At the Marshall Consulting & Strategy Club (MCSC), we aim to give our members not just access to opportunities, but also firsthand experiences that shape their consulting journey. Earlier this semester, a group of our students attended the EY Consulting Gateway - an immersive program offering an inside look into life as a consultant at EY.
Below, Kashish Girdhar Rohra (MBA ’27) shares her reflections on what she learned, the people she met, and why programs like these matter for aspiring consultants.
Last week, I had the chance to attend the EY Consulting Gateway - a two-day immersive program designed to give MBA students a closer look at what it’s like to work as a Consultant at EY. It wasn’t just about case studies, slides, or elevator pitches - it was about people, partnerships, and problem-solving, and how to bring all these together to move the needle in the real business world.
The Gateway brought together MBA students from 22 (with USC representing >15% of participants) to meet EY leaders and join interactive sessions on mindfulness, teamwork and leadership. The goal wasn’t just to learn about EY’s culture - it was to understand one of the many ways of approaching business transformation and building a holistic team to succeed.
EY’s “ALL IN” strategy is about being a true transformation partner - focusing not just on fixing problems, but on creating solutions that last. My conversation with Paul Bierbusse, who leads Talent Acquisition, really brought this to life. He shared how EY’s strongest client relationships often come not from chasing new work, but from building such strong partnerships that word of mouth does the rest.
Instead of simply swapping business cards & linkedin profiles, EY pushed us to connect with intentionality, curiosity. During a networking sprint run by Josh Irushalmi, I introduced several supply chain professionals to a USC colleague, sparking rich career conversations. I also met a Columbia MBA who’s writing a global spice and recipe cookbook while juggling her degree and a part-time job - proof that connecting can uncover inspiring stories you won’t find on resumes.
At EY, diversity isn’t just about inclusion metrics - it’s about how different passions, perspectives, and professional paths create stronger solutions. Greg Battaglia (Partner, Finance) told me how he runs his own music studio while leading Finance Transformation in the Tech, Media & Telecom space, merging passion and profession. Madhurika Rao from Studio+ shared a similar journey, starting in marketing and now expanding one of EY’s most innovative practices. The common thread: your technical skills matter, but your unique life experiences can shape the way you lead large-scale transformations.
We also saw how different EY teams - from strategy to technology - collaborate to solve problems in areas like AI-driven decision-making, customer engagement, and operational efficiency. The takeaway? Modern consulting is never just one discipline: it’s an intersection of many.
From recruiters sharing both career advice and personal hobbies, to associates walking us through their EY journey, one theme was constant - relationships first. Whether the conversation was about motorsports, dance, or AI, curiosity and genuine interest drove every interaction.
One highlight? Meeting a fellow dance enthusiast at EY. I spotted her dancing during a break, joined in with her signature move, and within minutes, we were planning a future EY dance club. It’s a reminder that workplace culture is built as much on shared passions as it is on shared projects.
If you’re considering a career in consulting, the EY Consulting Gateway is more than an info session - it’s a chance to:
For me, the EY Consulting Gateway was part career insight, part personal growth. I left with a clearer view of EY, a stronger network, and a sharper sense of how I want to show up in my own consulting career - curious, collaborative, and always focused on the people behind the problems.
- Kashish Girdhar Rohra, MBA'27 (girdharr@marshall.usc.edu)