Farm to fork recruitment and skills fair supporting student careers

The School of Natural and Environmental Sciences played host to 20 employers from across the farm to fork supply chain at its Planet Connect recruitment and skills fair. Organised by the SAgE Learning Partnerships team, the event enabled more than 150 students, to find out about placements, grad schemes and careers in a range of organisations from agricultural suppliers to food producers like Berry World, farm and management consultancy firms including GSC Grays and Savills, and public agencies such as the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

There were also some interesting flash talks by sector experts on sustainable soil management, food security and the work of NU Farms, and an excellent keynote speech by Newcastle University alumnus, James Honeyborne: producer of a number of BBC nature documentaries including Blue Planet II, Africa and Natural World. James spoke to students about his unique career since graduating in marine biology and encouraged them to use the knowledge they are gleaning through their studies to tackle biodioversity loss.

James wasn't the only former student in attendance at Planet Connect, with several other alumni also taking part in a sideline session to network with students in an informal setting and share their own career journeys and tips on how to find work in the agriculture and food sectors.

Also at the event were colleagues from NU Farms and the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise, the University's Sustainability team and the Careers Service, the latter running some sessions in collaboration with the agricultural consultancy firm Knight Frank to check students CVs and conduct some mock interviews. "The talks, employers and CV/interview workshops were all really engaging and useful," said one Agriculture student.

The employers also went away happy, commenting that students were "very good" with 100% saying the students they spoke to were just who they wanted to meet and that the event was well attended.

"I'm really pleased with how everything worked out," says the event organiser and SNES Learning Partnerships facilitator, Toby Price. "To get such a diverse range of organisations along was a real achievement and the buzz in the room with students chatting to employers was a pleasure to see. It was also great to see several SNES academics drop in and they all commented on how valuable the event was for their students. Thanks to everyone who helped make this event a success."