Wiggly Squiggly Food Careers

When I was younger, it seemed that everyone around me tended to have the same job for a very, very long-time.

Whatever that job was, many years of service were a mark of "sticking power", of loyalty, of stability and commitment.

And don't get me wrong, length of service is absolutely something that should be celebrated. When you have a long-serving employee in your business, it means that you have a guardian of the long-term vision of the brand, someone who has witnessed change and learnt from it, and most probably, a highly experienced individual who can help to guide and coach the wider team.

Most certainly in some fields of the food industry, it is essential to build very specific technical expertise over a long period of time, and this should absolutely be celebrated.

I started my career as a young product developer at Marks and Spencer, surrounded by some of the most amazing technical experts in food, (of which I was in total awe). Their expertise could only have been gained by years of study and practise in their particular field of interest.

And it wasn't just the internal experts that impressed me. As a retail product developer, it's more common to move product categories internally. This can mean that you have to very quickly become expert in a new area. Here, I massively valued working in partnership with experienced teams within the supply base, who really knew their products and competitors inside out, I learned so much from them.

The phrase "career change" certainly wasn't something that I heard until I was well into my late teens, and I was aware at that age that even small movements between different roles in the same industry (and certainly different companies) were not always portrayed in a positive light.

If it looked as though you "moved around too much" on your cv, it might infer that you were incompetent, disloyal or showed a lack of commitment.

I know so many people over the years, who have stayed longer in roles that did not make them happy, for fear of "how it would look" on their CV. I have also known people who can see a roadmap to their ultimate goal very early on in their career and find it difficult to stray from this mind-set, no matter what other challenges and opportunities present themselves.

For the majority of my employed career, I have completed 4/5 years in my roles. I gave all of my passion and commitment behind the businesses that I worked for. Yet this out-dated, traditional view of linear career paths and long-service value made me worry sometimes that it wasn't enough.

Luckily, many of us have moved on in our thinking around this, and I, for one, think we should celebrate all sorts of different career pathways for the unique value they can add to a team.

Over the last few years, a supportive and encouraging manager of mine introduced me to the "Squiggly Careers" podcast, and it changed my perspective entirely.

This particular manager also really encouraged and reassured me of the value that my varied experience set and perspective brought to the party within my peer group.

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading or listening to Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis, I recommend you take a look at their work. www.amazingif.com

It holds relevance for many different career dilemmas and decisions and there are lots of free resources you can access.

But the one key thing that I have taken from the concept of squiggly careers, is to celebrate the variety that I have had within mine.

The varied experience that I have gained throughout my career, simply makes me better at my job.

• I know the differences in approach required in food development and marketing in retail, food service and manufacturing.

• I have had the pleasure of working on multiple product categories, from sandwiches, to desserts, ready meals, pizzas, breads, viennoiserie, cake, household products, soups, sauces, drinks, salads, ambient & canned goods, gifting, bakery ingredients... (and I have probably forgotten one somewhere!)

• I have been lucky enough to learn from a broader

portfolio of leaders and colleagues.

• I understand what it's like to be the customer and the supplier.

• I have worked with both food and non-food products.

• I have worked as part of very large and very small businesses with very different cultures.

• I know that good product development, no matter which product category or business you work within, is all about asking the right questions.

If you would like to add a fresh perspective to your NPD & Innovation, or use my varied portfolio of experience to support your team, why not get in touch to arrange a virtual coffee?

rachel@thefreelancefoodie.co.uk

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