Ready to Rock'n Roll

In another 20 minutes I'm gonna head out and take the bus to Taipei 101

Not for another interview this time.

Today, July 1st, 2008 is officially the first day I start work at McKinsey & Company as

a summer business analyst.

Feeling kinda anxious, but very excited right now ~ I know what challenge lies ahead, but it is

bound to be one of the most rewarding summers ever!

Let's go!

Morning!? Night?

I woke up at 5:30am in NCU this morning to catch the bus back to NTU. Turning on my laptop, I saw Jill, a classmate of mine who interns at Morgan Stanley IB for the summer, was online. So I popped her a message:

danny: hey, morning!

Jill: .... night....

danny: no way~~~

Jill: I just came back from the office....

danny: and when do u have to go back?

Jill: in another 3 hours....Orz

Gosh, so what they tell us about the 20hr. workday of investment banking is real after all.... wonder what a day at McKinsey's gonna be like?

Sagittarius 射手座

射手座終極分析

樂觀與憂愁：射手座人的內心不是外表看上去那麼樂觀的，因為喜歡看的遠，容易擔憂的
事情也就多，在他們的字典裡，即使現在好，也不一定代表未來好，有時候很多人覺得很
好的一個工作或一個伴侶，他們很輕易的就會放棄掉，可能只是因為一個毫不起眼的小原
因。所以，這樣的外在表現，就讓人們覺得他們不喜歡被某件事情或某個人束縛住，追求
自由的，沒有壓力的感覺。


現實：常說射手座是追求夢想的人，但往往忽略了他們現實的一面，算計起來不會比處女
座差哦，只是更高明更隱藏罷了。射手座人的夢想是必須建立在現實的基礎上的，一般他
們很少談及自己的夢想，而是實際的去做一些向夢想靠攏的事情。如果可以借巧力完成的
事情，決不會多花一點工夫。所以有時候射手座也容易給人耍小聰明的感覺。可是，不得
不承認他們完成的還滿不錯。也許終其一生，他們都在考慮怎麼巧妙的做一些事情，花最
少的精力去達到最好的效果。所以，很多射手座看上去讓人們會覺得很懶，但是其實他們
的大腦可沒有停下過思考現實的事情。


拒絕低俗：幾乎所有的射手座內心都是驕傲的，其程度絕不亞於獅子座。只不過他們不會
顯現在臉上，外在的表現總是隨和的，恰當的。可是內在有著極強的自尊心，敏感也情緒
化。因為射手座人心中是驕傲的，所以他們拒絕低俗，不喜歡任何俗氣的、粗魯的事或人
。如果可以，他們希望一切有關的事物，都是優雅的、高尚的，值得品味的。而真正能讓
他們覺得值得交朋友或談戀愛的人是很少的，雖然表面上他們是很隨和的。

多情：很多人說射手座多情，尤其是男性。其實在射手座人的心目中，對於愛情確實有理
想化的傾向，和他們談戀愛，是一件高難度的事情。他們非常討厭俗氣的人，所以你不能
很物質或喜歡談錢，但是他們又很現實，所以你不能一文不名，各方面也必須有一定的實
力。物質與精神，你必須平衡的剛剛好，才讓他們覺得你值得去愛。或者，你有足夠的神
秘感，可以讓他們不知道你的缺點在哪裡，而盲目的愛你。一般，當然是沒有完美無缺的
人的，所以，可能像金牛座這樣永遠會讓射手感覺捉摸不透的悶悶的人，會非常吸引他們
；或者象雙子那樣，足夠機智，懂得察言觀色，捕捉他們的情緒，才會讓他們感覺到愛情
的甜蜜。一般射手的感情模式是，第一階段，你們還不熟悉，他（她）愛上了你，非常熱
情。第二階段，你們逐漸熟悉，而他（她）開始龜毛，整天挑剔你的毛病，無論是背地裡
還是當面。如果你有幸通過他（她）的挑剔過程，基本挑剔出的毛病為零或者你把缺點保
密的非常好；那麼進入第三階段，他們就又是忠誠和熱情的愛人了。但是基本能通過第二
階段的人非常少，所以有了射手多情一說。其實射手對戀人的挑剔，是源於對愛情的挑剔
，對喪失自由感的恐懼。


射手座人的人生，往往是幸運的，因為他們是聰慧的、明朗的、通透的。與眾不同，也許
是他們終生追求的夢想，希望每一個射手人，可以找到他們的夢想！

　　人人都說射手座是感情的騙子，對愛情不尊重，只追求片刻的快感，是花心與沖滿慾
望的象徵。朋友們…你們瞭解射手座最真實的一面嗎？
射手座是大孩子，天真與善良，遇到愛情時，可能讓人感覺不認真，付出的比誰都少。可
是，知道嗎？射手座很想愛，卻也很怕愛！剛開始他們只是慢慢的付出，謹慎的愛，好怕
自己會受傷。可是在一句一句的愛，一天一天的相處下，射手座把帶刺的防備丟掉，開始
不顧一切的去愛他們所愛的人，在別人眼中，只是射手座為了達到某種目的而作的行動。
可射手座不介意，他會在自己幸福的想像中陶醉，希望對方能感受自己的愛，想對方覺得
與自己一齊是幸福的。
在射手座愛上了一個人，他會把自己放到最後。有苦自己承擔，可能會因為吵了一場小架
而不開心，卻也是最快認錯，無論誰的錯，他們都會包容，知道嗎？射手座會因為深愛一
個人而原諒他的背叛，會因為你的一句話付出很多。他們愛玩，在玩的同時，也希望把那
一份好心情帶給你，射手座是樂觀的。
　
人們總覺得射手座的世界很快樂，可是呢？射手座難過時沒有人知道，他不想讓別人
可憐自己，射手座不堅強，可是很善良。在你難過時哄你開心，讓你有依靠，分手後，他
會哭者去想屬於你們倆幸福的回憶，也不想愛的人因為同情而勉強和他一齊。他比誰都希
望自己愛的人快樂幸福，卻常常忽略了自己，全身都是傷也笑著告訴你，我很好不用擔心
。
　　在所有人看到他的笑容以為他沒事，卻不知道失戀對射手座有多大傷害，華麗的外表
下有一顆脆弱的需要別人瞭解和安慰的心。知道嘛？你的一點關心，心思細膩的射手座會
記得你對他的好，把自己的愛毫無保留的送給你，射手座是不被瞭解的，可他們不會怨誰
。他們會傻傻的認為，讓我承擔吧，別讓別人也受到傷害。所以，不要讓快樂的射手座痛
苦，別讓他們最有魅力的笑容成為掩飾痛苦的偽裝，認真愛射手座。你會知道射手座的愛
，是充滿淚水的…

The Dream Computer

I've realized there are several things I really want to learn other than having an exciting career:

1. Pickup violin or guitar again

2. Practice photography - with the professional cameras

3. Practice filming video

4. Photo/Video editing, movie making (personal movies)

5. This is farfetched - fly an airplane

6. Travel the world, cruising.

I also happened to come across a dream computer, that will provide all the calculating power to use Apple's Final Cut Studio, and the Adobe Creative Suite 3:

Mac Pro:

CPU: 2x Intel Xeon Harpertown Quad Core processors 2.8GHz each

Hard Drive: 2 Terabytes 5,400 RPM

Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra 512 MB

RAM: 4x 1GB Quad Channel ECC RAM for Mac Pro

External Drive: eSATA 3 Gb/s 2 Terabyte External Drive

All of this, would cost around .... let's put it at 200,000 NT

Man, better work hard this summer and get that offer!

HDVC at McKinsey Taipei Office

It's not even a week since returning from the mini-BCR in HK, got an email from the McKinsey Professional Development team based in Shanghai, notifying us of a HDVC, or High Definition Video Conference for today. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the staffing and PD team to us Summer BAs and Summer Associates.

So, it was a very nice Wednesday, finally the rain that has been seriously pissing me off for the past week has stopped today. There wasn't much sun, but as long as there's no rain, I'm very happy and content. After spending the morning reading the 'McKinsey's Marvin Bower', a book on how the firm first got started, its vision and other interesting anecdotes, it is a good read. Near noon, had to rush to Mgmt Building 1 for a meaningless Service III Interview. It was a complete waste of time and resources, I was in the room at 13:00, she asked me one question 'what did u do in World Vision Taiwan?', I replied, 'Translating' - and that was it, I was out of the room by 13:01 and soon on a 650 bus headed for McKinsey's Taipei office at 101 building.

