Existential Crisis + Rant

Hey there,

You have answered it partly yourself..to stop this negative Thinking-Feeling loop. The way you think is the way you feel and the way you feel is the way you think. Most of us get stuck in this loop day in day out and sometimes for years. The same thoughts rush in when you wake up. So how can you possibly create a new possibility or future with this mindset?

Feel free to message me if you wish to discuss this a bit more. I have some mind management & meditation tools to help with this.

Preparing for MBB and Consulting in general is not easy. So, dont get disheartened as pretty much everyone experiences what you are going through. The key thing is to make a plan, believe in it, keep practising, celebrate mini sucesses, take regular breaks (step away for 2-3 days) and don't worry about the outcome. Give your best and let things happen.

What other people think of you (good/bad) only boosts/hurts your ego. It has no real existential meaning i.e. you still have to work and achieve your goals..its your life. Please don't get into consulting for the wrong reasons- peer pressure, money, impatience etc. Go for a career where you can be joyful and give your best. If thats Consulting, fantastic. Right things will happen in due course. Success & money will come.

Regarding PEI stories, feels like you are trying hard to think from other people's prespective i.e what will stand out to please them. Nah! Dig a little deeper into your school, uni, internships and personal life and you will have plenty of examples. You dont have to climb Everest but show direction to someone (could be your cousin) when they needed it the most. How you tell the story matters. have a look at this thread: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-start-an-answer-of-telling-a-story-about-past-projects-8188

Please also search the forum as there are plenty of threads and tons of tips on PEI.

One step at a time! Keep moving forward.

Good luck.

(editiert)

Hi there,

Well, first, well done on asking for help in your situation – it’s a great sign of maturity.

I see two areas you could work on:

1. Peer pressure on the fact you have to succeed

Ask yourself why you want to go into consulting. For most people consulting is a temporary job before moving to something else. For me, it was a nice step before VC and entrepreneurship. Working in MBB definitely helped to speed up things, but was not the only possible path – maybe even not the best one!

So, don’t consider that it is either McKinsey or the end of the world. Whatever is your goal in 20 years (even if you have no idea what it is), it is very unlikely that McKinsey is the only way to reach it (although could be a nice way to speed up things).

It is important that you put things in the right perspective as otherwise the pressure may kill your motivation and productivity in the preparation.

2. PEI preparation

Preparing for PEI is not different from any other learning activity. You need to understand what they are looking for and structure your stories to reflect that. It seems you are struggling with the second part.

My suggestion is to get help from a current or former consultant - not necessarily a coach - to help you to better define your stories. Given what you mentioned, I am pretty sure you could build really great stories with your background – you probably just need a bit of help to understand how to do that.

Hope this helps,
Francesco

Hello, there!

I think your friends are not right saying that nothing specific happens as they can't walk in your shoes and some situations may be more meaningful to you than to them, you just need to dig deeper, really.
I agree with Ian concerning the interview part and the fact that a coach can easily pull the stories out, so try to find one.

As for the self-doubt, my advice - don't be too hard on yourself. The easiest thing you could do is finding a therapist, but only if you can't get over it on your own. The important thing is to fully accept yourself and never accuse of anything.
Let's say, you managed to get to McKinsey, isn't it something you can be proud of?
But it's YOU that should be, not the surrounding. If you won't be, maybe it's the wrong direction you stepped in?
Ask these questions and be honest with yourself.

Hope it helps,
GB

Hello!

Thanks for sharing that, I have the feeling there are many many people feeling similarly but feeling alone about it! Like this at least, they know there is a common thing.

Without knowing more, I would say you have a confidence crisis. This has nothing to do with consulting or recruiting, it is deeper, and this only the place its manifesting.

Hence, I advise you to work on that, since this will for sure help you externalize confidence -once you have it internally-.

And also know that we all feel like that at some point :)

Cheers,

Clara

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing.

I think there's two parts to this, the you part and the interview part.

In terms of the interview. ..There is a lot of information out there, but I think you fundamentally could use a coach. Spend 1 session with them and they will pull out the stories that matter, help you "edit" them, and generally get you feeling super comfortable about your stories.

In terms of the you part...well, this takes time. I used to struggle similarly. As you gain more experience, see what other people are like, etc. you'll just start to learn where/how you fit into the whole equation! Just give it time...and trust the people that know you best (better than you know you at the moment)!

Hi, feel free to text me to know how I usually work with candidates to craft impactful stories

Best,
Antonello