Food and Nutrition students launch their careers
Mon, 10 Nov 2014 11:42:00 GMT
A group of students from Food and Nutrition attended a careers launchpad event hosted by the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) at the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) in York.
Dr Helen Martin organised the trip to the event, which was attended by over seventy students from across the north of England. The launchpad aimed to give students an insight into the career opportunities available to them in the food industry and strategies they could use to achieve their potential in the sector.
The students heard talks from Jon Poole (IFST Chief Executive), Alec Kyriakides (Head of Quality, Safety & Supplier Performance, Sainsburys) and Mike Dickinson (FERA) which introduced some of the varied career opportunities available. Students heard about the newly formed IFST Student Group from Daniel Amund before taking part in a lively workshop led by FERA's Paul Brereton, in which they discussed the challenges and possible solutions to major food incidents such as the last year's horsemeat crisis.
Following a talk by Andrew Fitzmaurice (Recruitment Director, MorePeople) on how to stand out from the crowd the students took part in a "speed dating" session over lunch, where they met a host of industry professionals and were able to quiz them about their careers in the food industry. The day concluded with a tour of FERA's impressive facilities before Jon Poole gave a closing address.
The event helped to introduce students to some career directions that they hadn't realised that their degree will open for them. Second year student Emily commented "Great eye opener! It opened a lot of doors to someone who was convinced of a career in solely nutrition." Fellow student Jeff agreed "I left feeling even more enthusiastic about food sciences. In the past my career aspirations were usually fixated on one or two paths, after speaking to the professionals at the conference I am much more open to the variety of opportunities available"
