Graduates

Everyday Extraordinary

Our graduate schemes give you the opportunity to develop yourself on high profile projects with top clients across the investment management value chain.

How to apply

So, if you’re looking for an opportunity to work with an outstandingly talented and committed team, delivering change to the largest clients in the industry, we’d love to hear from you.

If this does not show as an option on your school’s portal, please forward those materials to na-graduate-recruitment@alphafmc.com

Life as an Alpha Graduate

The clichéd response to “what will I be doing?” is that as a consultant, no two days are the same. As a graduate at Alpha, you could be working on bids and proposals for our directors, working as PMO on one of our large implementation projects, mastering data analysis with our benchmarking team, doing research into the latest technologies, helping our subject experts write thought leadership on hot industry topics, or developing new software for our charity of the year. Whatever you’ll be working on, we can promise it’ll be varied, challenging, and interesting.

Project Life
Jamie Percival
Analyst
Project Life: FMC

During the Alpha Analyst Training period, I was provided with a comprehensive overview of the various practices across Alpha as well as gaining key skills which have proved extremely valuable so far. Following this, training for the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) provided a strong grounding in concepts and skills used within the Asset Management industry and allowed for an easier transition into project work. The extensive and detailed training and resources provided by Alpha were key to helping me pass through the exams.
Following the initial training period, I was lucky enough to start on a project straight away within the Benchmarking team (Research and Insights). Despite not having any background in this area, I was given a large amount of responsibility immediately. Also, the opportunity to be involved in various client workshops and report presentations within the first couple of months made me feel valued and built my confidence with client interactions. The team at Alpha have been extremely supportive with any questions that I have and at no stage have I felt apprehensive about asking for support and guidance. A highlight of my time within the Benchmarking team so far was producing content for the Sales and Marketing Roundtables, which brough together over 20 clients from across the industry and involved discussions on key trends and also highlighted areas that companies are falling behind. The volume of content and skills that I have learnt so far I believe will stand me in good stead for my future at Alpha, and I look forward to taking on many more challenges and building my skillsets over time.
Alongside my role as an Analyst, I also enjoy the Business Management work I do for the Investments Practice. Within this team, I am focusing on the people element and improving the talent both within the Investment practice as well as shedding light on the type of work that the practice conducts. This has been a great way to learn about the various large scale projects that take place within the Investments practice as well as providing the opportunity to meet many knowledgeable and interesting colleagues along the way. Again, I have been provided with a great amount of responsibility as an Analyst and I look forward to seeing how I can positively influence the practice over time.

Finally, it must be noted how strong a culture there is at Alpha. Various socials and team building activities provide the perfect opportunity to connect outside of work and I believe that I have already made long-term friends during my short-time at Alpha. Examples of great opportunities include the Summer Session to Mykonos and the regular 5-a side football games. I look forward to many more incredible experiences and making more friendships during my time at Alpha.

Maryam Anis
Analyst
Project Life: Insurance

Within the first few days of starting at Alpha as an Analyst, I was allocated to a long-term project that was in its infancy. This was a new engagement working as a Business Analyst to support the migration of a large pension provider from a legacy platform. At a high level I was involved at various timepoints from shaping business requirements with the client, and ensuring that our understandings were aligned before proposing a solution that married with their needs. From the get go I have had a large amount of responsibility taking ownership of key deliverables, and managing stakeholders’ expectations.
An interesting piece of work that I am currently undertaking relates to the pensions dashboard, a government led project that allow savers to access their pensions in a singular location. One aspect of this role is mapping data that exists on a pension provider’s platform to those required by the government, this includes customer’s names, costs and charges information, and what a customer’s estimated retirement income might be. Following this, I am involved in looking at different ways of packaging and sending this data onwards to be integrated within the pensions dashboard programme.
Whilst project work remains the leading proportion of my role, I am engaged in a variety of Business Management areas. I have been involved in providing quality assurance on articles that are published on Alpha’s website, organised an art workshop to raise funds for our charity of the year, and I am currently developing a role as a social mobility champion to visibly improve opportunities within the business for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. I am thrilled to be able to demonstrate my skills across the business, and look forward to what awaits on the horizon.

An introduction to Alpha FMC: Graduates

02 years on

My first few weeks at Alpha revolved around the Analyst Training programme, which introduced us to the Asset & Wealth Management industry. After this, I was lucky enough to be brought into the Bid Team. This is an internal team within Alpha, which focuses on creating high-quality proposals and sales materials which would be used by the senior Alpha team in the process of winning new projects and potentially new clients. The role was a great introduction to the company, as I was able to build my internal network rapidly. Working with a variety of people gave me the confidence to present my work to different levels of seniority, something that translates perfectly to working at client site. I was also given the responsibility of producing the sales materials, as well as managing my time effectively – all key skills for an Analyst.