I was actually the first to arrive (I think San was already in the office, since he's already on board and started work this Monday). Tiffany came a while later. San led us to the video conference room where the meeting would be held. As we wined down the corridors past that locked door, it's the first time I realize how big Taipei office really is. I used to think it was a very very tiny office, but apparently the last time I was here I'd only saw the point where the corridor took a turn. There are so many other rooms past that turn, another snack bar with cookies and drinks (where I grabbed something for lunch). 

The HDVC room itself is very much like the interview room where we'd all undergone the rigorous selection process. With the exception there are two huge flatscreen plasma TVs mounted to the wall, and a rotating camera positioned on top. At 2pm, the screen came alive and we could see the staffing and PD team in Shaghai on one screen, and ourselves on the other. This system is newly installed in TPO, and the broadband connection offered almost no-lagging real time video conference quality! 

After initial introductions, we were told what is expected of the Summer Associates and Summer BAs, what we should focus on during our program, how to be successful during our first engagement and ultimately to clinch the full time offer by the end of the program. It was a novel experience for me and Tiffany to use this kind of video conferencing, and after the meeting, it only deepened my impression how much emphasis they place on this summer program. It is definitely far more than an ordinary internship, we are really the potential pool of talent that they hope future BAs or Associates will come from. Looking at the listed criteria, it's gonna be an very exciting summer (nevertheless a daunting challenge), I can't wait to get over with all my finals and start work at McKinsey!!!!!

A Goddess Stepped Down from Mt. Olympus

That's how they described her - A Goddess Stepped Down from Mt. Olympus

Anne Sophie Mutter, one of the world-renown master violinists. 

Went to her live performance with the Trondheim Soloists at National Music Hall with Annie Sunday night. She performed some Bartok pieces, some concertos by J.S. Bach, and the very famous Four Seasons Concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. 

I'd heard of many different versions of Four Seasons (though I'd never stayed in the hotel with the same name ~ XD), but Mutter's interpretation was by far the most elegant and flowing experience! It's such a treat to listen to her play, I don't know how to describe it, but it's just an absolutely amazing experience. Another thing I'd found quite amusing was near the end, when Mutter was doing encore pieces, everytime she finishes one, she has to walk off the stage while the entire audience applauds and come back, then off and again - 3 times for each encore piece!! I did a simple tally, she'd walked on and off stage approximately 21 times during the entire performance! Now that is some workout! When she concluded her final encore piece, the audience gave her standing ovation as she led the other musicians off stage.

After the show, me and Annie waited in line for almost an hour to get her autograph! She looked a lot more 'aged' up close in person, but nonetheless she is really patient, signing her full name for each and everyone who waited in line, that must've been over 500 people!!!

It's been a really long time since I was last in the National Music Hall (Well, not really, was here last time for Annie's performance), it's such a enjoyable experience to relax and listen to great classical music. Though I know I probably shouldn't be saying this at all.... but, Annie is cute, really ~ it was a great night. 

McKinsey Asia BCR 2008 Day 3

I usually need up to 8 hours of sleep to feel fully refreshed. Don't know if its the excellent hotel or simply adrenaline rush that got me out of bed at 6:30am this morning, despite going to bed at almost 2am. Quick shower, then double checked everything in my luggage, said goodbye to my room of two days, took one last look out the huge window overlooking Victoria Harbor before heading downstairs to check out at the front desk.

Breakfast was the delicious buffet as usual, then me, Tiffany and San - a Summer associate staffed to TPO, we three took a taxi to Hong Kong MTR station to check in our luggage and get our boarding passes. The taxi in Hong Kong, amazingly, is cheaper than Taipei! Anyways, at the MTR station, we bought our Airport Express tickets and soon had our hands free of luggage. This in-town check in service really convenient business travelers and tourists alike. Combined with all the top notch hotels and the easy-to-get SIM card service, Hong Kong has really shaped itself along all the needs of a time efficient business traveler, no wonder it had become one of the biggest financial centers of the world.

Training was very much similar to yesterday. This trip to Hong Kong had been awesome, and full of surprises. The only bad little thing that happened was somehow, my iPhone bricked itself again when I was trying to connect to wifi in the conference room. Despite being quite seasoned at dealing with bricked iPhones, I was still very pissed off - the iPhone's instability made it not the idea handset for business purposes, despite its user friendly interface and whooping graphics. Had to restore it using iTunes and then iJailbreak for the unlock. It didn't take a long time to get it back to a functional state, but all the other 3rd party apps are gone, so are my photos (thankfully, uploaded those to iPhoto the night before). Now my iPhone can make and receive calls, send SMS, take pictures, listen to music, that's about it - the fancy maps, games and gadgets are gone, at least for the moment.

It was raining quite hard in HK for the entire day, fortunately we were all in a very nice room with air conditioning and all. The training concluded at around 5:30 with group pictures being taken, and we actually started a facebook group called 'McKinsey Asia Summers 2008' right there and then! It was really great to know so many outstanding people, even though we'd all be in various offices scattered across GCO and Singapore, I really hope this network we built in the past two days will continue to keep in touch. Anyways, after we all said our goodbyes, me, San and Tiffany hailed a cab and took the Airport Express to HKG International Airport for our evening flight back to Taipei.

Did some last minute shopping at the terminal, bought a couple of Starbucks tumblers for my girlfriend and myself. The flight tookoff amidst the rain, and the 1 hr. 20 minute flight went by really fast. Other than the kind-of-violent turbulence during the descent (which was quite scary, knowing we're already getting closer and closer to the ground as is), the flight was smooth and the food enjoyable (I'd always liked airplane food for starters). The plane actually touched down at about 10pm, got our luggage and cleared customs in another 15 minutes. As we walked out into the arrivals lobby, to our left hand side were three drivers dressed in shirt and tie holding signs that read 'McKinsey & Co.' and our names under that! It's the first time to have official pickup service at the airport, we're all (well at least I definitely am) very excited as we're being led to our respective Benz vehicles. 

The drive back to Taipei was smooth, despite feeling a little tired, I was chatting with the driver for almost the entire drive. From my own rough estimation, the firm spent almost 50,000 NT on each of us to send us to the training in HK !!!! That is some hefty investment in undergrad and summer interns! 

After this initial exposure to business traveling, I'm so much more passionate about consulting as a career, and definitely looking forward to this summer's work! It's gonna take a while for me to readjust back into 'student mode' after the past two days of luxury travel and a taste of what being a consultant is like. The accommodations are really nice, but I'm sure the kind of contribution and effort they expect from us goes hand in hand ~ better gear myself to work really hard this summer, cuz I know I'd love a career as a consulting, and working for McKinsey have always been one of my dreams!

McKinsey Asia BCR 2008 Day 2

The bed at Grand Hyatt is very very comfortable. 5 hours after falling asleep at 1am this morning, my alarm went off and I, again reluctantly, dragged myself out of bed to start the day.

A quick shower in the beautiful marble bathroom had me fully refreshed. Dressed in a shirt and black trouser, took the elevator down to meet Tiffany in the lobby. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, where there's delicious buffet with lots of bread, danishes, fruits, sausage, bacon, fish, and also fully customizable omlet making service! The food taste great, taking a deep breath and looking around me - all I see is business people, some reading the newspaper, others typing away on their laptops or blackberries ~ another busy day in the financial center is about to begin.

The breakfast is very satisfying, not to mention expensive - it cost almost 1,100 NT for one, and it's just breakfast! Thankfully we have that charged to our account as well. At 8:30, we hailed a cab and instructed the driver to take us to Cheung Kong center, where McKinsey's HK office is located on the 25th floor. The design of the office is clean and efficient just like Taipei, except the wall behind the reception desk where the company logo is displayed was white rather than the blue in Taipei. Hong Kong office appear larger than Taipei, we were led into the largest conference room - the Tang room, where many others are already there busyily 'networking'.

