Last mentoring session with Kak Almi

It was really sad because this was the last mentoring session with Kak Almi. However, after this mentoring session, I feel a spark lighten up inside of me knowing that all of my questions have already been answered by Kak Almi. It’s supposed to be like 1.5 hours mentoring session but it ended up being a 2.5+ hours session (it was so engaging that we didn’t notice how the time flies). These are the key insights from Kak Almi:

1. Every consulting firm has its characters in terms of its ideal candidate, there is some firm that may be harder for Indonesian graduate to get in.
2. The way how consulting firm works differ from one and another, it all comes down to the project manager.
3. In terms of the case interview, there are tons of resources on the internet, but Kak Almi likes to pop up a question, in the beginning, verify the question, timeframe, and measurement.
4. Little tips from Kak Almi, do round every number to make it easier to count, do a sanity check, is it possible or not, structure visually using a tree diagram, and be relaxed
5. Structured thinking is important in this field. The way to develop it can be from reading news (Kak Almi recommendations are CNN, BCC, Vox) and listening to an insightful podcast (The Endgame by Gita Wirjawan is also on the list). Another thing is practicing case interview with friends

The closing remarks from Kak Almi are we actually don’t need a specialty when going for an internship, we learn by doing. Last but not least, never say no, believes in God, don’t be too sad, and live a happy life.