Are you looking for inspiration on where your career can take you? We are delighted to share these varied case studies from professionals working in the Food and Drink sector: Sion Pickering, Sustainable Business & Fair Trade Programme Manager at The Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability, University of Edinburgh An overview of your career path My educational background is a BSc in Psychology from Newcastle University, followed a few years later with an MSc in Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. In between these two degrees I worked in an outdoor shop, on the shop floor and as a local marketing representative, where I would liaise with many local groups – arranging events, helping with training and supporting their members to get outside. Whilst at Napier, I undertook a summer internship with a local youth charity working to improve their social media presence. Following my graduation, I worked with another local youth charity for 18 months in a communications & marketing role. Image Sion Pickering I moved to work at the University as a Communication Coordinator at the Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability (SRS) in early 2018. This part-time role predominantly focused on Energy communications and Business Travel. I also spent a few months in the Estates Department supporting their website redesign. After about six months at the University, I then became a full-time Project Coordinator within SRS with a primary focus on business travel (but also completing a number of other smaller projects). I stayed in this role for three years, and recently gained support from the University for a new Sustainable Travel Policy. In the summer of 2021, I was appointed as Sustainable Business and Fair Trade Programme Manager at SRS, which includes: Supporting the implementation of the University Good Food policy. This policy aims to improve the sustainability of our range of catering facilities and considers the source and content of our food; the processes we have to minimise waste and how we package and transport our produce to ensure it stays fresh. For example, promoting the Too Good To Go app with Accommodation, Catering and Events (ACE) to sell bags of significantly discounted food that otherwise would have gone to waste. Too Good To Go Managing the University’s Fair trade Award Submission. This award brings together colleagues from the University and Students’ Association to ensure we achieve a set list of criteria over a range of topics across our learning, teaching and research. For example, supporting the University’s Fair trade Fortnight events. SRS - Fair trade Calculating our Scope 3 emissions (these are the indirect emissions that occur because of the activities such as business travel or emissions from our purchases) at the University more broadly. SRS - Business travel report What does your current role involve on a day-to-day basis? Connecting the dots. Whether it’s connecting colleagues from different departments, working with other institutions, or connecting with relevant projects in the local community. It involves gathering information from different places and seeing how it all fits together and, where there are gaps, working out how to fill those gaps. On a practical level, my role is about building relationships with a wide range of individuals from across the University as well as other institutions and external organisations. My role also involves researching to see what initiatives are out there, evaluating these to establish those that are most suitable for the University, and then working to adapt these to fit our processes. Recently, I looked for ways to increase sustainability within a University Café, and looked into all sorts of interesting packaging options (such as beeswax wraps) that would reduce waste and engage with the local community. These are not yet in place, but should be available as part of a small trial on-campus soon! I write reports which might outline findings or put forward recommendations for next steps to senior staff at SRS and across the University. I also need to make sure I keep all my projects moving forward, so timekeeping across these different projects is key. I find that I can work well doing little bits on each project over a week, whereas some of my colleagues prefer to focus on one project for a longer period of time before moving onto the next one. There are no right answers, as long as you get the work done! Why did you want to work in this area? I love to be in the outdoors – up hills, camping, or staying active. I always thought of myself as a sustainable person but, having started to work in the field of sustainability, I’ve realised how far I have to go. I enjoy the challenges that this area poses to us: as individuals - how can I reduce my carbon emissions from food, travel or purchasing? as organisations - how can I support my workplace to ensure that child labour does not take place in the supply chains of products it buys? as a society - how can I influence my government or local council to make sustainable choices in the policies and principles it sets out? I think you need to be a positive, resourceful and flexible person to work in sustainability. You may find that sustainability is the last item on the agenda, meaning it can get missed off, or cut out, when resources are limited. This can be really frustrating but you can’t let this get to you. Understanding the perspectives of others can really open your eyes to why this happens, and what needs to change in order to ensure sustainability remains high. For me, being creative has helped too. We work in a field where we don’t yet know all the answers and sometimes you need to be bold and try something to see if it makes a positive change. I’d say that, with enough planning, you’ll improve the situation more often than not and, when it’s not 100% right, you need to be ready to learn so as to not make the same mistakes in the future. Sustainability doesn’t always get the resources it sometimes needs as other, short-term goals, are focused on instead. By being flexible and resourceful, I can adapt my working to fit the thinking of the University and wider sector. It means I don’t miss out on opportunities to connect and share knowledge. What advice would you give to students/graduates who are interested in your area of work? For me, work experience has been really important. I didn’t study sustainability or the environment at all while at University, but I had a general interest in the area and passion to learn more. Skills I