• What does a compliance technologists do?

Risk assessments, factory paperwork, complaints, internal audits, looking at trends and completing root cause analysis.

• Give a description of a day in the life of a compliance technologists.

A typical day involves working closely with the hygiene department to organise and run cleaning validations to prove there is no cross-contamination risk of allergens or species.

• After you qualified, did it take long to find a job?

Not qualified yet! Samworth are putting me through a degree apprenticeship while having full time job.

• How did you end up in this job?

Looking for roles in the food industry (because who doesn’t love food?) on UCAS as saw advertisements for degree apprenticeships.

I would definitely do the apprenticeship again as a starting point in the industry it gives you the opportunity to ask more questions and be involved in different areas of the business to discover what you enjoy doing.

• What was your starting salary?

£1900

• How long have you been doing your job?

21 months

• Has your salary changed since then – if not do you see salary progression?

Yes annual increases for the first 3 years

• Where do you see yourself in five years time?

Senior member of a technical team ideally in a process role but location is also important to me so I’m looking forward to heading back to the south west.

• If you could give your 16 year old self some career advice, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to find try a career or course and find out its not for you. Its okay to change career path and not do the university route.