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.