The Panel
On 7 February 2024, The Nutrition Society Student Section held a careers panel and networking session at University College London. Over 100 students attended for an evening full of knowledge, inspiration, and advice and left feeling excited and motivated to begin their own careers.
We welcomed a panel of 6 amazing experts in the nutrition and dietetics industry:
- Hannah Theobald - Head of Nutrition, Quorn Foods,
- Corrine Toyn, RD - Founder of Chickpea Marketing,
- Wendy Hall, PhD, RNutr – Professor of Nutritional Sciences,
- Alex Levington, SENr – Founder of Strength Nutrition Performance Coaching
- Tanya Heffner, RD – CEO and Founder of My NutriWeb
- Hannah Whiteley, RNutr – Academy Nutritionist for Virgin Active
We kicked off the evening with each panellist giving us a little snapshot into their career journeys and day-to-day life as a nutrition professional. We then opened the floor and welcomed questions from student delegates and the interest and enthusiasm was brilliant! Questions included what the most rewarding parts of the panellist’s job roles were, how to get a mentor, how to get yourself ‘out there’ as a professional, and advice on going freelance. Our panellists answered with encouragement and honesty and shared insights from their own experiences.
Tips from the panel on getting yourself out there as a nutrition professional:
- Get yourself on LinkedIn. Update your profile and share your achievements, big or small!
- Read the research of the professionals you like and then message them on LinkedIn with questions about their work. Most people are happy to help.
- Get networking! Meet new people and expand your network.
- Don't be afraid to ask. (how do you think we got the fabulous panellists to attend our event!)
- Use work experience to your advantage. All experience is valuable and transferable skills are always beneficial.
- Wait until you have sufficient experience under your belt before diving into full-time freelance work.
TIPS FROM THE PANEL ON GETTING A MENTOR
1.Ask! Get in touch with someone that inspires you or whose work you admire.
2.Have a look at Zoe Griffiths’ mentoring matchmaking service on her website. You can also have a look at Zoe’s blog post ‘Mentoring for Registered Nutritionists’.
3.For food industry mentorship, have a look at Flourish in Food.
After a brilliant Q&A session we enjoyed an hour of nibbles, wine, and networking. It was brilliant to see students making new connections and already adopting the advice given as there were lots of questions for the panellists!
Here’s what you had to say about the event:
“Build connections” - AC
“Follow your passion and be prepared to explore” - SG
“Understanding behaviour change is a key aspect to a successful practice” - AE
“Just ask questions! People appreciate your interest” - GG
“The importance of finding a niche as a nutritionist” – NM
“Truthfully, it was difficult to fault. Exceeded my expectations. Spot on. Some stellar career advice that I’ll be sure to take forward” – SG
“How friendly the organisers were, how well organised it was, the diverse range of panellists” – MY
“The panellists were amazing” – LC (We agree!)
“Great opportunity to ask questions to people in the field and get advice on how to pursue interests/career” – LB
“The amazing panel, everything was fantastic!” – NM
Some very important thanks!
We’re extremely grateful to the students that attended the careers and social networking event and really hope you got a lot out of it.
We would like to say a huge thank you to The Nutrition Society for supporting the event and being there on the night to ensure everything went smoothly. A very big thank you to UCL for providing a space for us to hold the event and to Dr Anastasia Kalea, for helping us plan and execute the event. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the panellists for sharing their time and wisdom with us, it is very much appreciated and valued. Finally, a big thank you to Huel for providing goodies for the students to take home at the end of the evening!
We can’t wait to see you at the next event!
The Nutrition Society Student Section representatives - on this occasion Bells Hann, University of Roehampton; Tala al Ajmi, University College London; Kaydee Shepherd, Leeds Beckett University.