Apparently, this event is called 'McKinsey Summer Associates mini-BCR', so us summer BAs sort of got to tag along and receive some rudimentary training as well. There are 14 participants plus one McKinsey engagement manager by the name of Brian joining us. Out of the 14, 10 are summer associates (two are staffed for TPO), all of the associates, whether they applied to TPO or BJO or SHO, they are all studying for a MBA degree in a US university. There are three guys from Wharton, one from Harvard, one from MIT, others include Darton, UNC Charlotte, Cornell, Duke... all are schools that would've ranked in the top 20 list of B-schools! Spent the next 10 minutes introducing ourselves to one another, shaking hands and trying to remember their names - hmm.... San, David, Nick, Julladaa, Maddy, Linda, Margaret, Henry, Geoffrey.... all brilliant, outstanding people!

The training session started soon thereafter. I'm not going to go into details what we learned during the program. Basically, it's the 7-step problem solving method of McKinsey, from identifying the problem to issue and hypothesis trees to storylining and finally presentation. The most valuable part is we get to practice in numerous exercises to see how these problem solving methods actually work. What's more, we can ask any questions we have about McKinsey or the summer work ~ a great time to get to know the firm better!!!

The weather in Hong Kong wasn't delightful at all, dark murky clouds loomed over head, scattering occasional rainshowers and intermittent thunderstorms. The air outside was damp and warm with moisture. Spent the bulk of the day listening to presentations and undergoing exercises inside the conference room at McKinsey. At 6:30, the end of today's program, Brain led the group to a bar on top of the LandMark building, called - Zuma. It was a Japanese themed bar, and we are free to order any drinks we'd like. I had a grey goose martini, which at first I thought was quite light, until the strong effects kicked in minutes later (I thoroughly enjoyed that), and a passion bellini, finally ended today's round with a bottle of sakke. I don't really like sakke at all, it tasted similar to whiskey, much lighter, doesn't feel very good swallowing it, and I guess it is no where as strong as whiskey. After the rounds of drinks, the rest of my 'colleagues' - as I should now refer to them - are heading off for dinner, I called up Laibond and we agreed on a pickup place.

Soon after I arrived to the 'rendezvous' point, a silver Mercedes Benz drove in and Laibond signaled me to get in. He was in the car with his girlfriend, Denise. The car was really nice, and I'm so glad to see him again. He took me to his family burger joint called Duke's burgers located on Staunton Street in SOHO. At first I was expected something similar to Bongos burger back in NTU, but when I walked into the joint, I knew what I'm about to get is far better than Bongos. The joint is very well designed, small, but almost filled with people. I ordered a roast ribs with truffles and foie gras ~ a very expensive combination but very very delicious. Even though I resisted eating any internal organs in the past, foie gras actually tasted very good with the roast rib burger! The side dishes were really good too, it's the first time I'd had corn hash browns, marinated potato tots, alongside with the delicious gourmet burger! Thanks to Laibond, we had a wonderful meal, and talked a whole lot to catch up on everything since we said goodbye in Beijing last November. Apparently, there are 5 people from FACES affiliated with McKinsey, 3 of them working full time as BAs and 2, including myself, will be summer BAs this summer! It feels great to meet up with a friend in Hong Kong in such an occasion, its the first time I appreciated the network FACES helped to create, and amazingly maintain! I told Laibond he must come to Taipei sometime this year, though I don't own a restaurant, but I promise I'd find someplace good to take him! He drove me back to Grand Hyatt at around 10pm, ending today's episode of adventure.

With the tasty gourmet burger almost fully digested, I had another plan before calling it a day. Two weeks ago I'd bought a half year of membership at the NTU gym to work out and get in shape for the graduation trip to Bali this September. I'd been frequenting the gym for the past weeks, and I'm not about to let that habit go to waste here in Hong Kong. Tiffany is still strolling the city with her UCLA friends, so I got into my jumpers and sneakers and headed down to the hotel gym on the 11th floor. The treadmill here is very good, a 13-inch tv embedded right in front of you - where I enjoyed the first quarter of the Celtics vs. Pistons game while jogging my routing 2.5 kilometers - before starting other weight training. Most of the functions I'd done in NTU can be found here, despite sometimes in different types of equipment. I think the machines here are better than those at NTU, it seems to flex your muscles in a more effective way - but what can I say, it sure doesn't cost ten thousand dollars to stay at NTU, or visit the gym. 

Fully worked out and sweaty, took a nice long shower in my room. Checked email, packed my luggage for tomorrow and finally dropped down on the amazingly comfortable bed, falling asleep very fast, and sound.

McKinsey Asia BCR 2008 Day 1

Ever since being notified of my first ever 'business trip', I'd been eagerly looking forward to it. It still feels surreal that I'm being sent to Hong Kong to participate in the Basic Consultant Readiness training program, after all, I'm only a summer BA !!! It's apparent how much resources McKinsey place into talent development.

Stepping out the elevator door, with my luggage dragged behind me, I was shocked to see a silver Mercedes Benz Class E parked outside our dormitory complex. The driver had the trunk opened and helped put my luggage inside. Apparently, the 'car service' McKinsey provided us is top notch Benz car service. The ride to the airport was smooth, the car is soooo nice!

Finally met Tiffany in person at the airport, she looks really pretty, by the way. Anyways, we quickly cleared customs and boarded Cathay Pacific flight CX405 en route to Hong Kong. I'd always loved flying, and this time is no exception. We tried to get to know each other better through chatting during the entire flight. The 1 hr 40 min flight surely couldn't be any shorter, soon we touched down at Hong Kong International Airport.

Stepping off the bridge connecting the aircraft to the gate, there's the eerily familiar feeling. It was only 6 month ago back in November had I been to Hong Kong, and now I'm back on a business trip! Went through customs and got our luggage relatively fast. Purchased airport express tickets which took us to Hong Kong MRT station. Sort of got lost trying to walk to Central station. I think there's still muscle memory left over from last time, when I tried to see Hong Kong in less than 24 hours ~ every part of the MTR station felt like I'd been here only yesterday.

Car service being Benz, the hotel, of course, is even better. Turning the final corner on Harbor road, we arrived at the Grand Hyatt hotel located directly behind the convention center, facing into Victoria Harbor. The lobby absolutely magnificent, splendid chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the whole place gave of a kind of '5-star luxury' kind of feel. My room was upgraded to Grand Harbor View King room on the 25th floor. The room is 38 m squared, with a huge panel window looking directly out to Victory Harbor - basically, I commanded one of the most beautiful views of Hong Kong! The other furnishes of the room is also spectacular. A huge bathroom laid out in marble, and a large rosewood panel work desk. It was simply too good to take in all at once. It's my first time staying at such a luxury hotel, and the company is paying for this all! Man ~ I have 2 queen beds and 6 super comfortable pillows all to myself!!!!! Tiffany's room is 2425, I floor below mine, and it looked every bit as great. Man, I'd never had such a large room to myself - even when I went along with Agilent to attend ATMF last year, yes, the hotel was nice, but still it was 2 person to a room - not to mention Grand Hyatt costs almost twice as much ~ 

Soon after I settled in, we were discussing what to do for the rest of the night, that's when the phone in my room rang. I was expecting the front desk, when I heard, 'Danny?' The voice on the other end sounded very familiar...., 'Hey ~ Laibond!!!'. Apparently, I'd told him I'm staying at Grand Hyatt, and he called the front desk to patch it through to my room! Haven't heard from him in a while ~ we talked a bit, catching up on recent progress, and agreed on a time to meet up tomorrow after training. Afterwards, Tiffany and I went to a nearby 7-11 to buy microwave dinner - no, we could've dined in a hotel restaurant and probably charge coded that as well, but we wanted to try the food in Hong Kong's 7-11. On Laibond's suggestion, we each also purchased a traveler's SIM card for 48 HKD each, for such a bargain price, you get up to 160 minutes of local talk time!!!! Inserting that into my iPhone, now I have a mobile phone for use in Hong Kong!

Soon after, Tiffany went back to her room. I stayed in mine and talked to mom via skype. Nothing can hide my excitement, it's the first time I'm enjoying such high-class reception! From the Benz pickup to such an awesome hotel. Now overlooking Victoria Harbor and Hong Kong's magnificent night view, I lay in bed with 4 plush pillows....reluctantly falling asleep.

Hong Kong?

The recruiting coordinator at McKinsey called this afternoon. She asked me if I am free next Wednesday thru Friday  (5/28~5/30). 

