At a careers seminar on 21 November, hosted by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), apprentices Faye Hudson and Chris Brown from Kraft Foods, and Tom Walden from Nestlé UK, shared their top tips for securing an apprenticeship in the food industry.

With approximately 1000 candidates going for every six apprentice vacancies, competition is tough, so the apprentices’ advice was to get as much work experience as you can to stand out from the crowd; be confident during interviews and be prepared to give examples of employability skills such as team building which are vital in the workplace.

Speaking at the event ‘Attracting Talent to Support Growth’ which set out the challenges faced by the food industry in getting highly skilled young people into its science and engineering roles, the apprentices praised their employers, who provided them with plenty of support whilst going through their training. But all felt more could be done in schools to help prepare them for the world of work – for example, by offering training for interview techniques as well as inviting industry in to schools to raise awareness of all the career opportunities on offer.

Also at the event, media and stakeholders heard from a selection of industry speakers about the collective action being undertaken by the food industry to attract talent into the sector.

Angela Coleshill, FDF’s Director of Competitiveness, kicked off the session providing an overview of the food industry, outlining the work the FDF has been undertaking to address the image of the sector and to increase the number of opportunities available to young people.

This was followed by a presentation from Justine Fosh, Director of the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink. Justine shared some interesting research findings from Improve, the sector skills council for the Food and Drink Industry, which revealed there is still much to be done to address the misconceptions young people have about working in the food industry before it can be seen as a career destination of choice.

Sue Swanborough, HR Director at General Mills talked about the wide range of careers on offer in the sector and highlighted, through the use of case studies, that there are fantastic opportunities available for progression to those keen to pursue a career in the industry.

Angela Coleshill, FDF’s Director of Competitiveness said:“The future sustainability of the food industry is highly dependent on the skills of its workforce and its ability to innovate. With over a third of the workforce due to retire in the next 5 years, and the current shortage of technicians, apprenticeships will be a key mechanism for the industry to attract talent for the future.

“FDF members are taking collective action to help us build a pool of talented apprentices that can be developed and deployed across the industry; our careers campaign ‘Taste Success - A Future in Food’ will champion the sector and highlight to stakeholders, including business, government and the media, the positive contribution that the food and drink industry makes to society; and FDF’s Graduate Ambition will see us working with universities to develop a new degree course to equip graduates with the skills that the food and drink industry requires.”

Following the event, attendees visited the Food and Drink Manufacturing Showcase exhibition at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in Victoria Street. The fortnight of activities includes product tastings from member companies including Coca Cola Great Britain, Kraft Foods, Nestlé, General Mills, Vimto and apetito; competitions and give-aways.