Benefiting from a holistic internship experience
Rebecca Horne chronicles a day in her life as a summer intern with AlixPartners’ Turnaround and Restructuring group in the London office. Generation Success, a not-for-profit social mobility organization, helped place Rebecca and fellow interns Oliver Gadsby and Baran Yazgili in the program.
Rebecca shares how Oliver, Baran, and she benefited from the immersive experience which offered exposure to a variety of interesting client projects, learning and development programs, and networking opportunities.
7:00 am: Wake up and after quick shower, I make my way to the AlixPartners office at 6 New Street Square.
8:30 am: After dropping my things off at my desk, I make a bowl of cereal, grab a coffee and say good morning to my team and fellow interns, Oliver and Baran.
9:00 am: Oliver, Baran, and I are interning with the Turnaround and Restructuring team. Today, we have one of our regular team-wide calls where we go over current projects and potential opportunities. Hearing about the kinds of companies that we work with and the complex projects our firm handles is one of my favourite parts of the day.
9:30 am: After the call, I pick up on my tasks from the previous day. Our work varies day to day, and we all get exposure to the different aspects of a project. Today, I tackle a cash flow analysis, Oliver researches a target company, and Baran prepares for a client meeting.
11:00 am: I meet with my team, and we go over the various workstreams on our projects. One of our clients is on the call, and I am asked to present some industry research I put together last week.
12:30 pm: After a busy morning, Oliver, Baran and I head out to grab lunch. We’re lucky there are a lot of great options near the office, and we settle on Natural Kitchen.
1:30 pm: I prepare notes from the morning meetings, and I realize just how much happened on those calls. Our client shared some new developments with us that will require our team to tailor our analysis and consider different approaches to address their needs.
3:00 pm: It’s time for our afternoon meetings. These meetings are often informal coffee catchups with our mentors to discuss our development and progress, but today we have a Q&A with AlixPartners CEO, Simon Freakley, as part of our senior speaker series!
Simon talked about the value of our culture and how to prevent dilution when the firm is growing, shared tips on how to develop skills early in your career and stressed the importance of balancing your career with your life outside of work. It was great to have direct access to the firm’s leadership and I loved hearing about how passionately he spoke of valuing people within the business.
4:00 pm: Snack time! The office is stocked with chocolate bars, popcorn, or, if you’re feeling healthy, fruit. I’m not and opt for a chocolate bar.
4:30 pm: I have a catchup call with members of my workstream. I always learn a lot on these calls as they tend to be smaller, and we can do a deep dive into a specific aspect of the project.
5:30 pm: I start wrapping up my outstanding items for the day and check my calendar to see what’s on tap for tomorrow.
6:15 pm: Oliver, Baran, and I join some of our team for after work drinks. I’ve really appreciated how intentional everyone has been in making sure that we have these opportunities to network and connect with them in a more casual environment.
8:00 pm: Have dinner at home as I catch-up with family and friends. I’m a planner, so I lay out my clothes for the next day. Excited to see what’s in store for tomorrow!