It turned out (quite a nice surprise), I will be attending a pre-summer training program called BCR, or Basic Consultant Readiness program....AT HONG KONG !

Awesome, this is gonna be like my first semi-business trip abroad! Tickets and hotels are being booked, and there's even a cab that will come take me to the airport.

This, is just awesome!

May 17 Update 1

It's been more than half a month since my last entry - when I received the offer from McKinsey for this year's summer BA position. Lots of things happened during the past 20 days or so, so here's a brief update, just to keep track.

Well, follow ups have been made concerning my summer BA position, including the offer letter and other confirmation. It's really exciting~even just waiting for the summer to come.

Mommy went back to Jordan on 5/11 (which was mother's day, by the way), won't be seeing her until next time she comes back to Taiwan, possibly for my graduation.

On the other hand, our group of 18 has decided on Bali Island of Indonesia for our graduation trip. The necessary arrangements are being made as I write. The itinerary sounds very exciting, with an entire day of water sports !!!!

McKinsey Summer Business Analyst Offer

This week is probably one of the longest weeks of my life. Since Audrey's call last Friday, I have my mind set on waiting through this week, for the final results with McKinsey due to come out next Monday.

Little did I know, an unexpected phone call on the afternoon of 4/30 .....

Well, it's Wednesday, 4/30, 5 days earlier than the 'would-be' revelation day. I sat down in my seat and got ready for the afternoon's macroeconomics class. That was when my iPhone buzzed and an unrecognized number displayed on the screen. Now being the interview season, I'd grown accustomed to receiving calls of which numbers I don't recognize, usually from the HR departments of the various firms. However, I did not expect what I'd hear on the other end of the line.

'Hello, Danny? This is Jeffrey'

(Jeffrey? which Jeffrey?) This notion only flashed in my mind before something registered.

''Hello, Danny? can you hear me? It's Jeffrey from McKinsey'

''Congratulations! I want to tell you we're happy to make you an offer to the summer BA program, please contact the recruiting director for details. Ok? We'd be seeing you soon then. Alright, bye bye'!'

Those 20 seconds, are what I'd been waiting for for more than a month. All the way back from the beginning of my application, to round after round of intense interviews.... finally, this call!

It feels so dreamlike, knowing I'd clinched my dream internship position! The thing is, it was completely unexpected, I had no idea why I got this call 5 days earlier to the 'expected' results day! But I am sure as hell happy, and excited....beyond words.

So now, my summer is set. I will be working as a summer business analyst at McKinsey & Company. So, I will be taking that elevator back to the 47th floor of Taipei 101 quite often! 

Yeeeeeeeessssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I MADE IT !!!!!!!

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.

Apple蘋果

McKinsey Case Interview Round 3.0 - Final Round

So it all came down to today, the final round of the Mckinsey Summer BA interview process. I can still remember March 27th when I received the written test invitation, my scheduled test date was 3/28. Then there was the case workshop, followed by my first interview - the Doraemon case on 4/9. Three days after that came the second interview with the HSR case on 4/12. Two days of waiting went by before I received the call inviting me back for round 2, and it was another week after that before this Tuesday 4/22 when I returned again to the 47th floor of Taipei 101, this time it was Dr. Tobias Baer with the Bank Merger case. That very same day, I was notified to being selected for the final round of interviews.

So, this fateful day of 4/24, more than a month since the application process began, I'm dressed in my suit, hair swept back as I stepped into the lobby of Taipei 101 for the 6th time. Of course, I was there early, and I simply rehearsed a bit regarding some of my resume based questions. At 3:45, I called the reception desk who authorized a temporary visitor's pass and took the hi speed elevator up. Making sure my appearance is professional one last time in the restroom, I strode in for my final interview.

I was led into the all-but-too-familiar conference room. Water was provided and I was left alone to wait for my interviewer. It is quite cold today, 16 degrees Celsius, and a little cloudy looking out the window. A lot of thoughts went through my mind, to be honest I'd never expected much out of my application when I sent it in more than a month back. McKinsey had always been like a far-out-of-reach dream job to me ever since I entered college when I first heard of the firm. Can't believe it, now, I'm sitting here already in my final round of interviews. Just one last barrier to cross, and my life, my future may very likely change forever. I have heard enough stories of several seniors and friends who are good enough to make it to the final round, but in the end, good simply wasn't enough...they all failed to clinch the summer BA position. Now, the much coveted internship is one interview away, and my interviewer - known for his snappy, impatient, fast-paced demeanor that intimidated most candidates, is minutes away from entering this room, I know I have to give it all I got. I have to forget about the gains and losses and just fight as glorious a fight as I possibly could put up, the bottom line - I don't want to regret not having done my best in retrospect. After all, I've made it as far as some of my outstanding peers had, and I'm damn proud of that ~ it's up to me if I can take that one notch further.

At approximately 4:06, my interviewer - President of McKinsey & Company Taipei Office - Jeffrey Wong entered the room. We exchanged handshakes and he sat down across from me, his face was the expected all-business look. It turned out he remembers me from our short encounter two days ago in the elevator, when Dr. Baer introduced me and complimented me ~ at least we're off to a good start. He asked me to introduce myself, knowing his short temper and patience, I gave him a concise, succinct 1 minute intro, and invited further inquiries on any points of interests. Well, it appears he had none, and he wasn't prepared to let me ask questions either, but rather said outright, 'Alright, let's start with a case'. No way am I going to be intimidated, I've come too far to be scared or nervous, I replied in a calm, enthusiastic voice 'Sure, let's do that!' The case was:

A Taiwanese bank has 100 branches all over Taiwan, they want to know if there are enough branches to serve the entirety of Taiwan's 23,000,000 people?

After some quick clarifying questions, which did yield much useful data at all, I asked for a minute to structure a approach. However, only seconds after I started structuring my approach, Jeffrey cut in and took the paper from me, and started drawing a big rectangle while saying: okay now, imagine this is Taiwan, and here are our client's banks (puts some dots inside the rectangle), so what will you have to know in order to determine if our client have enough branches?

Thinking on the run, I started popping off questions, but apparently most of those weren't what he had in mind, and he either dismissed them by saying, 'that is not the issue of concern', or a slight frown that obviously indicated he wanted me to think harder. Keeping my anxiety in check, I finally said something on target:

'' I think I need to know how many people each of these banks serve, and how big of an area each bank can cover ''

That response was met with Jeffrey saying ,'Very Good, so now how will you estimate the coverage of each bank?''

Again, I started in a loop of providing possible solutions, most of which weren't the correct ones he had in mind, some of my 'attempts' are:

1. Well, maybe I can see how many customers visit each bank per week, to determine if the bank is well positioned ?

2. Okay, I can see how many customers the bank has, and if they are all served?  ~ nope.

but I was able to hit bullseye in the end,

'' Aha, I can do a survey of the banks customers.''

Having answered correctly, Jeffrey again said, 'Very good, assuming now you conduct this survey, if you're only allowed to ask one question, what will that question be?''

That caught me off guard ~ usually in past cases, I only have to come up with the framework, the idea or a proposal, but not actually the details as to how the plan will actually be carried out. Calming down, I thought to myself, 'okay, I'm conducting the survey, and I can ask one question, and I want to know the coverage of each bank.'' As usual, I started with a barrage of guesses which are incorrect,

ME. Let's see, I can simply ask them if they think the banks are too far away?  

JEF: Not a good question, you'll get a yes or no answer, that isn't very helpful is it?

ME: no, not very helpful indeed. Ahh, I need to know how they get to the bank?

JEF: Okay, assuming all customers come by foot, in other words, they walk.

ME: So, can I ask them how long it takes for them to come to the bank?

JEF: Well, they'll all tell you 5 minutes for the sake of convenience.

ME (thinking hard) : alright, then I can ask them how many times they visit the bank?

JEF: so they tell you 5 times, so what? how will that help you estimate the coverage of a bank?

ME (thinking harder!) : hmm....

JEF: it's a very simple question, what question will give you facts? you need to estimate the scope.

ME (after 30 seconds) : ohhh, I see, facts, okay, I will ask them where do they live?

at that, Jeffrey said, 'Very good, but some of them may come from work...'

ME: uh-huh, so I can ask them where do they come from, in general

Jeffrey, 'Yes, very good. So it's a simple question, now you ask them that and give them a map and you can estimate how far they came from, right?'

