Hi, I will be interviewing with AlixPartners soon. How do I best prepare myself for the different rounds, especially the cases? Do you have any material specifically tailored to AlixPartners that you would be able to share with me ? Best regards, Luca

Hey there! 

Great to hear about your AlixPartners interview. Their case interviews are quite operational and turnaround-focused from my experience, so expect cases related to performance improvement, restructuring, cost-cutting, and financial viability. In addition to standard case prep (profitability, market entry, etc.), I’d recommend focusing on operational efficiency, supply chain optimization, and distressed company scenarios. Brush up on financial statements and cash flow analysis as well. While I don’t have specific AlixPartners material, consulting club casebooks and here, PrepLounge can help. Also, make sure to have strong personal fit answers, as AlixPartners values hands-on problem solvers. Let me know if you need help preparing—happy to support! 😊

Alessa

Hi Luca,

The preparation and skills you need to master for an interview at AlixPartners is very similar compared to a MBB interview. The major difference is the focus on certain case, mainly

• M&A This involves looking into the potential for an acquisition including valuation and post merger integration
• Market entry Evaluate how to enter in new geographical location/products/customers.
• Turnaround/ Operational excellence Improve the operations of a company and improve efficiency. 

Feel free to reach out via chat if you are interested in a coaching session.

Mattijs

Hey there, 

From my understanding, AlixPartners interviews follow the same general structure and themes as traditional consulting interviews. So you'd need to work on all the same elements: structuring, exhibit analysis, quantitative problem solving, analytical and conceptual problem solving, etc. 

Preplounge has tons of cases and resources to help you prepare!

Additionally, feel free to reach out if you want more targeted help implementing all the guidance / advice! 

All the best

Hey there,

Congrats on the invite! :-)

Focus on learning how to case, not on specific AlixPartners materials!

• The key reason why candidates fail their case interviews and don't improve with practice is because they never learn the right approach and techniques to begin with. They might go through 30-40 cases, just repeating the same mistakes over and over again. There is often no strong baseline.

• Make sure you understand and learn the basics for each part of the case (structuring, charts, math), which is

  • A replicable step-by-step for each part of the case interview

  • The right thinking techniques around the individual parts (e.g., what's a framework, what is evaluated, how can I ensure I think about it the correct way, what are some shortcuts to get to the answer quickly, etc.)

  • Simple communication templates to help you communicate your insights as well as ask for data in the right way to drive the case forward

• There are several approaches you can take, such as hiring a skilled coach, reading the right materials, or enrolling in relevant courses.

• Avoid generic advice and framework memorization approaches. This will only hurt your performance and waste a ton of time (why -> check out the first post here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-goodrelevant-is-the-case-in-point-book-for-case-prep-1984)

• Once you have that baseline it's time to practice and internalize the skills to create the right profile, polishing your strengths and lifting your weaknesses to a robust-enough level

• Practice drills alone (structure, chart, math) and practice full cases with other excellent candidates that know the right habits and approach. It is crucial that you are practicing with really good peers, otherwise, it's a waste of time. Practicing drills on your own is a huge effectivity and efficiency booster since you can go over many more questions in a shorter amount of time compared to practicing with peers. Do both in parallel! You want to spend your time where it is most useful, e.g., if you struggle with math focus on math drills, etc.

• Focus on quality over quantity. Doing 50+ cases does not mean much if you are not applying the right habits to score high and do a detailed debrief after every case to improve. You want to move from bad to good for your weaknesses and good to great for your strengths --> use the feedback from your previous experience and tailor your prep accordingly

• Consider booking at least an initial coaching session to get a detailed and objective evaluation of your performance + learn the right habits for every case regardless of context and framework + get a tailored preparation plan out of the session that will set you up for an effective and efficient prep.

• It does not hurt to focus a bit more on the relevant industries of your interviewer but chances are that not every case will be from that niche!

• Don't forget the fit interview part. Prepare answers for all the typical fit questions and stories (3-5 hours) and rehearse them a couple of times (5 hours)

All the best,

Florian

Hi,

In Asia Alix does alot of restructuring and operational improvement. It would be helpful to understand those 2 themes, but really the fundamentals of problem solving wouldn't change -> that's what you should focus on working on.

I've done a few actual ops projects before at Kearney/BCG so if you are looking for tailored coaching, feel free to reach out to me.

Hi Luca,

First of all, congratulations on the invitation from AlixPartners!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First, I would highly advise you to prepare for your AlixPartners interviews the same way you would for any other consulting firm. Other than the limited scope of the project, there is really no difference.
• Moreover, because of this, there is no specific preparation material that you will need.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming AlixPartners interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen