Graduating senior grows as a leader through Road to Success programs

Sukhmeet Bedi entered Rutgers Business School with an interest in the Finance and Business Analytics and Information Technology majors. 

He turned to Rutgers Business School’s Road to Success programs for an insider’s look into a career in financial markets. Each of the five Road to Success programs provides an industry-specific focused curriculum, mentors, career coaching, and guidance. 

He completed nearly half of the BAIT courses and the Road to Wall Street program. “I will use what I learned in the BAIT data analysis and decision support classes now and in the future,” Bedi said. “The RTW mentoring and the financial modeling and valuation course were great learning experiences I will apply throughout my career. I also found that was not what I wanted right now, which was equally important. The career-specific experiential learning of each Road to Success program lets you ‘try on’ a career to see how it fits.”

While only some applicants are accepted into these very selective programs, it is highly uncommon for a student to earn entry into more than one Road to Success program. However, Bedi found what he sought in the Road to Consulting program. As with all RBS Road to Success Programs, Road to Consulting provided an insider’s view of possible careers. “Every Friday, we had guest lecturers or alumni speak with us. I conversed with upper-level students and alums just starting their careers or who have been working in the industry for years. After panelists finished their presentations, they often stayed for casual, honest small-group conversations,” Bedi said. “Analyzing a wide range of business problems to provide insights and recommendations for clients is exactly what I want to do.”

Of the four or five internships Bedi has had, one learning experience in particular stands out. At CrossCountry Consulting, he joined a team two weeks after they had started a client project for a company with annual revenues of $400M. Bedi said, “I knew “nothing about the healthcare industry. I researched on my own, and I received consulting guidance from senior management at CrossCountry Consulting. The team included me in a meeting with the client company. Listening closely and applying what I had learned enabled me to ask the CFO an important question in a professional environment, which was well-acknowledged by my team members. Learning to ask good questions is a very valuable skill.”

Bedi followed this internship with one at Capital One, where he will start his professional career after graduation.

Throughout his time at Rutgers Business School, Bedi has become aware that only some of his peers and friends have had a similar experience of their learning community coming together to support everyone succeeding. One example of Bedi giving back and sharing his learning and experience with new students occurred during his time with the Rutgers Consulting Group.

“For two years, I’ve held an executive board position on RCG, the student-led consulting club. Not only did I get a chance to help mentor underclassmen, but I also worked to create workshops and resources for those who will follow us. I helped create the RCG Consulting Handbook & Recruiting Guide to provide an introduction to consulting, general industry structure, and suggestions for networking,” Bedi said. “My duty is to share my learning and experience with new students.”

After reading some of Sukhmeet Bedi’s accomplishments, it may not be surprising to learn that he earned a Distinguished Leadership Award. The Dean's Distinguished Leadership Award was created in 2011 to recognize student leaders from Rutgers Business School's graduate program and its Newark and New Brunswick undergraduate programs. The award is given to students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement, service to RBS and leadership potential. Each year, for commencement, each recipient's name is engraved on the Rutgers Business School bell as a lasting recognition.

Wakeem Bernard and Anju Thottakara also received a 2024 Dean's Distinguished Leadership Award for outstanding academic achievement, service to Rutgers Business School and leadership potential.