What does a career in Nutrition look like?

At the end of February, our Health & Wellbeing Lead, Emily, was a panel speaker at the Food Matters Careers event ‘Nutrition & Science: Creating the future of food’.

These events are designed for nutrition and food science students and graduates to learn about the food industry and connect with academia and industry professionals.

Emily was part of a penal that discussed ‘What does a career in Nutrition and Food Science look like?’ and has summarised some of the key take homes from the session:

• Think outside the box when it comes to what a nutrition role may look like (or be called).

• A nutrition career isn’t always linear and there isn’t a clear path to take.

• Network, network, network - many job roles come through word of mouth rather than posted on a job board.

• Introduce yourself when making connections, particularly on LinkedIn, as your request to connect is more likely to be accepted.

• Have an understanding of how the food industry works. You don’t need to know everything but understanding commercials, marketing, HR and finance and their role within a food business is an advantage.

• There is no difference between having an AfN accredited BSc or MSc when it comes to what an employee prefers - both demonstrate you have the core skills needed.

• ‘So what?’ Have this at the forefront of your mind when creating content for different audiences; from customers to business directors to chefs. Being able to demonstrate you can interact with people is key.