After 5 months on the Bid Team, I joined a large project as a joint PMO (Project Management Officer) and BA (Business Analyst) role. Both roles are vital within Alpha projects – through my PMO role I was able to hone my skills around project governance and management to ensure that the team successfully delivered the work promised in the required timeframe. Through my BA role, I developed my content knowledge of the client reporting function at an Asset Manager and was able to contribute to the proposed redesign of the function.

In addition to project work and taking part in the many Alpha social events, I have also been a part of several Business Management areas – such as being a Wellbeing Champion, supporting the ESG, Operations, and Enterprise Transformation practices, and being part of the Gender Equality Committee. Alpha offers so many opportunities, your working life is never dull!

05 years on

Alpha presents an amazing opportunity to work in a high-performance and meritocratic environment that values diversity, wellness and inclusion. As a graduate the company provided me with everything I needed and more to kickstart my career, and the opportunities to grow and challenge myself have continued since.
My first years were spent getting to grips with the fundamentals of project management, business analysis and strategic thinking, and at client site I frequently found myself in discussions with C-Suite stakeholders. This level of exposure has continued since, and I’ve had the opportunity to participate in a number of M&A deals and integrations, as well as industry-leading operational transformation programmes.

Everyone at Alpha gets involved with business management as a way of contributing to broader company life – this can involve anything from organising firm-wide events to developing Wellbeing or Diversity & Inclusion initiatives to roll out to the company. For me, working as part of a team to help create a strategy and develop a new Practice has been a real highlight of my time at Alpha, and is demonstrative of the sheer amount of opportunity available to make a real impact on the company, no matter what level you are.

09 years on

Prior to joining Alpha’s graduate scheme, my only experience of the world of work was gained through internships I had completed at multi-national organisations. Therefore, with Alpha’s team at the time still in the double digits it was with a degree of trepidation that I first applied, with a host of questions as to what building a career at this small, unfamiliar firm would entail. 9 years later, I have a much clearer perspective on the answers.

Through the interview process, I was told consistently of the high level of responsibility I would get at an early stage. Upon joining, this became immediately apparent as I found myself participating in a workshop with the COO of a leading wealth manager on my first day. This level of exposure has continued in a similar vein over the last 9 years, during which time I’ve had the opportunity to participate in, and lead, some of the most interesting and transformational programmes in the industry. Working for a specialist boutique consultancy has allowed me to enjoy a wide variety of different engagements, ranging from regulatory & compliance, through to digital, sales & marketing, safe in the knowledge that all of them were contributing to my knowledge of the industry in which I have chosen to specialise.

Whilst Alpha provides great professional opportunities and experience, it is in the culture that that really the firm apart. In combining the stewardship of a listed company, the entrepreneurship of a start-up, the support of a family business, Alpha offers an unrivalled foundation upon which exciting, accelerated, and most importantly, sustainable, careers in management consulting can be built.

We’re devoted to your development

Training

All new Analysts will take part in the Alpha Analyst Training, designed to provide a combination of tool-specific training (e.g. Excel/PowerPoint), soft skill training (time management, presentation skills), and training in Consulting activities (preparing a cost model, producing deliverables, managing stakeholders). Analysts will also become certified in an investment management qualification (either IMC or IFP). All our Graduates also become qualified Project Managers, completing the Agile certification. Alpha also has a generous training budget for those that wish to pursue further training.

Benefits

Competitive salary
Profit share
Medical, dental and vision coverage
25 days’ holiday
Generous commuting allowance
Choice of laptop and mobile phone allowance
Sponsorship towards professional qualifications
Opportunities for global secondment

The Application Process

You’ll be able to apply for any open early career positions through the relevant local websites (which will contain full details about the application process). For UK positions, open positions will be advertised on Bright Network and for North America positions, these will be advertised through Handshake and on local school portals. If you have any questions, please reach out to our local Recruitment teams.

 

If you are successful with the initial screening process, you will be invited to a half-day virtual assessment centre. This will consist of 3 elements:
  • Competency-based interview
  • Case Study
  • Group Exercise

 

If you are successful in the half-day virtual assessment centre, you will be invited back for a Final Round Interview with one of our Directors.

An introduction to Alpha FMC - The Interview Process

Despite the expected nervousness, as soon as my interaction with the people at Alpha began I distinctly remember feeling more at ease. Everyone was extremely approachable and there was a conscious effort on their part to make this normally stressful process for any graduate as accommodating as possible.

The actual assessment components, while rigorous at times, were conclusive as I was given the opportunity to showcase who I was as an individual, an opportunity that I greatly cherished. However most importantly, the transparency provided in regards to my potential role within Alpha’s structure and the type of culture the company strives to maintain allowed me to feel that I would be valued.

I think my experience can be summarised by the one pervading thought that I had as I exited Alpha’s offices that evening, which was: “I want to work HERE.”

Dimitrios; Solutions Architect

An introduction to Alpha - The Case Study