developed in my communication and marketing roles helped me to bridge the gap to sustainability. My masters’ dissertation was linked to behaviour change in active transport. I didn’t think about it at the time as it was a topic that interested me rather than being the field I wanted to base my career in. We’re always keen to support student projects (e.g. dissertations or course projects), and promote the University as a living lab - so if you have a project in mind then please get in touch. SRS also run the Sustainability Leadership and Skills for Students Programme which will help to build up your base knowledge across a wide range of relevant topics and is suitable regardless of your degree. SRS - Living lab projects SRS - Sustainability Leadership and Skills for Students Don’t be scared of new projects either – whether in your studies, when working or through volunteering. Even if they seem to be outside your current knowledge base, it’s likely you’ll be able to use existing skills and knowledge to work it out. If you’re not sure where to start with volunteering, Edinburgh Local and the Students Association both have a number of resources to support students to make a difference in the local community. Edinburgh Local Edinburgh University Students' Association - Volunteering It’s also worth looking at joining a relevant professional membership organisation as these are good for expanding your knowledge and networks. Within the University we have the Sustainability Champions network which is a good place to meet other like-minded staff and students, and find out about opportunities to make changes at the University. SRS - Sustainability Champions Finally, if you get the chance to work in an area where social, environmental, or financial sustainability are the focus then I’d say “go for it”. For me, this was when I worked within the charity sector, but for you it might be a different area. Gaining this experience helps to find out what areas of sustainability really motivate you. SRS often have a number of placements available throughout the year, so keep an eye out on our website, social media or newsletter. SRS - Newsletter, social media and blogs Moira Stalker, Skills Manager at Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland An overview of your career path Initially I studied BSc (Hons) Textile Technology in Galashiels. I then went to work for Courtaulds Textiles (England) on their Graduate Training Programme as an Industrial Engineer, so basically part of a team that improves processing techniques and identifies and implements cost savings. This involved working with people at all levels of the business and in all the different departments of the sites where I worked. I decided after this that I would like to return to Scotland and continued to work in textiles but as a consultant with Scottish Enterprise focussing on training and development. This led to a role in SCOTVEC which became SQA. Image Moira Stalker I was involved in qualification review and development and then moved on to supporting Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks. I was headhunted to another role which didn't work out as planned, so it was back to the job search and I reached out to contacts and was offered another contract with Scottish Enterprise to promote careers in food and drink. This led to making other contacts in the Management Consultancy area and then led to me setting up my own business and I worked for many years with a variety of different organisations and projects. I also studied part-time to gain an MBA from Strathclyde University. After many years of working independently, I returned to employment as I was approached by the Chief Executive of SFDF (now FDF Scotland) to take up my current role; that was over 11 years ago! What does your current role involve on a day-to-day basis? Every day is different, which I love; there are no two days that are the same. Over the years the role has also evolved, and I now have a more strategic role. When I started it was much more hands on working with schools, teachers and industry. This included a lot of travel across Scotland and occasionally the UK which can be hard work but it let me visit parts of the country I might not have seen. A broad overview of my role includes work with schools, colleges, universities and industry to deliver programmes and develop resources. I have presented at conferences, taken part in judging national competitions, helped to develop new national qualifications, delivered teacher CPD and worked with industry to make food and drink a career destination of choice. Now I work closely with a range of different partners to help to deliver the People and Skills Plan to support the Scottish Food and Drink Industry Growth Plan to double the value of Scottish food and drink turnover to £30 billion by 2030, so I am less hands on but still very involved with education and industry. What advice would you give to students/graduates who are interested in your area of work? The food and drink industry really needs recruits with STEM Skills, so a background in any STEM subject would be a great advantage to anyone interested in working in food and drink manufacturing. We need new product development technologists, food scientists, engineers and many more. But, if you are enthusiastic, hard-working, have good timekeeping and a team player then you will be ideal for food and drink, and you will receive training. Having an interest in food and drink is also good; so you might have worked in a laboratory, hospitality or retail. Having a relevant qualification will also help, like intermediate food hygiene or similar and if you have volunteered as a STEM Ambassador that’s also great to have on your CV: STEM Learning - STEM Ambassador Programme What is your perspective on opportunities for graduates in the food and drink sector? There are great opportunities for graduates in food and drink particularly if you have a relevant food and drink qualification but graduates with STEM skills are also in great demand as these skills are transferrable and relevant to food and drink manufacturing. There are also great progression routes and many different careers available throughout the industry. You can work in Scotland, the UK or internationally. The food and drink industry in Scotland is also doing world-class work around innovation, research, new trends, sustainability and net zero. This is leading to demand for new and higher-level skills. Emerging areas of demand include greener skills, digital technology, AI and data management.
