How 3 Tuck MBA Graduates Made A Successful Career Pivot

Recent Tuck MBA graduates Jean Rieuthavorn, Jazmine Brite, and Matt Wang entered Tuck with different career goals in mind, but with similar aspirations—to pivot into an industry that would challenge but gratify them, changing their life for the better.

Read on to learn more about their MBA journeys and how Tuck’s famously supportive community, Career Services office, and co-curricular opportunities such as the School’s six Centers, helped them discover their path and secure a transformative internship and post-Tuck role in their desired industry.

Jean Rieuthavorn, Tuck Class of 2022

AFTER TUCK
Emerging Healthcare Partnerships Manager, Lyft

PRE-TUCK

Health Advances, Senior Consulting Analyst; Allergan, Sales Specialist

SUMMER INTERNSHIP
Corporate and Business Strategy Intern, Electronic Arts (EA)

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Bucknell University, BS, Biology

“The pathway to a job in tech is much less straight forward than say consulting. But I learned pretty quickly that, at Tuck, if you have a question or a need, a lot of people will go out of their way to help you.”

The path to what you truly want to do in life isn’t always linear. This is a philosophy Jean Rieuthavorn T’22 knows well and lives by personally. “It’s important to try new things and test out what feels right for you. And if you try something out and don’t like it, that’s okay,” she says.

A pre-med major while at Bucknell University, Rieuthavorn spent six years working in health care before she realized she wanted to pivot into a new industry. “In health care, I was passionate about the outcome but I thought there was opportunity to do many things better,” she says. “I wanted to be part of an industry that prioritized innovation, that was faster-paced, and was a space where I could pick up new lessons along the way—tech just held so much opportunity.”

Rieuthavorn knew entering an MBA program would provide the supportive environment, resources, and broadened skillset she needed to do the pivot. At Tuck, she found all that and the personalized experience and intimate network she was looking for. Right away she prioritized networking with alumni, making personal connections with second-year students who understood the industry, and tapping staff and faculty for their expertise on all things tech. “The pathway to a job in tech is much less straightforward than say consulting,” she says. “But I learned pretty quickly that, at Tuck, if you have a question or a need, a lot of people will go out of their way to help you.”

As co-chair of the Tech Club and a fellow with the Center for Digital Strategies, Rieuthavorn was exposed to alumni and opportunities at all intersections of tech, leading her to a path she hadn’t considered: the gaming industry. Alumni like Marcus Morgan T’19, now head of strategy and operations at Obsidian Entertainment, offered their perspective on gaming and what to expect working in a consumer-facing business. Electronic Arts (EA) happened to be on her target company list when exploring internship options, and after an enlightening conversation with another alum currently at EA, it quickly rose to the top. After getting in touch with a recruiter at the company, Rieuthavorn worked with her new network of alumni, students, and the Center for Digital Strategies to prepare for the interview.

Her summer internship at EA turned out to be exactly what she had been looking for—a fast-paced environment, full of creativity and energy, at a company at the forefront of modern technology. It was also an exciting time for the industry as a whole: the video gaming industry saw record revenues and engagement during the pandemic, as people were stuck at home and looking for new forms of entertainment. “What I like about the gaming industry the most is that, gaming makes people happy,” says Rieuthavorn. “It’s not necessarily going to change your life, but it provides people with a little bit of happiness every day.” Focused on strategy and development, her summer experience taught her especially just how much people matter—from the customer and their needs, to the team and management. It was also a good hypothesis test for her, solidifying her decision to pivot into tech. Rieuthavorn recently accepted an offer with Lyft as an Emerging Healthcare Partnerships Manager.

 

Jazmine Brite, Tuck Class of 2022

AFTER TUCK

Bain & Co.

PRE-TUCK

Delta Air Lines, Senior Engineer – Repair Process Engineering; Bechtel National Inc, Field Engineer

SUMMER INTERNSHIP

Summer Associate, Bain & Co.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Georgia Institute of Technology, BS, Mechanical Engineering

“Coming from a nontraditional background, I wanted a supportive community where I could take risks and explore my different interests. At the intersection of all these things, you find Tuck.”

Jazmine Brite was working as a senior engineer at Delta Air Lines when she decided to reevaluate her career trajectory. “I knew I wanted to serve in leadership—leading people and organizations,” says Brite. “So I began assessing the skills I needed to move forward.”

In conversations with senior leaders, she learned that an MBA might be the most logical next step. Brite desired an inclusive MBA experience where she could immerse herself academically, socially, and professionally—to build relationships while building skills. “Coming from a nontraditional background, I wanted a supportive community where I could take risks and explore my different interests,” says Brite. “At the intersection of all these things, you find Tuck.”