Jeffrey: now you have that, what will you need to divide the number of people in your circles by to get coverage?

ME: Taiwan's area?

JEF: no, why would u divide people by area?

ME: oh....then, Taiwan's total population?

JEF: yes, that's right. So your survey tells you your circles covers 18.5 million people, that's a coverage ratio of?

ME: 18.5/23 million, that's almost 87%, pretty high!

JEF: don't worry about how high it is, now your client has 2 million customers, so what's the conversion rate?

ME: Okay, out of 18.5 million people covered, 2 million are customers, so that means approximately 2/18.5, about 12%, so for every 100 people covered the bank can convert 12 into customers.

JEF: correct, so assuming our client is able to cover the remaining 3.5 million, how many of those are potential customers?

ME: well, assuming the hit rate remains constant, 12% of 3.5 million is approx 380,000 customers?

JEF: Okay, good. so if our client doesn't want to add additional branches, how many percent do they have to raise the hit rate in order to get the extra 380,000 customers out of the existing 18.5 million covered? 

ME: Let's see, if the bank acquires all the additional customers, that will be a total of around 2.4 million, and 2.4 million out of a total of 18.5 million....that's about 13%?

JEF: Good, so you have to raise the hit rate by about 1%, so if you are to choose either adding branches or raising the hit rate, what will you consider?

ME: Hm, I would first want to find out how much it will cost to add extra branches,

JEF: right, and compared that cost against?

ME: well, compare that against the cost of raising the hit rate, for example like marketing and advertising costs.

At that, Jeffrey stood up and said: Very good, that's it. That's the end of the case, thank you and we will keep you informed.

ME: Okay, great. Thank you for the interview !

So that was it, a 20 minute short short interview! Jeffrey said this is most likely my final interview unless they cannot clearly decide and have to invite me back for another interview. 

Phew ~ that was that, the interview process with McKinsey is finally over! I survived! now I  can just wait for the results, and I'm waiting for the Morgan Stanley results too! haha ~ it feels good to finish all the interviews. The best thing is, I felt I gave it all that I've got, I did my best, and I don't regret a thing, there is nothing I could have done more, so if they still don't want me, then so be it. The matter is out of my hands now, and now I just hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. To be honest, I think I have a fair chance of getting hired, after all, Jeffrey - the 'intimidating' interviewer commented 'Very Good' several times throughout the interview, and I'm pretty sure I didn't appear nervous or edgy at all. I held my composure and was calm and solid. Yeah, I didn't get the key questions right the first time, but at least in the end I managed to come up with the right points and right answers, and I think he's satisfied if not impressed. So, with the interview process behind me, it's time to shift my focus back to school work, whether I get the internship or not, there are still a lot of projects and reports between me and the summer! Better start working!

By the way, Jeffrey didn't offer me a business card, so I couldn't write him a thank you email. I emailed the receptionist Audrey who called each time about the interviews and asked if she can give me his email so I can write the letter, do u think this is appropriate? I also thanked Audrey and Shu-Ling, the recruiting coordinator who arranging all the interviews over the month long process. 

That's it ~ I'd done my best. Hopefully the next time I write, it will still be good news.

McKinsey Case Interview Round 2.0

It's been more than a week since my last interview with McKinsey & Company. Today, is finally the day of my round 2 interview. Before telling you more about the details, I'm also excited to inform you that another department of Morgan Stanley called to arrange an interview with me tomorrow (Wednesday). I have applied to all 4 departments, and right now I am offered an interview opportunity by 2 of them, they are: Consolidated Equity, and Operations. I will be attending these two interviews consecutively tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime, I spent the past weekend preparing for my McKinsey interviews and my Financial Institutions midterm exam simultaneously. Took the midterm this morning, it was okay, I think I did well on the test. Afterwards, spent an hour getting ready and then took the bus to Taipei 101, arriving half an hour ahead of my appointment time as usual. 

This is my fifth time heading up to the 47th floor of the 101 office building. In the elevator on my way up, I silently said to myself: Whether or not this will be my last trip to the 47th floor will depend on what happens in the next hour! Go fight! 

The McKinsey office was quiet as usual, having arrived early I was led to the small conference room where I waited for my interviewer. As it turned out, my interviewer is German, his name is Dr. Tobias Baer. He's an associate - principle level expert consultant currently based in the Taipei Office, specializing in risk management. At that, I couldn't help but quip, 'Wow, risk management, in fact, I just took a midterm on that topic this morning!!!' 

He seemed particularly interested that I spent time in Saudi Arabia. He said as a consultant, he actually did a project that brought him to both Riyadh and Jeddah! He even asked me for a hypothesis as to why when women debtors are typically of lower risk, it is the contrary in Saudi Arabia ? I gave him some examples by stating how women enjoy far less rights in Saudi Arabia, the fact that they cannot work may lead to their inability to repay their loans if economic support from their husbands are lost. He seemed quite interested and satisfied with my quick answer.

As for the case itself, it was about 2 big Chinese banks who recently merged into one, and I have to analyze and recommend to the senior management of the now merged bank, how many branches should be closed, since branch offices of 2 originally different banks are now under the same name, some might be too close to the others in terms of profit maximization. I started out by listing some of the factors that might influence the decision on whether or not to close down any existing branches at all - 

- costs incurred, including employee compensation and sunken cost of capital if closing an existing branch.

- Do the two banks originally serve distinct customer groups? Offer unique products in niche markets?

- What might be the social norm, public reaction to closing a branch and laying off all its workers?

- What is the profit maximizing number of branch offices? 

After asking questions and following hints from Dr. Baer, the case gravitated toward the profit equation. It all boils down to whether or not closing or leaving existing branches open will be beneficial to the firm's profits. In analyzing that, I further listed out the bank's sources of revenue, and the different costs it incurs. What followed was more detailed analysis in revenues vs. costs generated by additional customers, social reaction to the firm's brand image, logistic, IT, and human resource management, and also branch synergy. 

At the end of my case, he said I did very well, had a clear and healthy structure in coming to my recommendation, and said he was impressed by some of the creative points and insights I'd came up with in the process. Most of all, he liked the way I involved him in the entire process, asking questions and asking for opinions ~ solving the case as a team, rather than a interviewee - interviewer perspective. After the case, I also asked him many questions concerning the consulting industry, and being a consultant in general. Questions include - 

- since you specialize in an industry, isn't there the chance where you will be working for competing clients? 

- How long do entry level consultants get before having to specialize into a specific industry?

When I left the office, the receptionist Audrey said she will contact me regarding the results, since she need to wait on Dr. Baer's decision. Just as I was about to leave, Dr. Baer appeared again, and I was surprised to find Jeffery Wong, the president of Taipei office, right there with him as well. It turned out they were heading out for coffee, and Dr. Baer introduced me to Jeffery, he even commented in front of the president, quote: 'If you have any bank merger problems in the future, this fellow here just showed he can handle the problem very well.' Ha, I will take that as a compliment. Dr. Baer also told me I have one last interview in the application process, that round 2 actually has 2 interviews, but the second one is reserved for candidates who are deemed 'unclear' and need further clarification to determine whether or not they pass, but he said I will most likely take the shortcut and advance directly to the final round!

All in all, I think I did pretty well, having had good rapport with my interviewer and impressed him with my analytical skills in the process. I just finished and sent out the 'thank you' email, thanking him for interviewing me and answering my questions. This diary is supposed to end with, 'now I am anxiously waiting for the results, and will let you know on any new developments' . However, moments before I started writing this email, I received a call from McKinsey & Company, telling me I excelled at the interview and is invited to go back for the final round! It is scheduled for this Thursday afternoon at 4pm, and it is the final round of the process, an interview with Jeffery Wong, the president of Taipei office. I hope the brief contact at the elevator this afternoon left a good impression! Very happy to be in the final round, so close! Now just one last step to go! In the end it all boils down to Thursday! 

Recent Update 04/16/2008

The keyboard of my macbook suddenly became unresponsive last Sunday.....

Took it to the authorized servicing center, the tech used an external hard drive and booted from another volume disk. The keyboard worked fine in the external disk....

So, knowing it's a software rather than a hardware problem, I re-installed my entire OS X system. Thanks to the trusty Time Machine backup, I was able to get most of my data and settings back in no time. (I'm still searching for iMovie though.....)

