JOB OF THE WEEK - 7TH MARCH

Horticultural Consultant

Job Description

Horticultural consultants give specialist advice to commercial businesses and public sector organisations on horticultural issues. As a consultant, your horticultural clients may include farmers, commercial growers, nurseries, botanical gardens and leisure organisations. You'll advise on the development and maintenance of their crops, parklands and other public spaces such as gardens. As well as offering technical advice, you may consult your clients on the development of products and resources and on finding effective solutions to problems.

Tasks you will undertake in the job

As a horticultural consultant, you'll need to:

• Visit horticultural clients on site, identify their business or technical problems and investigate causes 
• Analyse yields and the financial returns of existing commercial horticultural operations 
• Prepare new or modified operational strategies and business plans 
• Analyse horticultural and operational costs and the benefits resulting from existing or proposed public amenities and leisure locations
• Conduct environmental assessments, taking into consideration the environmental impact of any developments 
• Visit historical sites, research old plans and documents, and plan restoration programmes 
• Design layouts and plan planting programmes for ornamental gardens or tree planting programmes with local authority officers
• Design supply chain systems and support the infrastructure for processing, storage and transport 
• Formulate solutions, plan and organise trials to assess their effectiveness and organise presentations, technical visits and demonstrations 
• Help clients meet the requirements of legislative regulations concerning quality, hygiene and employment

Qualifications you will need for this job

A degree or HND is normally required and the following subjects are particularly relevant:

• agriculture / agriculture with crop management
• agriculture with technology
• earth sciences
• environmental science
• horticulture
• plant and soil science
• plant biology

Entry into consultancy without significant practical experience of the horticultural industry is difficult, so opportunities for new graduates are less common. In many cases, at least ten years' practical experience is needed. It's common to enter this career after developing your own business as a grower, or after acquiring technical expertise in industry or research. Occasionally, however, agricultural or horticultural consultancies may advertise posts open to graduates without direct relevant experience; these are usually at technical assistant or assistant consultant level. In addition, colleges and university schools of agriculture and horticulture also offer advisory services

Skills required for this job (core competencies)

Sectors in which Horticultural Consultants would normally work

Typical employers include:

• commercial companies supplying products
• equipment and services to the industry
• environmental and conservation bodies
• farming and horticultural co-operatives
• food companies processing packaging and distributing fresh and processed fruit and vegetables
• horticultural consultancies and local authorities (county, metropolitan borough and district councils)

Type of Work

Horticulturalists specializing in ecological landscapes and urban forestry may create landscapes that provide ecosystem services, such as stabilizing slopes, reducing erosion, improving air and water quality, or even reducing the energy usage of buildings. They may also design parks and botanical gardens, or own a landscaping business. Those specializing in ecological and sustainable production may advise growers on best practices for sustainability, or own or manage a nursery, greenhouse, orchard, vineyard, or Christmas tree farm. Some horticulturalists specialise in turf management, overseeing the management of turf for golf courses and sports fields. Horticulturalists specializing in viticulture may own or manage a vineyard or winery, or provide consultation services to growers.

Salary

Average salary for a Horticultural Consultant is £21 000, average salary in the UK is £28 758

Working Hours:

Working hours vary with client demand and may be long and unsocial. Part-time work and career breaks are possible once a strong client base has been established

Workforce in the UK

37% male / 63% female workforce

Career Prospects:

On first joining a consultancy, you'll usually work in a general role, only specialising later in a particular area, once you’ve gained some experience. In commercial consultancies, progression is from junior consultant to senior consultant to team leader, with a possible invitation to become a partner or director. In manufacturing consultancies and the public sector, promotion from team leader will be to the role of manager, either within the consultancy itself or in other areas of activity within the business or local authority.

Professional Development

The training offered by agricultural and horticultural consultancies involves a mixture of short courses and project work, supervised by a senior and more experienced colleague. The structure and duration of any training programme will depend upon the size of the consultancy and the pressures of business. If you're aiming to become a technical horticulture consultant, you should look for employers who will provide the training necessary to obtain Basis (Registration) Ltd qualifications or equivalent. If you're an independent consultant it will be your own responsibility to keep up to date both in your specialist area and in the horticultural sector in general. You can do this by networking with personal contacts, completing short courses and attending conferences. Professional bodies offer a range of training and networking opportunities: Chartered Institute of Horticulture and International Plant Propagators' Society (IPPS) On first joining a consultancy, you'll usually work in a general role, only specialising later in a particular area, once you’ve gained some experience

JOB OF THE WEEK - 14TH MARCH

Chef

Job Description

Chefs work in a variety of settings to prepare, cook and plate food. You can work in restaurants, pubs, hotel restaurants, cruise ships, the Armed Forces and in contract catering. Responsibilities and job titles can vary depending on your specific role, the type of cuisine you produce and the nature of where you work. Chefs plan menus and prepare, or oversee the preparation of food in hotels, restaurants, clubs, private households and other establishments

Tasks you will undertake in the job

• Requisitions or purchases and examines foodstuffs from suppliers to ensure quality;
• Plans menus, prepares, seasons and cooks foodstuffs or oversees their preparation and monitors the quality of finished dishes;
• Supervises, organises and instructs kitchen staff and manages the whole kitchen or an area of the kitchen;
• Ensures relevant hygiene and health and safety standards are maintained within the kitchen;
• Plans and co-ordinates kitchen work such as fetching, clearing and cleaning of equipment and utensils

Qualifications you will need for this job

You won't need a degree to become a chef. However, an HND, foundation degree or degree in professional cookery or culinary arts would help you to gain knowledge and essential skills. Many related degree courses contain a placement which, through working in a professional kitchen, can give you valuable, practical industry experience. Some restaurants prefer to recruit professional cookery or culinary arts students and graduates because of their familiarity with cooking techniques and food handling methods. A graduate scheme could broaden your awareness of the industry and give you a different perspective, which would be a worthwhile insight for any budding chef. Though schemes where you'd be working as a chef are unusual, there are employers that offer schemes in nutrition and food development. Entry requirements vary. Many graduate schemes will consider applicants with a good standard degree (usually a 2:1) from a range of degree courses, including professional cookery or culinary arts.

Skills required for this job (core competencies)

Sectors in which Chefs would normally work

Top 10 industries for this job:

1. Food & Beverages Services
2. Accommodation
3. Employment Activities
4. Health
5. Sports & Recreation
6. Education
7. Other Personal Service
8. Real Estate
9. Services to Buildings
10. Residential Care

Type of Work (Full Time/Part Time)

The majority of chef work is full time, although working in this sector is very flexible.

Salary

Average salary for a Horticultural Consultant is £12,000, average salary for a chef is £23,930 and Head Chefs can earn £55,000.

The average salary in the UK is £28,758

Working Hours:

44 average working hours in the week (37.5 working hours in the average working week) – Working as a chef you will be working evenings; weekends and bank holidays (away from home)

Workforce in the UK

80% male / 20% female workforce

Bonus Job of the Week!

As we are acknowledging careers in science this week in our assemblies, we've added another Job of the Week this week!

STEM Job of the Week

Robotics Engineer

Robotics engineers design and build machines to do automated jobs in industries like manufacturing, aerospace and medicine.

Tasks you will undertake in the job

Your exact duties will depend on what part of a project you work on. You could:

• Research what customers want to automate
• Design processes and parts using computer aided design
• Build and test prototypes 
• Analyse data from robot sensors and cameras
• Write technical reports on project progress, risks and issues
• Find and fix faults
• Research news ways to use robots and artificial intelligence
• Demonstrate finished products to customers

Career Path and Progression

You could become a lead engineer, with overall responsibility for managing a project. You could also specialise in a particular area of robotics, for example self-driving vehicles, space exploration, surgical instruments or deep ocean research.

Skills required for this job (core competencies)

Salary

Robotics Engineers are typically paid a starting wage of £27,500, this increases with experience; experienced Robotics Engineers can expect to earn approximately £55,000.

Working Hours:

Working hours are usually around 37-40 hours per week; It is likely that you will work between 9 am and 5 pm on most working days

Qualifications to become a Robotics Engineer

You can get into this job through: a university course; a college course; an apprenticeship and working towards this role

University:

You can do a degree or postgraduate qualification in: artificial intelligence and robotics; mechatronics; robotics engineering; mechanical engineering; electronics engineering; computer science and mathematics. You can also work in the development of artificial intelligence if you have a qualification in psychology or cognitive science. Entry requirements. You'll usually need: 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, including maths and physics; a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

College: You can do a college course, which may help you to find a job as a robotics technician. Relevant courses include: Level 3 Certificate in Robotics and Automation; Level 4 Diploma in Computing; Higher National Certificate in Electrical or Electronic Engineering. With further training, you can qualify as an engineer. Entry requirements. You'll usually need: 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course; 1 or 2 A levels, a level 3 diploma or relevant experience for a level 4 or level 5 course

Apprenticeship:

You could do a degree apprenticeship in a robotics specialism. Apprenticeship examples include: control and technical support engineering; software development; manufacturing engineering; embedded electronic systems design; electro-mechanical engineering. Entry requirements:4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a degree apprenticeship

Work:

You could start as a robotics technician or junior engineer and study for a degree on the job to qualify.

Essential skills you need to show

To succeed as a Robotics Engineer, the following personal skills and attributes would give you an advantage:

• Knowledge of engineering science and technology; computer operating systems, hardware and software
• Maths knowledge; design skills and knowledge;
• Excellent verbal communication skills;
• The ability to use, repair and maintain machines and tools;
• Thinking and reasoning skills; complex problem-solving skills;
• To be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently;

10 WAYS TO FIND A JOB IN STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATHS)

JOB OF THE WEEK - 21st MARCH

Flight Attendant

Job Description

A flight attendant is responsible for attending to the safety and comfort needs of passengers aboard a flight. Also referred to as a cabin attendant or airline stewardess, they perform a range of tasks including demonstrating emergency procedures, directing passengers, and performing safety checks.

Tasks you will undertake in the job

• Guide and assist for safety and comfort to passengers 
• Always conduct safety checks before the flight
• Greet and communicate with customers
• Help passengers find their seats
• Prepare and serve drinks and food to passengers
• Take orders from passengers
• Present emergency equipment and give instructions to passengers on how to use this equipment
• Monitor, manage and secure the cabin 
• Adhere to all aviation rules and regulations 
• Assist passengers and cabin crew during emergency situations
• Provide help to passengers with special needs (children, disabled persons, elders, etc)
• Prepare and submit reports on flight incidents

Qualifications you will need for this job

A degree, HND/foundation degree or postgraduate qualification is not required for entry into work as a cabin crew member. Instead, most airlines expect you to have a good secondary education, with some requiring grade 4 (C) or above in English and maths.

Although not asked for by employers, a degree, HND or foundation degree in one of the following subjects can show the airline that you have an interest in the area:

• hospitality management
• languages
• leisure and tourism management
• travel.

Being able to speak other languages is particularly useful and this could put you at an advantage against other candidates.

Skills required for this job (core competencies)

Salary

Average salary for a Flight Attendant is £20,400. With experience, performance bonuses and commission, the salary can increase to £28,000 per year.

The average salary in the UK is £28,758

Working Hours:

Cabin crew work shifts, which usually involves irregular and unsocial hours. This can mean working early mornings, through the night, at weekends and on public holidays. Hours can vary from week to week with some airlines. Short-haul flights may provide more regular hours than long haul.

You may sometimes have to work or be flexible on your days off if your return journey is cancelled or delayed, but you'll be compensated in these cases.

Part-time opportunities are available, still involving unsocial hours.

More information on Careers in Aviation

JOB OF THE WEEK - 28th MARCH

Prison Officer

Job Description

A Prison officer supervises inmates in prisons, remand centres and young offenders' institutions.

Tasks you will undertake in the job

• Keep inmates secure
• Carry out security checks and searches 
• Supervise prisoners and maintain order - this can involve authorised physical control and restraint
• Support vulnerable prisoners
• Promote anti-bullying and suicide prevention policies
• Go with prisoners on external visits like court appearances or hospital appointments
• Prepare inmates for release through rehabilitation programmes
• Update records and write reports on prisoners

Qualifications you will need for this job

You can get into this job through: an apprenticeship and applying directly

Apprenticeship. You could complete an advanced apprenticeship as a custody and detention officer.

Entry requirements: To do this apprenticeship, you'll need: GCSEs grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, in English and Maths.

Direct Application. You do not need qualifications to apply directly to be a prison officer. Personal qualities are more important.

You'll need to take an online test to check your judgement and your number skills. If you pass, you'll attend an assessment day where you'll: take another number test; take a reading and writing test; take part in role plays to see if you have the right personal qualities for the job; take fitness tests; have a medical and eyesight test and be interviewed

Essential Skills

To succeed as a Prison officer, the following personal skills and attributes would give you an advantage: 

• Knowledge of public safety and security
• The ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• Patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• To work well with other team members
• To be thorough and pay attention to detail
• To be flexible and open to change
• Leadership skills
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations
• To be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Skills required for this job (core competencies)

Salary

Prison officers are typically paid a starting wage of £22,000, this increases with experience; experienced Prison officers can expect to earn approximately £38,000 per year

Working Hours:

Working hours are usually around 37-41 hours per week. It is likely that you will work during evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays (on shifts)

More on Careers in the Criminal Justice System here

 JOB OF THE WEEK - 4TH APRIL

Dentist

Job Description

Dentists diagnose and treat teeth and mouth problems, and work to prevent dental disease and promote oral health.

Tasks you will undertake in the job

As a Dentist , you'll need to:

Qualifications you will need for this job

You'll need to complete a 5-year degree in dentistry approved by the General Dental Council, followed by 1 to 2 years of postgraduate dental training.

You may be able to do a 4-year degree course if you already have a degree in a relevant subject, for example biomedical sciences.

When you apply for a dentistry course, you could be asked to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) or BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). They test the skills you'll need on the course, like critical thinking, problem solving, data analysis, communication and scientific knowledge.

You may be able to apply for a 4-year dental degree course if you've already got at least an upper second class degree in biology, chemistry or a biomedical subject.

There's a lot of competition for places at dental schools.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 3 A levels, or equivalent, including biology and chemistry

More Information

Skills required for this job (core competencies)

Salary

The salary of a Dentist can range from £32,000 to 87,000 a year

Career Path and Progression

JOB OF THE WEEK - 25th APRIL

Actor/Performer

Job Description

Actors or Performers are people who entertain an audience by acting, singing or dancing. They play characters on stage or screen and work with the direction of the creative team to bring a piece of theatre to life.

Tasks you will undertake in the job

• liaise with actors' agents regarding new roles and opportunities
• prepare for and go to auditions
• research roles
• learn lines and attend rehearsals
• attend fittings for costumes
• support back stage activities such as costume or prop management
• work as a voice over artist or as an extra

Working Environment

You could work in a theatre, on a film set, at a recording studio or in the community.

Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding and you may spend nights away from home.

Qualifications you will need for this job

Essential Skills

To succeed as an actor or performer, the following personal skills and attributes would give you an advantage: 

• Knowledge of public safety and security
• The ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• Patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• To work well with other team members
• To be thorough and pay attention to detail
• To be flexible and open to change
• Leadership skills
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations
• To be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Skills required for this job (core competencies)

Salary

The salary as an actor varies widely depending on the role.

More info on getting into theatre

What inspires an actor?

JOB OF THE WEEK - 3rd MAY - HAIR STYLIST

Job Description

Hairdressers cut, style and colour clients' hair to create the look they want.

Salary 

The salary of a hair stylist can range from £14,000 to £30,000 a year.

Working Hours

Typically a Hair Stylist can work 37 - 40 hours a week, most likely on evenings and weekends.

Qualifications

College

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