Food & Nutrition Career Insight by LJMUCareers

Food & Nutrition CAREER INSIGHT

LJMU CAREERS TEAM 0151 231 2048/3719 ❚ careers@ljmu.ac.uk

www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers

Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

Introduction Studying a degree in Food and Nutrition will open up a number of career pathways in a commercial environment as well as careers in a community or healthcare-related setting. Your course will provide you with a comprehensive overview of your subject taking in scientific, social and commercial aspects of food and nutrition. The BSc in Food and Nutrition is accredited by professional bodies like the Royal Society of Public Health and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, as well as the Association of Nutrition for students on the Community Nutrition route. This ensures that the knowledge you will develop as part of your course is up-to-date and relevant for a range of careers and employers within these fields. You will also have the option to complete food hygiene and health and safety certificates as part of your studies. Alongside opportunities to get involved in local projects or completing placements in school nutrition clubs, community settings or weight management services, this should help you to explore and decide upon suitable career paths and gain relevant experience to strengthen your CV. Studying a degree in Food and Nutrition will open up a number of career pathways in a commercial environment as well as careers in a community or healthcare-related setting. This course will provide you with a comprehensive overview of your subject taking in scientific, social and commercial aspects of food and nutrition. The BSc in Community Nutrition route is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (this means that graduates from this course are automatically entitled to apply for associate membership of the UK voluntary register of Nutritionists following graduation). This ensures that the knowledge you will develop as part of your course is up-to-date and relevant for a range of careers and employers within these fields. Your degree in Home Economics (Food Design and Technology) effectively combines the study of food development with subjects related to health, housing and social wellbeing, providing a good foundation to pursue careers in both the public and private sector in areas like developing food products and appliances or promoting healthy eating through national or local food and health initiatives. Thanks to the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities at the Food Academy and the support from experienced teaching professionals, you will develop high-level practical skills and techniques. The course has established excellent links with potential employers in the food industry, ensuring that the curriculum remains in line with current industry developments. Through involvement in the Food Society and the Food Start Programme, students are provided with plenty of opportunities to experience running their own projects and developing a range of both specific and transferable skills. In recent years, securing a graduate role has become increasingly competitive, so gaining relevant work or voluntary experience and engaging in extracurricular activities alongside your studies is crucial to demonstrate to prospective employers that you have the motivation to succeed in your chosen area and have developed the required skills. Being aware of the range of options open to you is important to make an informed career decision. Researching different career pathways and entry requirements is essential preparation for your graduate career, so ensure you make the most of available resources, attend career

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

events or employer talks, and take every opportunity to network with professionals to find out as much as possible about the career areas that interest you. You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn profile and following relevant organisations or job boards via Twitter. Many employers use social media to post work experience opportunities so take advantage of using the site to help you make links with potential employers and find out more about what opportunities are out there.

Typical job options A degree in Food and Nutrition will open up a number of career pathways in sectors as diverse as healthcare, manufacturing, education or retail. You could start exploring typical job options via http://www.prospects.ac.uk/options_food_science.htm The Institute of Food Science and Technology has published a useful booklet (“Graduate Guide to Food Science and Technology”) which includes information about career options, sponsored fellowship opportunities, continued professional development (CPD) and tips for impressing recruiters. You can download a copy from http://www.excelpublishing.co.uk/IFST/#/1/ Your options within the food and drinks manufacturing sector include: • Food technologist: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/food_technologist_job_description.htm • Product or process development scientist http://www.prospects.ac.uk/product_process_development_scientist_job_descripti on.htm • Production manager (in the food and drinks industry): http://www.prospects.ac.uk/production_manager_job_description.htm • Quality manager (in the food and drinks industry): http://www.prospects.ac.uk/quality_manager_job_description.htm • Technical brewer: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/technical_brewer_job_description.htm Your options within the healthcare sector include: • Dietitian: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/dietitian_job_description.htm http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-health-professions/careersin-the-allied-health-professions/dietitian/ • Nutritional therapist: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/nutritional_therapist_job_description.htm • Nutritionist : https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/nutri tionist.aspx http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/wider-healthcare-team/careersin-the-wider-healthcare-team/clinical-support-staff/nutritionist/

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

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Health promotion specialist: http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/wider-healthcare-team/careersin-the-wider-healthcare-team/corporate-services/health-promotion-specialist/ http://www.prospects.ac.uk/health_promotion_specialist_job_description.htm

