A Senior Associate
Perspective
Paul Koch is a Senior Associate with Alvarez & Marsal PEPI in Austin, TX. Paul is working on a sell-side cost assessment for a private-equity backed Industrial Services company. The company brought on A&M to help identify areas where it was necessary to add in additional costs to create a viable standalone entity prior to the sale of the portfolio company and help establish a go-forward run rate.
A Day in the Life
Here’s an account – in Paul’s words – of a typical day working as an A&M Senior Associate.
- Traveling
- At HOme
6:00 am
When I’m on the road, I try to get up early and fit in a quick run. It’s a great way to see some of the local sites when traveling. Afterwards, I check in with my family at home for a few minutes - they are on their way to school.
8:00 am
The team gathers for a quick breakfast at the hotel. We use this time to discuss what we are working on, any management meetings that might need to be scheduled, and any outstanding or deficient requests. After breakfast, we head to the client site for meetings with the client’s management team.
10:00 am
“A&M PEPI empowers me to participate in these meetings - as frequently as I am taking notes, I am also asking questions and sharing observations or findings.
Management meetings are some of my favorite parts of a project. These meetings allow us to get clarity on how the business is run, learn about what success looks like to them, and determine areas of importance.
12:00 pm
We break for a quick lunch. I enjoy facilitating the lunch orders - I find it an easy way to get to know my Team better. Over lunch we talk about the meetings we have scheduled for the afternoon and see if we can build anything we learned that morning into our agendas for further discussion.
1:00 pm
We have further meetings with client leadership. These are a bit more passive for me than the meetings in the morning, so I focus on capturing notes and trying to learn more about the workstream.
2:00 pm
I am involved in recruiting and new hire training for PEPI MAS/STS. We have a weekly meeting to discuss the upcoming training agenda. Afterwards, I spend a few minutes working on the outline in preparation for this summer’s training.
We receive some additional data from client management as a result of this morning’s meetings. I go heads down for a bit to work on the analysis for a working session with the rest of the team later this afternoon.
3:00 pm
The Team has a working session where we discuss the outcome of the day's meetings. We also prepare agendas for tomorrow's sessions and begin working on an update for the client about the results of our trip.
6:00 pm
We head back to the Team hotel. I take a few minutes to check in with home and hear about their day. I try to check in twice a day when I'm on the road, so I appreciate the few minutes of downtime prior to Team dinner!
7:00 pm
We head to a Team dinner - this is one of my favorite parts of being on the road. We try and schedule at least one Team dinner or event per trip. Many times we just go out to a local restaurant to try the cuisine, but we've also gone to things like sporting events.
9:00 pm
Before turning it in for the night, I check my calendar for the next day and spend a few minutes preparing for the different meetings that I have. I cap off the night by watching a few minutes of television.
6:00 am
“Prior to dropping off the kids, I check my email and Teams messages to make sure nothing urgent popped up overnight and generally get a feel for how my day is shaping up.
One of the great things about working on a remote project is the ability to help out around the house in the morning - we’ve got two young children.
After dropping the kids off, I head to the gym for a quick work out and shower prior to beginning the day. I try to establish my plan for the day while I’m on the treadmill, so I can be as productive as possible from the start.
8:00 am
I get home and get to work. I had a few pieces of analysis to perform leftover from yesterday evening. I begin by making progress on those ahead of checking in with the rest of the team. We're in multiple time zones, so it’s a bit of a staggered start.
10:00 am
Our team has a quick morning stand up session to understand what each of us is working on, any management meetings that may need to be scheduled, or talk about any additional data we might need. Afterwards, I head down to work on a few items.
12:00 pm
I spend a few minutes and grab lunch from the kitchen. I try and catch up on the news and read a few emails while eating.
12:30 pm
Ahead of our afternoon management calls, I check in with the rest of the team to update them on my progress and make sure there are no additional revisions to the agendas or new topics we want to cover.
1:00 pm
“We have an opportunity to hear firsthand what the outcome of some of our suggestions have been in real time.
Management calls - this is one of my favorite parts of the day. Not only do these calls allow us to get clarity on open items, but they are also a great learning opportunity.
2:00 pm
I am involved in recruiting and new hire training for PEPI MAS/STS. We have a weekly meeting to discuss the upcoming training agenda. Afterwards, I spend a few minutes working on the outline in preparation for this summer’s training.
3:00 pm
While waiting for some additional data from client management, I have an opportunity to help out with a proposal for an upcoming project. One of my personal initiatives for this year is to begin helping out with more business development work, with the goal of better understanding client motivations.
4:00 pm
I receive the updated data from management and update the models that I had previously created. I discuss the revised models with some members of my team and which of our adjustments will need to be updated accordingly. As a team, we have a short working session and wrap up with a short planning session for any remaining objectives we have for the day/tomorrow morning.
7:00 pm
Dinner with the family - we are grilling some chicken for tonight - followed by a quick wind down. Once everyone's down for the night, I'll check back in and try to wrap up some open items or handle any urgent business that's come up.