Yes, I Want to Be a Consultant... Let Me Explain!

I’ve always been described as “ambitious”  maybe even a little too ambitious, depending on who you ask. I’d like to disagree, but recently my mom found a photo of me in 4th grade running for student council, wearing a badly cut-out pin that said: “Vote for June, I’ll work hard for you!”

As if that wasn’t enough, I also made matching pins for all my classmates to wear. Looking back, it’s… mildly embarrassing. But honestly? I admire the confidence, the boldness, and the way-too-much energy of my younger self. I really hope I haven’t grown out of that, because I have a feeling I’ll need every bit of it for this project.

I wasn’t just ambitious in my (very successful) 4th grade campaign for student council, I was/am also ambitious about my future career. I also knew that I looked exceptional in suits, as seen in the photo to the left, and a corporate career was definitely for me. 

For most of my childhood, when people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was simple: “Boss.” Unfortunately, I later learned that becoming a boss straight out of university isn’t exactly how the world works. But I knew I wanted to do something in business. So, I started widening my horizons just slightly.

If you’re young, ambitious, a little creative, and genuinely excited to work hard there are a few industries that people usually tell u to go into. Startups are one. Creative industries, maybe. But one of the clearest paths, especially for someone who loves a steep learning curve, is consulting. It’s one of the only jobs where asking smart questions is literally part of your role. Where you're expected to jump into unfamiliar problems, learn quickly, and help shape big decisions, without needing decades of experience. For someone like me, who thrives on a challenge, I was sold. 

Then I started business school and suddenly, consulting wasn’t just a career, it was THE career. People weren’t just looking for jobs; they were chasing offers from McKinsey, BCG, Bain. And part of what drew me in wasn’t just the speed or the prestige, but the people. Some of the sharpest, most curious, most driven minds I’d met were aiming for these firms. I wanted to learn from them. Work alongside them. Keep up with them. Maybe even impress them. You know the saying: you’re the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. Being in an environment where everyone is reaching, pushing, thinking it’s exactly where I want to be.

But enough about why I want to work in consulting, this isn’t a letter to a recruiters (although… if you're here, hi, please hire me;). Let’s bring it back to the project.

I knew I wanted real consulting experience. But with most firms only recruiting interns from the third year, and me being 19, I am technically and very obviously not eligible. I could’ve waited. But that’s not really my style. So I decided to build my own internship. One that would get me closer to the industry, let me ask the questions that actually mattered, and hopefully learn A LOT. And also, more importantly, because I’m not entirely sure what I’m racing toward still exists by the time I graduate.

Okay, look, I’m 19. I’ll (grudgingly) admit I don’t know everything. My dad likes to say I know nothing… except how to sound like I do. And honestly? Fair enough. I’m just getting started, and since “AI and consulting” wasn’t exactly a course on my business school schedule, I won’t pretend to have all the answers.

But if I want to bring real value to these consulting firms, I need to understand what they actually need. Not just what they say in interviews or put on their websites, but what’s keeping them up at night. What they’re worried about. What they’re not quite sure how to solve. I want to be a consultant to the consultants. I want this project to surprise them. To say something they haven’t already heard a hundred times before.

AI is evolving faster than anyone predicted replacing not just repetitive work, but the kind of thinking and analysis that consultants are known (and paid) for. Consulting is built on being the smartest person in the room. But what happens when the room suddenly fills with AI tools that can do 80% of your work before you even open your laptop?

No one knows exactly how the industry is evolving, but here are some of my slightly uneducated thoughts and questions at the start of this project:

• AI is speeding up. It’s already changing how firms analyze data, write proposals, even do parts of strategy work. And if tech can do 40% of a project in half the time, what does that mean for billable hours?

  
  

• Clients are getting smarter. Companies aren’t just outsourcing thinking anymore they want real, collaborative insight. The old model of handing over a shiny PDF might not hold up when people are bruilding real internal competence.

  
  

• I know that consultantants often work in team models, how is this being challanged? Why hire a team of generalists when you can get a specialist with an AI assistant? Or just the AI?

  
  

• CONSULTANTS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE? Everyone wants more for less. And consultancies are having to prove value more than ever, but what is this?

  
  

All of this makes one thing clear: the consulting industry is going to change fast.

And for me, as someone who wants to be part of it, I keep asking: How do I make sure I’m still valuable? What will matter more in the future; deep human insight? Creativity? Speed? Judgment? Or something else entirely?

That’s what I’m trying to figure out.

When I meet with CEOs, I don’t just want to know whether they’ll still value consultants, I want to understand how that value is changing. What are they still willing to pay for? What do they no longer need? And why? If I can understand what today’s clients are worried about, I’ll be a lot closer to understanding the future I’m walking into and whether there’s a place for me in it!

More soon,

Thanks for being part of the journey.

See you soon,

-June

P.S. People often think I’m exaggerating when I say I dreamed of working in business as a kid.

Trust me… I wasn’t. Not even a little:

One of the many business meeting I plan to host during my life