Almost lost my MacBook today.... left it on a seat next to me on the bus. Thankfully, I immediately realized it seconds after getting off, and was able to chase down the bus and reclaim my prized possession. I swear, when I got on the bus and left my macbook to the side, the scenario of getting off without it occurred to me....kind of like a premonition, but I'm just thankful I did not really lose it. Shall me a lot more careful!

Yeserday, 4/15, McKinsey & Company called saying I'd passed the first round of interviews, and scheduled my round 2 for next Tuesday! Man, it's the same day as my midterms for financial institutions!!!! Well, one step at a time, I am just happy to keep working toward my dream.

McKinsey Case Interview Round 1.2

Woke up at 6:30 this morning to get ready for the 2nd case of my McKinsey round 1 interviews. Arrived at the Taipei 101 office building at 8:20, half an hour before my 8:50 interview appointment. Audrey the receptionist led me to a meeting room where I waited for my interviewer.

My interviewer's name is Wayne Chen, and he appears to be a ABC too, speaking fluent English. So, I guess I can't impress with my language skills this time. Unlike Wednesday's interview, he started me off with the case question instead of resume based inquiries or a self introduction. My case was on Taiwan's High Speed Rail. In essence, I am to look into why the HSR's revenues hasn't picked up after 6 months in operation. I took a minute to draft up a structure which consisted of price and quantity. Throughout the interview, there was a lot of interaction with my interviewer, who guided me through the cases, giving hints as to where he want me to further explore. In the end, I summed my suggestion up into a 2 minute recommendation statement, and he wanted me to pretend I was presenting it to the CEO of HSR. 

After the case, he asked me like 1 or 2 questions regarding my resume. Again, the 'can you read and write Chinese' question came up. This time, I simply replied, "oh, I got the highest score in my Chinese class last semester". That, I think speaks for itself. Then, as expected he asked if I had any questions regarding consulting. I started by fishing a question from my prepared list, then, following a different tactic, I listened carefully to his answer and asked follow up questions on things within his answer. The Q&A session went on for approximately 15 minutes, and I found out a lot about what being a consultant is like, some of its perks and what the summer BA program is about. Here's the list:

1. McKinsey typically treats summer BAs like full time BAs. They get assigned to project teams responsible for different studies with clients. I didn't ask about the pay, but I guess it won't be too shabby for a company like McKinsey.

2. If a consultant is assigned on a project abroad, McKinsey provides him/her a ticket to fly back to their home office every Friday. (Wow)

3. If a consultant is assigned on a project abroad, McKinsey provides him/her tickets to fly his/her family to their current location every other weekend. (Wow)

4. The length of projects can go from 4 weeks up to a full 6 months. It's a tradeoff between depth and scope.

5. McKinsey project teams are usually involved with the client during the engagement period, the actual implementation of the strategy is usually seen through by the client themselves.

There are many other facts that I found out during our QA session. When the time was up, he asked me one final question:

Interviewer: Did you practice for the case questions?

Me: Yes.

Interviewer: How long did you practice?

Me: Since I found out about the interview a week and a half ago, I practiced 3 hours per day with my friends. 

He then asked with whom and how I practiced. He looked quite impressed that I spent so much time preparing for the interview. His ending remarks were: I'm impressed to see the amount of effort you'd put forth. My past experience with undergrad students was they never practice. 

I guess that was a good sign! Audrey told me they will notify me of the results sometime next week (most likely Monday or Tuesday). In the meantime, I have no idea if I made it into round 2 of the case interviews. Though I think I did really well on both cases. The first consultant obviously took a liking in me, the one today seemed pretty impressed, I had a good session with him. I am also satisfied with myself for my own performance. If all goes well, I think I probably passed into round 2. Guess we'll wait and see!

P.S. - my first interviewer - Robert Yao, I thought he was a funny and nice guy. I mean, he gave me suggestions, and we chatted casually. However, I found out from Alex that another of the interviewee also got Robert, and the same Doraemon case, but was turned down on the spot!!! According to others, Robert was perceived as 'not-excessively-friendly', and the fact he turned down an interviewee in round 1.1 surprised me!!!! They all said I must've been a special case for Robert to like me the way I described it. That is a plus for me by all means !!!

Can't wait to know the results, there still seem to be a long way. Can't believe so much effort must go into securing a summer internship!!!! But, like I said, it's McKinsey, and it's all worth it.

McKinsey Case Interview Round 1.1

In any case, the actual interview itself, aside from being postponed to this Wednesday (yesterday), we were further notified that the interview process is now broken down into three sections. In essence, I will be attending stage 1 on Wed, and if successful pass onto stage 2...so on and so forth. 

 

So, yesterday was the big day I'd prepared for. Aside the case question, I'd also spent time to practice how to introduce myself to the interviewer and leave a quick first impression, I even prepared a short '2 minute' intro and a long '10 minute' version, pending on what is asked of me. Other than that, took time to structure my responses to the following questions as well:

 

1. What is your greatest achievement to date?

2. Tell us about your weaknesses?

3. Why consulting?

4. Why McKinsey?

5. Give me a leadership example, and what are some problems you faced?

 

Questions like these need careful answering, and can easily catch an unprepared candidate off guard. Thanks to the complete case interview guide available through NTU's online database, I'd prepared myself to the fullest extent possible.

 

Alright, so now comes in real deal. I showered, shaved and changed into my business suit, combed my hair into a professional make, and took the bus to Taipei 101. Arrived half an hour ahead of my scheduled 8:00pm interview time, but the receptionist from McKinsey was already in the lobby waiting for me. The McKinsey office was literally empty (later I found out from my interviewer that most of the BAs are staffed with clients on their individual projects). I was led to a small meeting room, and told to wait for my interviewer.

 

It turned out, my interviewer's name was Robert, and he's a double E major from NTU, who earned a PhD at CalTech and just joined McKinsey as an Associate a yaear and a half back. After a brief self introduction - I think my fluent English caught him off guard, when he found out I studied in the US before, he asked me if I'm still able to read and write Chinese? Even asked me to write my own name in Chinese just to make sure. So, when I told him I'm fluent and can read & write in both English and Mandarin, I can tell he looked impressed. 

 

Then came the case question - 

 

A startup in Japan named Doraemon Corp has a new invention - a door that can take people to anywhere in the world in 6 hrs. Please estimate the market size of this product, and whether you will market it as a service or product?

 

At first I thought it was just any ordinary market sizing/ business strategy question....on second thought, I was surprised in realizing that 'Doraemon' and the 'Door' .... isn't this ..... 小叮噹 and 任意門 ！？

 

So, jokingly I asked my interviewer whether this is the comic character, I told him it's my favorite comic - to my surprise, he happily said yes and that it was his favorite comic too ..... totally unexpected, I found a mutual link with my interviewer by such chance! 

 

Off to a good start, the atmosphere was light and enjoyable, knowing we took common interest in the topic, I was able to really engage myself in the case. I won't go into the details of my analysis, but two of the potential customer groups I came up with surprised and pleased my interviewer:

 

For this new invention, I said there could be the following customers:

1) Business people 

2) Traveling for Leisure

 

My interviewer initially thought these two groups were about it, so when I told him there are also:

 

3) Government - might be interested in deploying troops quickly at times of war, emergency or a rescue mission?

4) Commercial - FedEx, UPS can make 6 hr. delivery around the world by using this door.

 

What followed was more detailed analysis of pricing, promotion and positioning of this product. When I was finished with the case, my interviewer looked very pleased and told me I did 'Very Well'. He asked me if I had any further questions, (ha, I was ready for this too, I didn't want to be taken off guard by this, so I'd prepared up to 10 questions for my interviewer just in case, and it worked). I asked 4 questions from my prepared list about consulting, how it may affect family life, is it interesting? and all that stuff. We had a nice chat and he seemed very pleased that I involved him during the entire process.

 

Of course, he told the secretary responsible for recruiting that I passed (on the phone), so my next interview could be arranged. I initially chose 5:00pm this Saturday, but my interviewer muted the telephone and told me in private that 'earlier the better', that way your next interviewer will have no benchmark to compare you, since they have to decide you pass or not on the spot, the earlier is more advantageous. Thanks to the hint, I rescheduled my interview to 9:00am this Saturday. He also told me in private that I actually didn't score to standard on the quantitative written test : Test Score Below Par. But for some reason (I think my resume spoke for itself) McKinsey decided to offer me a chance at the interview anyway. As it turned out, he said that decision was a good one. 

