As part of our ongoing commitment to promote the image of fresh food and horticultural industries as great sectors to work in, MorePeople have been working with the Royal Agricultural College on a number of exciting new initiatives. Most recent of these was a ‘Career Awareness’ day, held on 26th October. We were invited by the RAC to present to both undergraduate and post graduate students a series of seminars that not only covered some basic career advice on things such as CV content and personal presentation but also to try and give them an insight as to what the current state of the recruitment market is like and also just what types of career opportunities are open to them across the wide spectrum that is the fresh food supply chain.

Representing MorePeople on the day were Directors Guy Moreton and Peter Hunt along with Associate Directors Ian Merton and Janet Lee. They were also joined by Lucy Wiggins of Herb Fresh, the MorePeople Re:fresh Young Person of the Year for 2008. Commenting on the day Guy Moreton said “We are delighted with the relationship that we are developing with the RAC and hope that the students who attended the seminars gained some useful tips from our real life examples of the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of the recruitment process. I know that the insight provided by Ian and Janet into how retailers think and what they expect from the people working in the companies that supply them was a topic that exercised the minds of several of the post grad students as it sparked off a lively debate that carried on after our session was over. We are especially pleased that Lucy could join us as our ‘real life case study’. One of the main drivers behind us and the RAC working together on projects like this is to help them build on the excellent academic work that they do with some up to date ‘real life’ examples of how that knowledge is applied in the workplace. Lucy is a great advocate for careers in the sector and having her involved was an ideal way of showing the students what they can achieve if they apply themselves and take the opportunities that come their way. The hospitality we had on the day from both the academic staff and students was fantastic and the feedback we’ve had since has been very positive.”

This is just one of a series of initiatives that MorePeople and the RAC are working on together – both in terms of careers advice and also training and development. All are designed to help promote the fresh food and horticultural supply chain as an exiting place to work and one that offers real prospects for a long and rewarding career.