Rachel Horvath
Year Graduated: May 2022
Degree: Master of Business Administration with a dual concentration in entrepreneurship, design and innovation and organizational leadership
What are you up to?
I work at KeyBank on the Client and Employee Experience team, and just celebrated my one-year anniversary with the company in June! My current role is the program manager for recognition for the company.
I have a very cool job at KeyBank. I manage our online recognition platform, top performer programs, and consult on various recognition programs throughout the year. My favorite project in recent months was to curate and launch an enterprise-wide “Bravo Baby” box that celebrates new parents at Key while they are on their parental leave.
How did you find this job?
I started with KeyBank in June 2021 as a graduate intern between my first and second years of Weatherhead’s full-time MBA program.
I interned on the Enterprise Continuous Improvement team under Matthew Inks (a fellow Weatherhead Alumnus!) and had an impactful summer working on strategy recommendations and learning about the world of banking.
The Career Management Office played a huge role in helping me find this role. I would not have known about this internship without Handshake and by attending the virtual career fair to learn more about Key and set up my interview for the enterprise continuous improvement internship. I also sought out the advice of one of my professors, Dr. Ellen Van Oosten, as I was preparing for the interview process.
As my internship wrapped up, the role I am currently in became available and I was able to move around my classes to accommodate returning to work full-time without delaying my graduation.
What is something you learned during your time at Weatherhead that you’ve been able to use in your current role?
I added the entrepreneurship, design and innovation concentration after my second semester after learning about all the thought leadership that Weatherhead has in that space. Weatherhead's Design Thinking and Business Models classes opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about value creation, and I strive to bring these concepts to life each day for Key's teammates.
What advice would you offer to any current MBA students at Weatherhead?
Follow your passion. I know it is cliché but you will spend a lot of time in LEAD outlining your career and life vision for the next 30 years, and it is helpful to reflect back on those assignments as you look at what elective, company, or role may be the best fit for you. If a job or elective sounds fun and interesting, take it! It doesn’t need to fit your overall plan to be something that you gain value from.
What do you love most about Weatherhead?
I love the tight-knit nature of our cohorts and how well we got to know our professors during the program. Weatherhead brings people together from many different backgrounds and career paths, and I loved learning from my classmates and professors who brought different perspectives into our conversations.