 

Felt really good to have aced my first stage interview, and now onto stage 2. If all goes well, I might be able to clinch a summer BA spot..... something I'd never even dreamed about ..... I still got 2 days, and I'm going to continue preparing ~ as my consultant said in his final advice before I left, 'In the end, what really mattered is not how well you did on the case, but whether your interviewer had a good impression of you when you leave the room, whether or not they'd want to spend a night at the airport with you when trapped in a snowstorm....impress, impress and impress.'

McKinsey Case Interview Workshop

My posts are getting out of order again, this actually took place last Saturday on 3/29....

After successfully passing the written test, I was invited back to the 47th floor McKinsey office at Taipei 101 for an afternoon of case interview workshop.

There were lots of food available, which kind of made me regret having ate lunch prior to coming. Vincent (both Vincent Chou and Lee) are there. Actually, I don't know many of the other potential competitors? In any case, the workshop started with a powerpoint briefing, which talked about the theoretical side of McKinsey's unique 'Case Interview' Process. Here's what I learned:

The McKinsey Case Interview:

The consulting business places heavy emphasis on logical thinking and solving a client's problem. So McKinsey (and several other consulting firms) use case interviews to see if a potential candidate can think logically, use a framework, and come to a conclusion regarding a business strategy question. 

In general, the entire interview process for a BA position or a summer BA position is the same. There will be 3 rounds of interviews, each with 1 or 2 full length cases plus a short session of experience interview. 

If one interview is 45 minutes, approximately 10 minutes will be allocated to the more personal part. This is when you're asked about your resume, past leadership experience, character etc. The remaining 35 minutes or so revolves around a business case scenario, where the candidate must analyze and gather data through asking the right questions. In the end, sum up your findings to a make-believe client. The key point of the case interview was for the interviewer to see how the candidate thinks, how he/she breaks down the problem, analyze the data, and come up with a valid conclusion, and suggestion as to how the problem might be solved.

Here are the four steps McKinsey suggests in dealing with a case:

1. Clarify - don't dive in yet, ask questions to clarify the scope of your case.

2. Structure - it's hard to tackle a behemoth, break it down to pieces.

3. Analyze - gather and analyze data through questions and interaction!

4. Conclusion - sum up your findings in a 2 minute summary and suggestion!

After the powerpoint presentation, we were divided into groups of 4~5, each group led by a business analyst. Sitting around a table inside a small conference room, we began a round of mock interviews, to give us a feel at how the real deal will be like next week. When the BA in our group, Michael, asked who'd like to be the interviewee, I took the chance when everyone else is looking at everyone else and raised my hand. After all, being invited to the written test itself was a surprise, passing it was even more beyond my expectations. But now I'm here, and I have no previous case interview experience, the more practice, the better.

Michael started out by asking me what I like to do during my leisure time, and I told him sports, like volleyball. From there, he threw me my mock case question:

So, Danny, estimate for me how many volleyballs are sold in a year?

This is a market estimation question (guesstimation), and I've heard to classic examples in the past like:

a. Estimate the number of taxis in Taipei city

b. How many cups of coffee does one Starbucks store sell on a weekday?

Having no prior experience at all, I started hesitantly on the four suggested steps:

Clairfy - Does beach volleyball count? Are we looking at Taipei or Taiwan? ...etc

Structure - okay, let's break down Taiwan's population into age brackets.... etc

Analyze - So, let's say the there are xxx colleges, each with xxx department teams, ... etc

Conclusion - from the above assumptions, I think xxx volleyballs are sold a year.

The above steps may look simple, but the actual analysis is far from 'simple'. It involves assuming a lot of numbers, and explaining the rationale behind those assumptions. I also learned to keep my numbers simple, for the ease of calculation. I learned to interact with my interviewer, and that keeping silent at times is not a bad thing. Just make sure you're not silent for the majority of your interview! 

After the mock session, I've had a pretty good idea what the case interview would be like. All the candidates are led back to the rest area, and Jerry, the associate principle gave closing remarks. He said in the past, if you didn't familiarize yourself with at least 20 cases, practicing with your friends, than don't even bother come back for the interview, you won't pass. 

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

The workshop being over, me, Vincent Lee, Vincent Chou and Alex went to get some food. We sat and chatted as we ate the delicious fries. To be honest, out of the initial 600 applicants, only 80 or so are invited to the written test, and out of those 40 made it to today's case workshop. I've heard in the past how rigorous McKinsey's interview process is, how many either failed the initial interviews, or made it to the final stage but ultimately failed. Right now, having passed the written test, I am beginning to feel the wait of expectation falling upon me. My self expectation, and the desire to get this summer BA job. Yet it seem so close - just a couple of interviews away, and so far - just a couple of interviews away, at the same time.

Our group decided to use the week that we have until the interviews, and practice our asses off. Jerry made it clear, practice makes perfect. We are going to get together every night next week, and practice mock interviews. I have no idea how much help that would be for the actual thing, but what else can I do. I'd always envied working for McKinsey, I'd always wanted to be in that winner circle, and now given the chance, you bet I'm gonna fight for it with all that I've got.

 

McKinsey Written Test

This Wednesday, I received the invitation to take the McKinsey problem solving written test, a special test for screening potential candidates. I chose to take the test on Friday, 6:00 ~ 7:30pm time slot. There is actually a practice test that came with the email, from the looks of it, the questions are more structured and complex than the Standard Chartered numeracy assessment, but the core idea is the same - analyze vast amounts of data and quickly determine relevant info and arrive at a conclusion. Yes, math and numbers are involved, but thankfully they do not play a major role.

So, the time came for me to take the written test. Already quite exhausted, since I just completed and turned in our team's ATCC stage one proposal this morning. In fact, had less than 5 hours of sleep, and I didn't even complete the practice test. Arrived at the Taipei 101 'office' building for the first time. The visitor entry process is really cool ~ you go to this machine and find the company you are visiting. Then, the machine places a direct call to the company's front desk which you have to report your name through a speaker on the side. Once the confirmation is done, the machine receives authorization and spits out a temporary visitor's pass. Past the entry gates, first took the elevator to the 35th floor. The elevator is not the same 'fastest, smoothest' in the world which takes visitors to the scenic observatory, but it is fast and smooth nonetheless. 

McKinsey & Company occupied the entire 47th floor alone. Shiny marble glass and floor and ceiling impose a sense of greatness on visitors the moment they step out of the elevator. The office itself is really nice too, the rest area has two side of flat-panel windows that overlooks taipei city from this altitude, and all the offices looked modern and westernized. 

Our batch of test-takers totaled to 12 people, all are from NTU. We are seated around a oval table in probably one of the largest conference rooms of the office (since rental rate of Taipei 101 is staggeringly high). To be honest, it felt like one of the many major tests I'd taken in the past. We have the test booklet, instructions, erasers and the all-but-too-familiar scantron couple with the number two pencils. After making sure everyone is in place and are clear of the related rules, a timer for 60 minutes is set and we flipped to page 3 and began.

The test was very much like the sample test attached to our invitation letter. Basically, it is a real case that McKinsey had done in the past. So we are presented with multiple charts, diagrams, tables and exhibit, and sections of written text. There are 26 multiple choice questions that requires takers to induce, deduce, infer, draw conclusion or calculate certain ratios based on the data given. 26 multiple choice questions may sound simple, hey, 60/26 that's about 2 minutes for each question! Isn't it more than enough when all you have to do is find the correct answer among 4 choices? Well, not quite. The amount of reading and data analysis exceeds my expectations. Sometimes, you have to look at two or more graphs and charts and combine the information to come up with the correct answers. In reality, taking away the time you need to read and analyze, you have only about a minute to actually think through each question. What's more, the most difficult ones are not the quantitative ones but rather the induction kinds. For example:

From the text presented, the opinion of the CEO of Pharma Co thinks that..... 

or 

From the data given, which one of the following is a valid conclusion?

or 

Which one of the following statements, if TRUE, will significantly help the team's analysis?

The above types of questions go beyond the wording of the answers themselves. Since the correct choice is usually more subtle and not as obvious as the quantitative counterparts ~ where 1+1 has to equal 2. 

