How to prepare for A&M's case study interview (strategy team)?

Written cases are very prep-able. Same thinking as a live case (structure, hypothesis, recommendation), but the game is triaging a packet fast, finding the exhibits that matter, and presenting top-down.

To practice, take any case with exhibits, give yourself 45-60 minutes, and force out 3-4 slides plus a recommendation. Drill exhibit reading hard, and rehearse presenting answer-first.

A&M is a turnaround firm, so expect operational themes: cost reduction, margin improvement, value creation. Brush up margins, cost-to-serve, capacity, utilization, EBITDA, and cash flow basics.

Same core thinking, different delivery. Lean into the operational flavor.

Written/packet cases reward a different skill set than conversational cases, and the good news is it's a more learnable format. Three things to focus on:

1. Triage before you analyse. You'll get more material than you can use. Spend the first few minutes deciding what question the packet is really asking, and which 3-4 exhibits actually move the answer, then deliberately ignore the rest. Graders reward judgment about relevance, not exhaustive coverage.
2. Answer-first synthesis. Structure your output as a one-line recommendation, then 3 supporting arguments, each backed by a specific number from the pack, then risks and next steps. Lead with the "so what" and prove it underneath; most candidates instead walk through the data chronologically, which reads as analysis without a conclusion.
3. Presentation discipline. Practise turning a messy pack into 3-4 crisp slides or talking points under time pressure, and be ready to defend every number ("where did this come from, why does it matter?").

One note specific to A&M: brush up on the operational and restructuring basics they see a lot - simple profitability and margin bridges, cash and working-capital intuition, basic ROI/payback. You don't need depth; you need to not freeze when an operating metric shows up.

To practise, take any case with exhibits, give yourself 30-45 minutes to produce a recommendation from the data, then present it out loud. That single drill maps far better to this format than more conversational-case reps.

Hi,

Congrats by securing the interview.

For a written case, I recommend to prepare in two steps.

1) Focus on preparing for an interactive case interview to gain the typical case consulting skills (framework drafting, top down communication, quick math, graph reading...).

2) When you master the skills for a case interview, you can prepare specifically for the written case interview. The most important skills are time management and fast reading/scanning data.

When solving a written case, first step is to quickly go through the materials, draft a framework (for yourself), put action titles on the slides and back-up your action titles with data/calculations.

Good resources are the BCG written case mostly used in the past. Let me know if you are interested in practicing together.

Kr,

Mattijs

Hi there,

From your description, this is the standard format for a written case. 

Typically, you receive the materials up front along with the case prompt. You're then given some time to formulate the answer. Some firms require you to also build powerpoint pages or a page in Notion. You are then expected to present your content (in most cases; some firms instead ask you to just email it to them) and engage in a Q&A with the interviews. 

Written cases are actually closer to how consulting work is in practice, because you get more time to think through it and conduct research and prepare the presentation. What matters a lot more than in live cases is how the presentation goes. 

I've worked with many candidates on written cases, so if you need help on this, reach out. 

Best,
Cristian

A&M’s written case is different from a conversational case, but the preparation is actually simpler. You need to be good at three things: reading a packet fast, pulling out the two or three insights that matter, and presenting them clearly. That’s it. You don’t need special strategy frameworks.

The approach is this. When you get the packet, skim first to understand the story, then read the exhibits and mark the numbers that actually move the answer. Build your slide outline immediately: one slide for the problem, one for the analysis, one for the recommendation. Keep everything short and structured. A&M cares more about clarity than creativity.

You can practise with any presentation‑style case. Use short due‑diligence packets, simple profitability cases, or market entry cases with charts. Focus on reading charts, calculating basic margins, and explaining what the numbers mean. You don’t need deep finance. You only need clean logic: revenue, cost, margin, growth, and a few operational drivers.

Best, Alessa

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the invitation from Alvarez & Marsal!

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

• First of all, yes, the preparation slightly differs. The core thinking stays the same, but the additional skill being tested is triage: skim the information first, decide what question it really asks, pick the three or four exhibits that actually move the answer. Interviewers reward judgment about relevance, not exhaustive coverage.
• Moreover, for practice, take any case study that comes with exhibits, give yourself about an hour, and force yourself to produce a few slides plus an answer-first recommendation where every argument is backed by a number from the information.

You can find more on this topic here: Speed reading techniques.

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

Best,

Hagen