Your options within the education sector include: •

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Primary/Secondary Teacher: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/primary_school_teacher_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/secondary_school_teacher_job_description.htm You might also like to download our teaching factsheets from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm Teaching post 16/FE Lecturer: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/further_education_lecturer_job_description.htm http://archive.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=320148 Higher Education Lecturer: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/higher_education_lecturer_job_description.htm

Your options within purchasing and the retail sector include: • • • •

Purchasing manager: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/purchasing_manager_job_description.htm Retail buyer: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/retail_buyer_job_description.htm Retail manager: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/retail_manager_job_description.htm Sales executive: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/sales_executive_job_description.htm

Other options include: • • •

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Environmental health practitioner: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/environmental_health_practitioner_job_description.ht m Animal nutritionist: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/animal_nutritionist_job_description.htm Working in the NHS: the NHS is a major graduate employer in the UK, not just in medical roles, but in a range of administration and management-related positions. http://www.nhsgraduates.co.uk/ and http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/ http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/index.html Civil Service Fast Streamer: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/civil_service_fast_streamer_job_description.htm http://faststream.civilservice.gov.uk/the-different-streams/ Working in government departments relating to food policy, public bodies like the Food Standards Agency, working in catering firms, food-/nutrition-related charities like The Food Chain (http://www.foodchain.org.uk/) or cookery schools like

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

Liverpool-based CanCook (http://www.cancook.co.uk/home/). The suggestions listed here are by no means exhaustive so we would encourage you to conduct further research to find out about additional careers open to you and consider other relevant options, e.g. based on previous work or voluntary experience, skills and interests. To explore job options by sector, check http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm You can also use career planning tools like http://www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospects_planner_login.htm and http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report to generate initial career ideas. You are by no means restricted to the areas mentioned above and could use your skills, interests and work experience to enter careers in a variety of other sectors, including research, consultancy, marketing, insurance or accountancy. Many graduate roles are open to candidates from any degree background or you could gain required qualifications by undertaking postgraduate study. Ensure you research entry requirements for each area, e.g. will you need a degree in a specific subject? Is a 2:1 degree classification essential? Will you need to complete a postgraduate degree (e.g. for teaching roles or in sports nutrition)? Is any specific work experience required? If it is, how could you go about gaining the required experience? We also recommend that you download a copy of our “Planning your Career” guide from the Careers Team website at https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm This includes a list of useful questions to help you explore your career options and introduces you to the DOTS model to help you with your career planning.

Main employers Typical employers differ depending on graduates’ chosen career pathways. Graduates from the Community Nutrition option are likely to be employed in organisations like the NHS , local authorities, sports clubs and leisure centres or charities, whereas graduates looking to work in product development, quality or production management and retail buying will be employed in the private sector working for food and drink manufacturers or large supermarket chains. Many large organisations in the private sector run structured graduate training schemes. These range from specific programmes like food product development and marketing to more generalist schemes in retail management, which will provide you with training on a range of relevant areas like marketing, HR, operations and store/area management. Relevant schemes include: •

Marks and Spencer graduate scheme – Food Technology and Food Product Development http://careers.marksandspencer.com/graduate-careers

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

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Opportunities in Product Development and Food Technology at Waitrose http://www.jlpjobs.com/jobs/head-office-product-development.htm http://www.jlpjobs.com/jobs/head-office-food-technology.htm Warburtons graduate scheme – Operations, Central Operations, Commercial and Marketing https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/warburtons/displayjob.aspx?jobid=702 (details for Commercial and Marketing scheme 2014) When available, graduate vacancies are advertised on: https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/warburtons/vacancies.aspx Graduate opportunities in food producers, e.g. Tulip: http://www.latestvacancies.com/tulip/graduate.asp Graduate opportunities in manufacturers of small kitchen appliances, e.g. Kenwood. We have previously advertised a vacancy for an Assistant Home Economist at Kenwood with responsibilities for testing and evaluating small kitchen appliances in a test kitchen environment, performance testing and comparing competitors’ products for benchmarking Retail management graduate schemes include: http://www.asda.jobs/graduates/fast-track-retail-graduate-programme/ http://www.tesco-graduates.com/page.cfm/content/Store-Management/ http://www.co-operativegraduates.coop/graduate-programmes/programmes/retailoperations-programme/ http://www.morrisonsgraduates.com/graduate-opportunities/retail

The IFST’s Graduate Guide to Food Science and Technology also includes a directory of food employers, which could provide a useful starting point for your research: http://www.excelpublishing.co.uk/IFST/#/26/ All occupational profiles listed on http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm include a section on typical employers and vacancy sources, so use these as a starting point to research potential employers within the career areas that interest you. The type and size of your future employer will impact on your working environment, salary, career development or training opportunities, so ensure you start researching potential employers early on.