I barely finished the whole 26 questions with 3 minutes on the clock. Once the papers are collected, we were ushered back into the rest area and was told the results will be out in 10 minutes. We will then be notified whether we met the standard and whether we are invited to tomorrow's Case Interview Workshop. Standing near one of the window-side sofas, I said jokingly to my friend, 'Hey, take in as much of the view here as you can, this might be the last chance standing in this office~XD' 

In 10 minutes time, the lady responsible for our tests returned to our rooms and called out 3 names and told them to follow her. A silent 'Shit ~ I told you so' went off in my mind. Yesterday, Ping came and took this test, and she said out of 3 takers only 1 made it. So I was assuming out of us 12, the 3 names just mentioned made it to the next round. However, the remaining 9 of us weren't told to go home....

A minute or so later, a Business Analyst came in and told the rest of us to follow him. We were led into a smaller meeting room, where he announced that we all passed the standard! Apparently, the 3 names previously mentioned were the ones that didn't make it! A rush of joy flushed over me ~ I passed the written test!!!!

We were invited to tomorrow's Case Interview Workshop, where the unique 'McKinsey Case Interviews' will be explained in detail, preparing us for the final Batch Day Interviews that will take place on 4/5 (next week !) that, will be the final determinant as to whether or not we get to work as a BA here at McKinsey this summer! 

From resume to written test, now getting ready for the interview!!!! Man, this feels pretty exciting!

超高超的駕駛技術

This is a footage of a A320 landing....when some weird gust of wind struck

Gosh ~ this pilot is skilled ~ but I can't imagine what the passengers must be going through as the aircraft swayed in the wind!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z42fchrzhHY

Interview?

Ha, been catching up on what happened over the past few months in my previous articles, so this is like the first official one where the date actually matches the content....

I was in Descriptive Physics class yesterday when my iPhone buzzed. I did not recognize the number, and told the lady at the other end of the line I wouldn't be available for another hour and a half, she said she'd call me back the next day, which is today.

Today, as I sat in Macroeconomics class, counting the last 15 minutes until dismissal, my iPhone buzzed again. The same unrecognized number, and I guess the same lady as well. She said she'd call me back in 15 minutes.

Out of class, I wondered who in the world is looking for me to have made 2 calls? I'm quite sure I haven't gotten myself into any kind of trouble lately? That's when my iPhone rang again.

Answering, finally able to speak this time (not in the confinement of any class). As it turned out, the nice lady on the other end said she's calling from the MA 儲備幹部 division of Standard Charter Bank, and would like to arrange a telephone interview with me this Friday. 

Of course, I told her yes, and jotted down the time and all. However, while I was finishing the conversation, more than 1 question mark popped up in my head....

Standard Charter? I'm very very sure I did not submit any resume or CV inquiring for a summer internship at all! The only contact I'd ever had with Standard Charter was about 2 month ago, when I took the online assessment test for their global graduate program.

Then, I was told my characteristics and traits did not fit what they are looking for..... and yes, I forgot about the issue completely after that. I completely did not expect this call today, but the only possible explanation is they're calling concerning this MA program, regardless the results on my assessment test.....

in any case, a telephone interview can't hurt, and I plan on finding out more about whatever is going on when she calls again this Friday. This might be a chance, or a scam? who knows.

Apple Frenzy Part III

Been enjoying my jailbroken iPod Touch for a couple of weeks now, the crack is working flawlessly, and the games and added functionality truly makes this the best iPod created ever.

Yes, certainly the best ever.....just a shimmy shy of it's much more potent counterpart - iPhone.

Every time I look at the 'Contacts' application built into iPod touch, I couldn't help but wonder if the Apple developers forgot to remove this function when they separated the iPod function from iPhone to create iPod Touch? Without phone capability, who need the 'Contact' function?

Mr. Mirror have this colleague of his, who's visiting the States to attend some sort of seminar, and he asked the guy to buy 2 iphones, now that iPod touch was successfully cracked, maybe we could do the same with iPhone as well!

In another two days, the iPhone will arrive, and I have no idea what good an iPod touch would be once the iPhone is unlocked..... so, posted a message on PTT, and within the day, some dude contacted me saying he's interested in purchasing this second hand iPod touch from me.

We arranged for the transaction meet at a MRT station near NTU, it went smoothly, and soon I exchanged my iPod Touch for 8,500 cash. If you calculate, that comes to nearly 2,000 for using the iPod for a mere 2 months. But look at it this way, without experimenting the jailbreak process on the iPod Touch, we'd never have dared to purchase the iPhone anyway!

Now, I eagerly awaits the arrival of the iPhone, and pray I could jailbreak it as well. Apple recently released iPhone firmware 1.1.3, and so far the forum's hackers had only successfully jailbroken firmware 1.1.2.....without jailbreak, the iPhone is nothing but a BRICK.

The jailbreak process essentially skips the Activation, and puts installer into the device, allowing third party apps to be added. So, without jailbreak, all the iPhone is good for is display a 'Connect to iTunes' signal on its brilliant screen, nothing more. Not even the iPod or camera functions will be available ~~~ please let the iPhone be an OTB 1.1.2 !!!!!

Apple Frenzy Part II

Setting: National Central University, my cousin's house

Sitting in front of a mac, the living room is wi-fi enabled. The perfect surrounding for jailbreaking the iPod touch. Now, it all boils down to whether or not I'm gonna take the risk to free my iPod touch from all the confines Apple has placed upon it.....

It didn't take long to flash myself the 'green-light', the usual 'who-gives-a-damn' attitude kicked in, and launched myself down the path of jailbreaking.

It's my first time tampering with such complicated a product as an iPod, and I certainly don't want to screw up. Carefully following the onscreen instructions from iPhone 4 Taiwan

1. restored to firmware 1.1.1

2. accessed http://www.jailbreakme.com through safari on iPod touch

3. initiated online jailbreak sequence

4. jailbreak 1.1.1 complete, reboot, installer on screen

5. install Oktoprep via installer

6. 'upgrade' to firmware 1.1.2 via iTunes

7. launch jailbreak 1.1.2.jar on PC

8. Uploading jailbreak files to iPod Touch

9. Finishing jailbreak, installing open SSH, set user root, alpine

10. Reboot

To be honest, following these 10 simple steps seemed very easy, but nonetheless it took me more than 3 hours to get it right. In the end, my iPod touch was successfully jailbroken, and now features up to 30 various applications !!! So much more interesting than the built in functions!!!!!

Apple Frenzy Part I

It's the second day of Model UN conference at NTU, 2007, when the Apple Frenzy official struck me.

Thus far, I have an iPod Photo, my first ever apple product. From recollection, Macintosh used to be the crappy computers with primitive Linux OS..... that was almost 10 years ago. Apple has took on a complete renovation of both its product lines and corporate culture. Embracing stylish yet simple designs, going all the way to produce user-friendly, customer oriented products. Countless innovation went into what made Apple 'Apple' today. 

Anyways, I had been thinking about getting a new iPod. Visiting the Apple reseller on campus, I spent some time fiddling with the 3rd Generation iPod Nano which costs 7000 NT for 8GB of storage when something else caught my eye - the newest of the iPod family, with a thin sleek design and almost the entire surface is occupied by a 3.5 inch screen : iPod Touch.

After deliberating for almost an hour, wondering which to pick for my 20th birthday present, I decided to purchase the iPod Touch for 10,900 NT. It turned out to be absolutely amazing. The multi-touch surface allowed easy manipulation of photos, a built in OSX is able to display stunning graphics for songs and videos and webcasts and more !!!!! It's definitely the best iPod ever, though I must point out Apple is really smart to separate the music function from its iPhone and sell it individually as an iPod in areas where the iPhone isn't available yet.

For the next two weeks or so, carried around my iPod touch wherever I go, loading all my music and video onto the device, enjoying at the same time the content and a sort of 'recognition' from owning such an outstanding product. 

However, the built in functions soon started to bore me. Don't get me wrong, looking at it simply as a music-cum-video player, it is perfect, but since it has a miniature CPU running an OS inside this 'iPod', word has spread that it can install 3rd party apps, provided you hack the system. I know hacking is a risky thing, especially with my brand new iPod that costed 10 grand....sigh....to hack? or not to hack?