Meet Ramsey Smith

University of Pittsburgh Class of 2025

Majors: Chemical Engineering, Biological Sciences

Hometown: Garnet Valley, PA

Current Role: Manufacturing Leadership Development Program Associate at Merck

Ramsey’s Career Tips for Pitt Students:

• Don’t wait to attend! Meet recruiters as first-year and sophomore students to build your network and understand the skills required for future positions.
• Research companies! This both builds your confidence for interactions and leaves a strong impression on the recruiters. Your thoughtful questions can leave a lasting impact.
• Leverage connections with your academic departments to broaden your network into both industry and academia.
• Career Fairs are not the only way to secure positions, but they are always a great way to build your network. Learn what you can from the fair recruiters and then work with the Career Center to strategize your approach with organizations who might not have been able to attend.

Ramsey Smith came to Pitt as a student who seemed to have it all figured out. A double major in Chemical Engineering and Biological Sciences with excellent grades, Ramsey was prepared, focused, and ambitious. He landed a summer internship with a pharmaceutical company after his freshman year. Naturally, he thought that finding the next one would be easy, but he was wrong.

Ramsey knew that he needed to work hard to be competitive for the global pharmaceutical internships he was interested in, but he couldn’t do that by simply having experience and good grades. He needed the Career & Internship Fair and Handshake. To prepare, Ramsey knew that he needed to make himself stand out from his classmates.

He did this by planning out his time at the fair with every global pharmaceutical company in attendance. He did extensive research on these companies: learning about opportunities on Handshake, researching their websites, identifying skills required for their positions, and even reaching out to Pitt alumni on LinkedIn to get inside knowledge on company culture.

This preparation paid off when he met a Merck & Co, Inc. recruiter who was impressed by the information Ramsey knew, like how Merck’s West Point location outside of Philadelphia was primarily a vaccine manufacturing hub. Ramsey left this conversation with a feeling of confidence, and the recruiter left remembering an eager student who took interest in the details of their company.

Ultimately, Ramsey interviewed for a Merck internship that year but did not get the position. Instead of giving up, he continued applying to roles at other companies and secured a great opportunity at GSK. He credits this summer for helping him develop critical skills in digital transformation and lab automation.

When he got to campus for his third year, not only was his resume stronger—he already knew about Merck’s recruiting process because of his contact from the Career & Internship Fair. This is where Handshake comes in. Through the Handshake app, Ramsey was able to get messages from recruiters, learn about new opportunities, and get updates about which companies were attending at the fairs. Through Handshake, Ramsey was able to connect with the same recruiter he met the previous year.

To his surprise (and relief), this recruiter remembered him and helped him get a first-round interview. Soon after this interview, he received news from Merck that he had been selected for the internship he wanted. He attributes this quick turnaround to his continued contact with the recruiter he met at the Career Fair. 

During his internship at Merck, he applied to full-time roles in the company, and partly thanks to support from the recruiter who helped him get an internship, he was one of four interns selected to become part of the Manufacturing Leadership Development Program, which he started this September. This is exactly the type of position Ramsey had hoped to secure when he arrived at Pitt his freshman year.

The fact is this: Ramsey would not have landed this job if he hadn’t attended the Career & Internship Fair his sophomore year. He wouldn’t have made a lasting impression on the Merck recruiter if he had not done his research on the company. He wouldn’t have reconnected with this recruiter if he had not made an effort on Handshake to stay up to date on opportunities. “I owe my job at Merck to the career fairs, resources, and advisors at Pitt,” Ramsey says.

FAIR NOTE: Merck & Co., Inc. will be at the Fall Career & Internship Fair on September 16, 2025 at Booth 208.

Story by Madison Bozik.