Pressure - Letting Off Steam

In retrospect, the McKinsey & Company summer BA interviews spanned over a month in total! 

Here's the timeline:

3/6 - Campus recruiting session

3/17 - online application submitted

3/26 - invited to McKinsey problem solving test

3/28 - Took the McKinsey problem solving test

3/29 - McKinsey Case Workshop

4/9 - Case Interview Round 1.1

4/12 - Case Interview Round 1.2

4/22 - Case Interview Round 2.0

4/24 - Case Interview Round 3.0 (Final Round)

5/5 - Results? (still pending)

Over the course of my application, I must admit in the beginning I was still focused on my previous application t Standard Chartered's International Graduate Program. To be frank, I never expected myself to advance so far in McKinsey's interview process. The firm has always been one of those dreams very high up, almost out of reach - I was happy to get the invitation to the written test, and who ever knew the process begins from that point on ...

Right now, having participated in the whole process, I have to say the entire process was both exhausting and very interesting. In terms of exhaustion ~ I didn't even realize that until it was all over.

This saturday (4/26), I found myself feeling sore all over, the kind of feeling I get before catching a major cold or fever. Every muscle on my body felt sore, and my grip was weaker than usual. I thought I was suffering from food poisoning or something....and went to bed early that night.

Waking up, the situation improved, but the sores are still there. Did a lot of stretching over the course of the day to lighten the sores. It wasn't until now did I realize the kind of pressure I'd put myself under over the past month. No, I didn't sleep late often, nor did I feel any physical pressure in any way. But the fact that I placed such a heavy emphasis on this interview process has created, unbeknownst to me, a psychological pressure that clenched me from all sides ~ for over a month!!!!!

In essence, the sores I was experiencing is feeling myself finally relaxing, the fatigue surfacing in form of sores. I'd never felt this way before, even after HSMUN, SITE or FACES ~ one important lesson I learned was - if I do end up interning at McKinsey, I'm sure the work will be hi-pressured as well, so I must find a way to release this pressure on a routine basis, so I don't have to undergo this kind of sore-therapy once a month. Just an interview can mount this kind of pressure, much less the real deal if I get the offer. So it is true pressure-management is important after all.