Chemical Engineering Grad at NJIT Scores a Unique Job Opportunity at Merck
Samantha Swider ’21, fresh from the experience of earning a bachelor’s in chemical engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology — which included three cooperative education roles, co-founding NJIT Green and running track, all as a member of Albert Dorman Honors College — is off to Merck, where she’ll work as an operations specialist. The Brick, N.J. native feels exceedingly well prepared, given some shrewd advice her advisor offered all the way back in year one.
How would you describe your job at Merck?
I will be working in a new vaccine manufacturing facility. The responsibilities include assisting in startup, assuring all products manufactured in the facility adhere to cGMPs and other regulations, managing the shop floor and working cross functionality with a variety of teams to make improvements to the facility. This is a unique opportunity because most engineers don’t get to be exposed to a startup at a plant.
In the last two years, you had three co-ops, at Johnson & Johnson, NeoStrata and Infineum. How key were they to getting this job?
I refined my professional skills and industry knowledge by working a variety of roles in quality assurance, consumer supply chain, specialty chemicals and manufacturing fields, and always made sure to ask questions and enhance my learning experience. As the years went on, I could feel myself growing into my own professionally and even was able to get meaningful feedback from my co-op supervisors to help me improve my professional skills even more. When I interviewed for the role at Merck, I felt confident in my abilities and was able to draw heavily from my co-ops to answer the situational questions that were asked, which I feel helped set me apart from the other candidates applying for the position.
Biggest surprise about NJIT?
I had an overwhelming fear as a freshman that NJIT would not help me find a job or career success that I desired. I am so happy that I could not have been more wrong. My advisor, Dr. Obuskovic, lovingly known as Gordana within the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, encouraged me to pursue research, co-ops and internships from my first semester, and always stressed to me the importance of building my resume for future career opportunities. The emphasis she placed on my career even as a freshman was so influential in my success today — and mine is not an uncommon story. The curriculum for most majors focuses heavily on industry preparation.
How did Albert Dorman Honors College help you?
Honors College enhanced my educational experience because of the rigorous requirements of the program, such as community service, colloquia and honors courses that I would not have been exposed to as an unaffiliated student. I am also a firm believer that you are who you surround yourself with, and I think that the relationships I built within the Honors College were influential.
What do you love about track and field, and what do you specialize in?
I had a very unconventional experience with cross country track and field as I had to take breaks at times for my co-ops and COVID-19. I was part of the long-distance team and even after not being on the team for a while, I decided to return to NJIT Athletics because I missed the structure of being on a Division I team. NJIT Athletics is filled with some of the most incredible and tenacious people I have ever met, and it is what I love so much about track. It was hard not to be inspired every day when surrounded by so many hardworking, amazing people.
Where do you hope NJIT Green goes from here?
I hope that membership and participation can increase as people return to campus after remote learning. Also, I’m confident that current members will bring it to a place where they’re able to accomplish sustainable initiatives around campus, such as increasing sustainable events, composting, recycling and offering a broader education to the student body. It is an amazing and fulfilling group to be part of.
Best piece of advice from a professor?
Several professors and my advisor told me that being an “A” student was not going to be enough on its own to get me a job in the future and suggested that I get into research or pursue industry jobs. Consistently hearing this message motivated me to work as hard as I could on my career and to just enjoy my classes regardless of the grades. The more I focused on my career and let go of this idea of needing to get an “A” in every class to get the most out of it, the better my learning experience became. I would say for any undergraduate student, school is an amazing vehicle to educate you in your field but it cannot replace research or industry experience. You will get so much more out of your classes when paired with these types of opportunities to enhance your education! Life is short and in 30 years you will not remember the class you got a “C” in, but you will remember that first job, the time your research got published, the intense hiking trip you took to challenge yourself or the time you studied abroad.