At Tuck, Brite was attracted to the consulting industry because of the variety and exposure it offered; it provided an opportunity to explore different industries and functions while also rounding out her technical expertise with strategy and leadership skills. During first-year recruiting, she worked with Tuck Career Services and the Consulting Club to explore the intricacies of the case interview, run through mock interviews, and prepare and review interview materials. An intense Fall juggling coursework, recruiting season, networking, and extracurriculars paid off—in January, she accepted an offer to join Bain’s New York office.

Brite was staffed to a Financial Services project during her Summer with Bain. While she says there was a steep learning curve, courses like Analytics, Management Communications, and the First-Year Project helped prepare her to provide value to the team and project almost immediately. “Right away we were considering, ‘How do we tell this story with this information in a way that comes across clearly and concisely?’” says Brite. “I drew on the ways I had learned to build and present a story, and the Excel modeling I learned in Analytics proved especially valuable.”

Brite joined the firm during a particularly interesting time—transitioning back to the office in-person, while getting to know a new city, and a new industry. But a strong support system around her proved to be invaluable. “The support I received from my team and other Bainies while navigating these new challenges amid delivering to clients is something I’ll keep close to my heart,” she says. “I got everything out of my summer internship that I was looking for—a clear view into what consulting is, and what life as a consultant could be like for me at Bain.” Brite recently accepted an offer with Bain and will be joining the firm after Tuck.

 

Matt Wang, Tuck Class of 2022

AFTER TUCK

Pfizer

PRE-TUCK

West Monroe Partners, senior consultant; University of Southern California, scientific research analyst

SUMMER INTERNSHIP

Summer Associate, Pfizer

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

University of Southern California, BS, Business Administration and Health Care

“I thought it would be rewarding to help from the business side while the health care providers in my family made differences for patients directly. … Tuck is a great place to spend two years growing with a network of support around you. It’s made the industry switch a lot easier.”

As a pre-med student at University of Southern California, Matt Wang was spending Friday nights alone in a lab exploring the impact of serotonin on fetal mice brain development. “I remember thinking this isn’t for me,” says Wang. “It took my junior year until things finally clicked and I realized I wanted something else. The business classes I took at the time were much more enjoyable so I decided to pivot.”

Wang transitioned to a small consulting firm where he worked for four years until the pandemic suddenly rocked the world. With questions and uncertainty around COVID swirling and a race for a vaccine underway, he saw a unique opportunity to make an impact in health care, particularly in the pharmaceutical space. “I had some life sciences experience and developed a business skillset which could be applied to a global health issue,” says Wang. “I thought it would be rewarding to help from the business side while the health care providers in my family made differences for patients directly.”

A transition into pharmaceuticals is ultimately why Wang decided on an MBA, and at Tuck, he found the immersive, supportive learning environment that would allow him to grow as an individual. Tuck’s small size also afforded him the one-on-one exposure, in and out of the classroom. “I’ve met so many willing mentors here,” says Wang. “Tuck is a great place to spend two years growing with a network of support around you. It’s made the industry switch a lot easier.”

Support from the Center for Health Care, faculty, the alumni network, and Tuck Career Services was critical for Wang as he researched opportunities in the pharmaceuticals space. Through exploratory conversations with his mentors, he realized he wanted to target a larger company, in a major city—where the opportunities for direct impact were many. His search led him to Pfizer.

For his internship at Pfizer, Wang joined a vaccine team working on the launch of a new product to better address meningitis through the consolidation of vaccines. He served as a product owner, understanding the pros and cons of a specific product component, and how to demonstrate to consumers that results would be an improvement on the status quo. The internship culminated in a presentation Wang delivered to senior leadership that outlined a potential campaign for the product and the research necessary to substantiate its marketing claims.

Wang’s biggest takeaway from his internship with Pfizer was just how influential marketing can be in the pharma space and how it differs from traditional marketing for B2B companies. “Ensuring products are accurately represented with supporting data is important when targeting patient populations and providing the best care,” says Wang, who recently accepted a post-Tuck position at Pfizer. “It was a unique experience focusing on how safe a product is, and how it could save and protect a lot of people.”

 

This article first appeared in the Tuck Newsroom.

 

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Tuck Career Services offers personalized career support to each of its MBA students and alumni. A talented team of career advisers and industry experts, a vast network of recruiters from top companies and organizations, and a famously supportive alumni network combine to offer students and alumni extraordinary opportunities as they pursue their most aspirational life and career goals. 98 percent of the Tuck School of Business’ class of 2021 received a job offer within three months of graduation.