Experience weaves safety net for grad

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A. Sue Weisler

Rachel Mosetick '12 (environmental sustainability, health and safety) is interviewing for full-time jobs that require three years of experience.

RIT/NTID alumna Rachel Mosetick ’12 (environmental sustainability, health and safety) patrols the halls of ThermoFisher Scientific with an eye on safety.

She makes sure guests and employees are wearing earplugs and safety glasses. She inspects labels to ensure hazardous waste is properly marked. She measures ozone levels to make certain they aren’t above OSHA regulations.

“Safety is directly related to the quality of your life,” says Mosetick, who was working on co-op this spring at the company, which makes plastic products for scientific laboratories. “A procedure is only good as long as people follow it.”

Mosetick’s meticulous approach to safety is likely one reason she is interviewing for full-time jobs that require three years of work experience. Her résumé is another.

“They see I have the experience of the co-ops and they call me. They are like, ‘Wow, you have some great experience already.’”

Mosetick, who will complete her master’s degree in environmental, health and safety management next year through online courses, completed four co-ops as an undergraduate with Defense Logistics Agency in Colorado and ThermoFisher Scientific, Wegmans and Stantec Consulting Services in Rochester.

On all of them, says the Chicago native, she learned how to function within an organization.

“It’s important that you have soft skills. You have to be able to work on a team, listen to people and get feedback from people. Then you can apply your technical experience and come up with a solution. Nobody is going to follow your solution if you don’t win them over and help them understand why we are doing this in the first place.”

Ann Winter, environmental health and safety manager at ThermoFisher, says she was won over by Mosetick and would have liked to have hired her if she had an open position and Mosetick hadn’t moved out of state in May.

“I think co-op students are a huge benefit to our organization,” Winter says.