Useful links and websites LJMU Vacancy website

http://ljmu.prospects.ac.uk/

Prospects (careers info and graduate jobs)

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/

TargetJobs (careers info and graduate jobs)

http://targetjobs.co.uk/

Milkround (grad jobs, placements & internships)

http://www.milkround.com/

Jobs in the public sector

http://www.lgjobs.com/ http://www.jobsgopublic.com/

Vacancies in higher education and research

https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/

Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

Graduate to Merseyside

http://www.liv.ac.uk/careers/gradvantage/internships.htm

Graduate Talent Pool (grad internship opportunities) http://graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk/ Information about postgraduate study

http://www.postgrad.com/

NHS Careers

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/

The British Dietetic Association Association for Nutrition

http://www.bda.uk.com/careers/index.html

http://www.associationfornutrition.org/default.aspx?tabid=72

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health http://www.cieh.org/ Royal Society for Public Health

https://www.rsph.org.uk/

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-ruralaffairs Food Standards Agency

http://www.food.gov.uk/

The Nutrition Society

http://www.nutritionsociety.org/

Institute of Food Science and Technology http://www.ifst.org/default.aspx The Careers Spotlight pages include case studies/job profiles from a number of graduates working in the food industry: http://www.ifst.org/learninghome/careersinfood/careersspotlight/ You can also download a copy of their Graduate Guide to Food Science and Technology from the publications pages on http://www.ifst.org/publications/ British Association of Sport and Exercise Science – information about careers in dietetics and health promotion http://www.bases.org.uk/careers Foodmanjobs (food manufacturing industry)

http://jobs.foodmanufacture.co.uk/

Department for Education (careers in teaching) teaching

http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-

Teaching factsheets from the Careers Team – information about postgraduate teacher training options and gaining relevant work experience https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm

Follow relevant companies/websites through Twitter

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@LJMUCareers

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@Prospects

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@ifstnews

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@NHS_Careers

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@AfN_UK_

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@NutritionSoc

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@Foodmanjobs

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

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@basesuk

Depending on your specific career interests, you could also follow relevant websites and organisations e.g. @retailweek for news relating to the retail sector.

Sources of work experience Download our mini-guide on “Making yourself employable whilst at University” from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm for an overview of the different types of work experience available and some general suggestions about finding work experience opportunities. Some large employers may offer summer or year-long sandwich placements, but this depends on the type of industry. These are quite common in the retail, finance and accounting as well as business and consultancy sectors. Opportunities are generally advertised on websites like Prospects, Targetjobs or Milkround as well as the organisations’ own websites. Many placement schemes are open to students from any degree discipline. Check your eligibility before making an application, as some summer placements are specifically aimed at second-year students. LJMU has been managing a summer internship programme for Level 5 students in recent years, so keep an eye on your LJMU inbox for details of any opportunities. Many undergraduate students also secure work experience through a more ‘speculative’ or ‘creative’ approach, i.e. after contacting organisations directly through networking events, via email or through LinkedIn. Once you have some initial career ideas, undertaking work experience or voluntary work in these areas can be a great way not only to find out whether this role would be right for you but also to build up a network of professionals and organisations in your chosen sector, which can often lead to further work experience or even a full-time role after graduating. Make sure you research the organisation beforehand and find out the best person to get in touch with. It is important that you demonstrate that you are interested in the organisation and have spent some time finding out what they do. Even when applying to secure work experience for the first time in this industry, show the employer what you have to offer. Briefly evidence any relevant skills or knowledge you gained from your course. Look at the skills listed under entry requirements in the occupational profiles on Prospects (http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm) and try to outline these on your CV, drawing on examples from your course and other work experience or extra-curricular activities to demonstrate how you developed these. Useful websites to research a range of voluntary opportunities include http://www.doit.org.uk/ and http://www.volunteeringliverpool.org.uk/. You could also contact LJMU Volunteering Manager Chris Prescott on 0151 904 6356 or c.j.prescott@ljmu.ac.uk to enquire about current opportunities. It is also worth researching relevant

