The MASTERPLAN 2.0

Last year I made a MASTERPLAN

Which sounds very impressive and strategic. In reality, it was mostly: Google Docs, slightly unrealistic ambition, and sending an unreasonable amount of handwritten letters to strangers. But surprisingly, it actually worked.

And I think that taught me something important: big projects become significantly less terrifying once you turn them into actual systems instead of vague ideas floating around in your head. Now, did I manage to apply this structured planning approach to the rest of my life?

Absolutely not.

For example: I am currently 20 days away from my first HYROX and started training for it approximately 5 days ago:) So clearly there are still some operational weaknesses that still exist… But anyways. That is a separate crisis.

As for JunesJune, I need a proper plan for this summer. Especially because I somehow decided doing one giant project was not enough and am now doing two.

So.

Enough talking about it.

Let us enter: THE MASTERPLAN.

(As you read this part, please imagine me dramatically rolling out a giant blueprint onto a table while the lights dim and some unnecessarily intense background music starts playing.)

To actually understand the changing role of juniors, I realized I cannot only study one industry like I did last summer. Because the future of junior work probably looks very different depending on where you are.

A junior lawyer is not doing the same work as a junior consultant.

A startup employee is not learning the same skills as someone in investment banking.

A creative agency probably values completely different things than accounting firms.

So this time I want breadth. I have currently identified the industries I want to explore:

• management consulting

• law

• investment banking

• technology

• IT consulting

• marketing

• accounting

• startups

• strategy

• creative industries

I feel like these give a pretty good overview of the main sectors that young people go into.

But I also cannot just speak to one company in each category. That would be way too simple and efficient. I cant make it easy for myself:) So I settled on three per category:

• one large company

• one medium-sized company

• one small company

Which means: 30 companies.

Fair enough.

Only 10 more interviews than last year. Completely manageable. Then I realized another problem. Who exactly do I interview at these companies? The juniors? Hmmm. Probably not at first.

Not because juniors are not interesting. Actually, I think they are incredibly important to speak with. But many juniors are probably trying to figure this out at the exact same time as me. And honestly, most of us have spent years optimizing for the traditional definition of being “good.”

Good grades.

Good internships.

Good Excel.

Good PowerPoints.

Good structured communication.

Good corporate smile.

But I want to understand something deeper: What skills are companies ACTUALLY starting to value now? And to get to the bottom of that, I probably need to speak with the people shaping hiring decisions and company culture itself.

Which means:

• CEOs.

• Hiring managers.

• Talent acquisition leads.

• Founders.

• Partners.

• People deciding what “strong talent” even means.

• 
  

I cant talk to everyone, so lets do a hiring manager/ talent manager and the CEO/ founder

So suddenly the math changed slightly. Not 30 interviews.

60

Which is honestly a slightly concerning number now that I write it out. But I also think this is where things start getting interesting. Because I am not really trying to predict: “Which jobs disappear?” 

The much more interesting question is: “What becomes valuable when execution becomes easier to automate?”

And honestly, I genuinely do not know yet.

Maybe technical skills still dominate.

Maybe creativity becomes more important.

Maybe communication matters more.

Maybe adaptability becomes everything.

Maybe completely different things emerge.

That uncertainty is kind of the reason for the whole project. I think a lot of students currently feel this weird pressure to somehow “prepare for the future” while nobody can fully explain what that future actually looks like. So instead of pretending I already understand it, I want to spend the summer trying to get closer to people who might. So concretely, the plan is:

• identify the 3 companies for each category

• contact the CEO and hiring manager

• do the interviews

• then… idk, but good start

  
  

Very advanced methodology. And honestly, the only thing I am still slightly unsure about is: what exactly the deliverable of this whole project becomes.

Because last summer the output became relatively clear:

1. interviews,

2. findings,

3. presentations,

4. conversations.

But this project feels broader. Maybe it becomes a report. Maybe a documentary-style series. Maybe articles. Maybe frameworks. Maybe presentations. Maybe something completely different.

I also dont know this yet. writing this I am realising I feel like I don't really know anything. good start June.

Anyways, I think part of the reason is that I still do not fully know who this project is actually for. Because yes, companies may find the findings interesting. But honestly, I think I am mostly doing this project for myself and other young people trying to understand the same thing.

People who are sitting there thinking: “What should I actually become good at now?”

Which then creates another problem: how do I actually get these insights to the people who probably need them most? Students are not exactly spending their evenings reading 84-page PDFs about the future of junior talent. At least I am not. So maybe the format matters just as much as the findings themselves.

Maybe it needs to be shorter. More visual. More practical. More honest. Less corporate. Less “thought leadership.”More:“here is what people are actually seeing inside companies right now.” I am not sure yet (yet another thing, maybe I should keep a tally) But I also think that uncertainty is probably part of the process.

So for now, the focus is simple: talk to smart people, ask good questions, notice patterns, and try to understand what being valuable as a junior actually means before I become one myself.

The deliverable can become the next problem. Which, conveniently, will probably be the next blog post.

I am exited to be back, and if you are reading this and is a junior, dont worry, I got us:)

-June