취업 준비 시절, 전략 컨설턴트로서의 꿈과 그 과정에서 얻은 교훈
취업 준비생 시절, 저는 전략 컨설턴트가 되는 것을 목표로 컨설팅 회사만을 바라보며 준비에 몰두했습니다. 그 당시에는 원하는 직무를 얻지 못했지만, 제가 설정한 기준을 기준으로 본다면 정말 최선을 다했던 과정이었기에 후회는 없습니다.
돌이켜보면, 특히 친구들과 함께 했던 수많은 케이스 스터디와 면접 준비가 **코리안리(KoreanRe)**에서 최종 합격하는 데 크게 도움이 되었습니다. 그 과정에서 얻은 경험들이 지금도 많은 도움이 되고 있습니다.
그 당시의 기억을 떠올리며, 2012년도 맥킨지 서류 전형에 통과했던 당시의 영문 자기소개서를 공개해보려 합니다. 이 자기소개서는 그 시절의 저를 잘 보여주는 부분이라 공유하고 싶습니다.
영문 자기소개서 (2012, 맥킨지 지원)
I am who I am.
First off, I am trustworthy and responsible individual in work situtaions and relationships with people. I never give up and am persistent in any situation.
When I was a freshman in college, I broke my right ring finger. I had to wear a cast for three months. It was miserable because I could not write my lecture notes without the use of my right hand. Great scholastic acheivement during university was the most important for me, so I clumsily began to use my left hand. Using my unskilled left hand was uncomfortable and inconvenient. In the end, I took the cast off two months before I was supposed to. However, I patiently suffered in order to have a great start to my first semester of freshman year in university. Sadly, my right ring finger still hurts. But it was the only option for me because of my passion for my studies and my determination to not give up, even in the most unpleasant circumstances. My strong will helped me to overcome a physical disability. As a result, I successfully completed the semester with great academic achievements. Through this unpleasant experience, I learned of the strength and strong passion I had for overcoming any difficulties, even in the worst conditions.
To be more specific, I am a perfectionist. Once I have started a project, I have to see it through to the end. I pursue total completion and do not accept even small weighted failure. Because of my perfectionism, I put forth much more effort than is actually needed. For my office hours, I was officially assinged two hours to assist with my mentees' difficulties with class material. There were about twenty students who always came to my office hours for my help. However, I realized that those two hours were not enough time for me to enhance their performance to make them be in the top 5% of their class. Because I was not satisfied with myself as a TA and I wanted to do my utmost for them, I tutored those regular students every weekend for extra help. Even if I had upcoming class examinations, I never missed any of those weekend sessions. I gave more weight to this TA role than to my scheduled classes. After finishing my role as a TA, I received the highest scores on my evaluation by the students. One of the students wrote in his comment, "He taught us not with his brain, but with his heart." It is true that my perfectionism takes a toll on me; however, I always acheive great results because of it. In the end, I was able to graduate Magna Cum Laude, as well as be a successful TA.