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

organisations/charities and contacting them directly to find out about voluntary roles on offer. Opportunities could include working on campaigns like Teaching Liverpool To Cook or other community cookery programmes, working in food banks, lunch clubs or as a cookery skills volunteer, as well as opportunities as a health promotion volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering in schools or local youth clubs to gain relevant experience to apply for postgraduate teacher training programmes, contact organisations directly to find out about opportunities. If you are interested in food writing as a career or just as a hobby, starting a food blog is a good way of sharing your enthusiasm for food and/or healthy eating and demonstrating involvement in extracurricular activities to prospective employers. Websites like WordPress host blog pages for free: http://en.support.wordpress.com/introduction/

Recruitment schedule Recruitment cycles and deadlines will vary depending on the type of work you are applying for. Again, research is key to ensure that you do not miss relevant opportunities. As a rule of thumb, the selection process takes longer in larger organisations, as they tend to receive a higher number of applications and use several different stages to reduce the number of potential candidates. As a result, application deadlines can be as early as October/November in your final year of study for a start date in August or September of the following year. For example, the closing date for applications to the Marks and Spencer 2014 graduate programme was on 6th December 2013. If you are considering postgraduate study, find out if there are any specific closing dates for applications and when applications open. For example, applications for teacher training courses opened at the end of November in 2013 for courses starting in September 2014. Many graduate training schemes with large companies will accept applications from students of any degree background. If you are interested in these roles, you will need to be aware of the graduate recruitment cycle. Many recruiters begin the graduate recruitment process during the autumn term for final-year students. Some placements are advertised then as well. Most closing dates are in November and December, but some are earlier so it is important to start researching companies that you want to apply to early on. The application process for graduate training schemes usually involves completing an online application form, which may require you to answer ‘competency based questions’. This may be followed by psychometric tests, a telephone interview and an assessment centre. You may also need to submit your CV. Most of the large recruiters have a section on the student/graduate pages of their website that outlines the different steps of their selection process, so check these to find out what is required. For more information about graduate schemes, download the ‘Graduate Schemes’ guide from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm You may also find work through small and medium-sized enterprises/businesses (SMEs). These types of companies don’t usually have structured training schemes but will recruit ‘as

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

required’. They may use their own application form but most applications will be by CV and covering letter. These positions will be advertised on company websites, relevant recruitment websites, the Job Centre, and national and local newspapers. The ‘creative’ or ‘speculative’ approach to job hunting, outlined above, is also important when looking for graduate roles. Using your personal contacts and/or approaching organisations speculatively to look for work are common routes into employment. You could use resources like the directory of food employers mentioned above as a starting point for your research. If you see vacancies for more experienced professionals with employers that interest you, you could contact these organisations to find out whether they offer graduate opportunities as well. For more information about the speculative approach to job hunting, download a copy of our guide to ‘The Hidden Jobs Market’ from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers/123871.htm You can get advice about the recruitment process by booking a one-to-one appointment with a careers or employability adviser or you can attend relevant workshops in the Careers Zones.

Key events and networking •

Liverpool Careers Fair: usually held in the autumn and spring of each year, see fairs website http://www.liverpoolfairs.org.uk/ for additional events

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Manchester Careers Fairs: open to students and graduates from any university; check http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/events/ for details

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Careers and Employability events at LJMU: Keep an eye on our events pages at https://worldofwork.ljmu.ac.uk/events/ for details of upcoming employability workshops, networking sessions and employer talks. LiverpoolSU Clubs and Societies: http://ljmu.unioncloud.org/groups#club-society

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LinkedIn: You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn account (http://www.linkedin.com/) to network online with professionals and organisations in your chosen industry

Other information Centre for Entrepreneurship - support for LJMU students and graduates interested in starting up their own business https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/startup/.

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Career Insight: Food and Nutrition

Careers Zones Campus-based Careers Zones provide easy access to careers support in convenient locations at Byrom Street, Aldham Robarts Library and at IM Marsh, staffed by the Careers Team. Support available includes CV and application form reviews, Careers Adviser appointments, drop-in quick queries, practice interviews and access to careers resources and information. The Zones also host regular employer visits during term time where you can meet and network with employers and discuss job and placement opportunities. For the latest updates and details of locations and opening times, try our Twitter and Facebook pages.

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