Career Advisement Team

Dean Vera, Assistant Dean of Graduate Career Management, joined RBS in 2006. He leads the Graduate Career Advisors to help graduate students attain their career goals. Prior to Rutgers, Dean spent two years as a Relationship Manager at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, helping to build relationships with employers on behalf of MBA students. Dean’s professional foundation for MBA career coaching and employer relations stems from his prior 14 years’ experience in sales and cross-cultural and language training. He has lived and worked in Seoul, Korea, Iowa, and Philadelphia, PA. Dean holds an MBA degree from Baruch College and a Bachelor of Arts from Stony Brook University.

John R. Schwartz is a Career Counseling Officer at Rutgers Business School, where he develops career management curriculum and provides individualized coaching primarily to graduate business students. He designs and teaches both credit and non-credit Career Management courses that build advanced competencies in job search strategy, personal branding, networking, and interview preparation. John’s coaching emphasizes market readiness and industry-specific insight, helping graduate students secure competitive internship and full-time opportunities. He also collaborates with Employer Relations to strengthen partnerships with leading firms and expand high impact recruiting opportunities. In addition, John supports high-performing undergraduates in the selective Road to Wall Street program.

Before joining Rutgers, John spent over 24 years at Goldman Sachs, where he held significant leadership roles across finance and operations. Most notably, he served as CFO for the firm’s Finance, Controllers, Tax, Treasury, and Risk divisions, overseeing financial planning, budgeting, administration and risk. In this capacity, he provided strategic guidance to senior leadership, strengthened financial controls, and led high-performing global teams. John also drove major cost optimization initiatives, including global relocation strategies, outsourcing of core functions, and the adoption of automated tools that enhanced financial controls, governance, and operational efficiency.

John holds an MBA from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Montclair State University. He brings to Rutgers Business School a strong commitment to advancing graduate student success, grounded in extensive corporate leadership experience and a passion for developing career-ready business professionals.

Purvi is a dedicated Graduate Career Advisor who supports students in navigating their career paths with clarity, confidence, and direction. With over 6 years of her services at RBS, she specializes in helping graduate students strengthen their resumes, build their professional brands, prepare for interviews, and develop effective job-search strategies.

With experience working across diverse programs and student populations, Purvi creates an encouraging and inclusive advising environment. She also collaborates with faculty, employers, and campus partners to deliver workshops and career-readiness initiatives that help students connect their academic experience to real-world opportunities.

Purvi holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronics & Communications from St. Xavier’s College, India, and a Diploma in Computer Applications from the Tata Unisys Center. Her strong technical foundation as an IT recruiter, combined with her passion for student success, allows her to guide students with both empathy and practical insight.