Rashmi Mutt’s journey was shaped by a global outlook and a drive to grow into a well-rounded business leader. With a background in employee engagement consulting, she pursued an MBA at Duke Fuqua to gain the technical skills and global exposure needed to advance her career. Drawn to Fuqua’s collaborative culture, leadership opportunities, and diverse community, Rashmi found an environment that supported her aspirations. Her internship at EY-Parthenon not only confirmed her interest in consulting, but also helped her build meaningful relationships and secure a full-time role. In this Real Humans: Alumni, Rashmi reflects on how Fuqua prepared her for the consulting world, shares insights from the recruiting process, and offers valuable advice to current MBA students navigating their own paths into consulting.
Rashmi Mutt, Duke Fuqua MBA ’23, Consultant at EY-Parthenon
Age: 28
Hometown: Bengaluru, India
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Symbiosis International University – Accounting & Finance, Human Resource Management
Graduate Business School, Graduation Year and Concentration: Duke University Fuqua School of Business, Class of 2023, Corporate Finance and Strategy
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Consultant, Great Place to Work India, 3 years, Employee Engagement & People Management
Post-MBA Work Experience: Consultant, EY-Parthenon, <1 year
Why did you choose to attend business school?
Having grown up and studied in India, I wanted to attain a global classroom experience. In my role pre-MBA, I worked with several leaders of large multinational corporations and found myself wondering how I could get to the next level of leadership. I found myself lacking some technical skills and competencies, yet carrying the confidence to have valuable conversations. Hence, it made sense for me to go back to school and bridge that gap to feel ready to step into the shoes of a leader.
Why Duke Fuqua? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Fuqua stood out to me for several reasons, the strongest being its culture. The school boasts of sprawling diversity and so many opportunities to learn from one another. In my conversations with students and alumni, I found that the camaraderie factor is what truly made it home, especially for many international students.
Alongside the student culture, I wanted the opportunity to sit in student leadership positions, which Fuqua offered a variety of. The ability to work alongside other students and staff members to be able to make decisions that impact the larger university, strongly appealed to me.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career?
Without a doubt, I can say that my MBA equipped me to hold a solid conversation with a stranger. The amount of networking events and forums I attended gave me the strength to talk to classmates and professors, which I now carry into my work, being able to network with peers and potential mentors.
Additionally, I learnt the skill of being able to perform research to dive into a problem and find a solution. In some of my favorite classes, such as Valuation and Financial Statement Analysis, I learnt to work with large data sets and spend time finding an answer.
When it comes to soft skills, I took away the integral skills of time management and prioritization. Anyone who has done their MBA knows the number of priorities we are constantly juggling and the need to have a system to navigate them all. Today, I am able to schedule my time better and more strategically, rather than get overwhelmed and exhausted.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I interned at EY-Parthenon, the same firm I am currently working at. It was an immense learning experience, where I got to work with a wonderful set of people. What I enjoyed most about the internship was the ability to get up close with a firm and its nature before making a decision on where I wanted to work full-time. Where we choose to work is one of the most important decisions of our life, as it determines who we choose to give our energy to.
The ability to talk to people in real time about what they did at the firm and what they enjoyed was extremely meaningful. The firm also held multiple Lunch and Learns, Sector Deep-dives and Knowledge sessions to learn about the typical flow of a project, certain role-based expectations, and who to reach out to if interested. I made note of all these interesting people who spoke at panels, and connected with them on LinkedIn or maintained their email IDs in a repository. The minute I got back to the firm full-time, I reached out to them, and they responded positively, which felt extremely significant to my professional journey.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
EY-Parthenon has the unique quality of being a small and personal firm with the backing and resources of a larger firm, EY. It offers the opportunity to form strong bonds and know what other people are working on, while also supporting your career with beneficial practices and policies. The most important factor for me was being able to work with multiple stakeholders and manage relations, which I get to do every day.
Consulting has always appealed to me through its problem-solving nature and ability to constantly learn. Through the mentors and networks I’ve built at the firm, I feel strongly about how EY-Parthenon offers both of these aspects.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
Build my network. Through recruiting events, coffee chats, and internship events, I definitely valued how much effort I put into building my network. I can confidently say that it benefited my professional journey and offered me a lot of perspective.
Ask for time from people, the worst they will say is NO. The best time to do this is the internship, as the firm/company is also trying to win you over. Use that fact to your advantage because the relations you build then will pay dividends going forward.
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
I wish I had documented my learnings a bit more. Post-internship, when asked to talk about the project work I did, I unfortunately did not have impactful statistics or anecdotes to share. This made me realize that I should have documented my observations and takeaways in a more comprehensive manner that could feed mine and others’ journeys.
–Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
I had done a sufficient amount of diligence during the recruiting process, so there weren’t any surprises as such. It’s so important to know the type of work your firm/company does, the format in which they administer their interviews, and so on, to feel adequately prepared for any conversation. Remember that potential employers can distinguish between generic and specific answers, so try to be as pointed in your responses as possible. People are truly a resource during the recruiting process, so lean on them intentionally.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
Everything turns out the same for everyone. When you’re in the MBA bubble, it’s so easy to differentiate using the smallest nuances – compensation, prestige/glamor, alumni network. In reality, none of these nuances matter. While it’s simple to compare and compete, reality will hit you when you comprehend how you can take all those nuances and differences and still come out with greater overall satisfaction. Remember not to take things personally, and to trust your own story on how things will turn out for you.
