young and driven firm. It’s experienced a great amount of growth in the last 4 or 5 years driven by a core group of people with a strong intent on continuing this growth. The interesting factor is that as we grow, we acquire a wide range of people with different capabilities, which opens new doors in terms of projects and makes the office environment a melting pot for new ideas. There is a wide cross section of expertise which is always growing, and which gives you the potential to do a lot.

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Senior Manager & Two-Wheeled Explorer

What have you been involved in outside of project work? Probably the most exciting thing I’ve done was my four-month sabbatical: I raised over £9,000 for the Hands Up Foundation (who support work in and around Syria) by cycling 3,000km in 30 days through Patagonia. During that time, I also did ice hiking up Huanya Potosi – a 6,088m high mountain in Bolivia, which is higher than Everest basecamp. Going to a surf camp in Chile and Uruguay was also great fun!

More recently, I have seconded to the US, where I am based in San Francisco, and have worked with clients in New York, Boston, Chicago and Toronto. This has been a fantastic opportunity to work abroad while Alpha continues to grow its presence across the continent!

How has Alpha supported you in these initiatives? My sabbatical was fully supported internally; the director team and HR were incredibly understanding and helpful in making it happen. Meanwhile, the wider Alpha team helped contribute to the total amount raised for charity by sponsoring my cycling trip.

The US secondment is part of an incentivised scheme proposed and managed by the Alpha director team. They are very aware of the challenges to move abroad, and try to make the initial transition as smooth as possible. Beyond that, my US colleagues and peers have been tremendously supportive over the course of my secondment, helping me to quickly become part of the team.

Is there anything else you’d love to do during your time at Alpha? Since joining the US team, I’ve helped formalise our CSR business management area. As a result of this, we’ve planned pro-bono projects for some US charities, which can be an incredibly rewarding experience. We’ve had record numbers of US employees volunteer their time to support these initiatives, despite their other client and work commitments, and it had been great to see such levels of engagement across the team.

How would you describe the culture at Alpha? Alpha has an incredibly positive environment – there are many ways to contribute to our growth, and new ideas are always welcomed by the director team. Anyone at any level in Alpha can find an ear to discuss a potential new initiative, which could relate to social activities, to charity work, to our marketing, or to our infrastructure, the list goes on…

There is also a great understanding that people have interests outside of their everyday work, and these are actively encouraged, as shown by our prolific social calendar!

The policy of ‘keeping good people’ resonates in every decision here, which is why there is a great number of employee benefits, including a laptop, phone, and corporate health insurance, as well as the flexibility to cater for employee sabbaticals. The resulting high employee retention rate speaks for itself!

What have you been involved in outside of project work? What do you enjoy most and find rewarding? I’m fairly active outside of Alpha – I run a small charity called the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK, which I founded during my time at university. It is the largest forum in the UK for young people of Indian origin, who are either studying or have studied at a UK educational institution. I lead a team of 30 people who are spread across the UK and in India and primarily look after the organisational strategy and stakeholder relationships. We work with governments, NGOs and commercial organisations alike and regularly provide advisory services and thought leadership. Last year the Mayor of London commissioned us a research piece as well. Fun fact: I recently won the UK-India Thought Leadership award for my work with the charity. The other winners included the Deputy Mayor of London! This was a pretty humbling and special moment!

How has Alpha supported you in these initiatives? Alpha is incredible! The best thing about working in a truly entrepreneurial environment is that you are trusted to firstly be entrepreneurial and creative, and quite importantly, manage your time as you deem fit. Needless to say, our client work comes first but other than that, the amount of support we get, both for our business management pieces and our activities outside of work is tremendous. I know that I can speak to anyone at Alpha and get their thoughts and advice on anything I need, and that I will get their unbiased and honest opinions.

What has been your personal highlight of your time at Alpha? There have been many! But delivering a very complex strategy review in an extremely tight timeframe with an incredibly happy client has to be at the top of the list. I also had the best ever time at the Alpha annual social and was so overwhelmed with just how awesome our trip to Tuscany was! Can’t wait for the next one!

Is there anything else you’d love to do during your time at Alpha (non-project)? I am very inclined towards business development activities and would love to contribute to these more formally. There is an incredible amount of satisfaction in the sales and marketing process for any product or service, and this relies on a holistic understanding of a myriad of factors, including our industry, our clients, and their dynamic requirements. What advice would you have for a new joiner at Alpha? When we tell you we are an entrepreneurial company with responsibility from day 1, we’re not just saying it, we truly mean it. What that translates into for any new joiner is a wealth of opportunities for development – the sky is truly the limit at Alpha. Creativity is welcomed, both in project and outside of project work, so don’t be afraid of volunteering – it will be appreciated and you will learn so much from the amazing team. And don’t be afraid to ask any type of question – everyone is incredibly nice and understanding. You will be surprised at the amount of time everyone at Alpha is willing to invest in you.