Our world is your world. Careers in land-based industries.

Best Advice

“To quote Susan Jeffers: ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’.”

Melanie Downes
Harper Adams administration assistant
“Look after yourself first otherwise you won’t be able to do anything else.”

Molly Letch
Harper Adams student
“Always go on a placement year if it is offered to you – you’ll never regret it.”

Tom Klages
Harper Adams web developer
“Someone said to me 'never make your hobby your job' which actually turned out correct in my case.”

Friederike Wenzel
Harper Adams postgraduate student
“I wish I'd have taken more opportunities to try university courses (e.g. attended more summer schools) in different subjects.”

Laura Coulthard
Harper Adams marketing manager
“True leaders never judge other people’s weaknesses by their own strengths. They help others transform their weaknesses into strengths.”

Professor Ralph Early
Harper Adams professor
“I use Art Williams’ words of wisdom with my students: ‘I'm not telling you it's going to be easy - I'm telling you it's going to be worth it’.”

Nicky Hunter
Harper Adams senior lecturer
“The best piece of advice I've ever received is to go through the doors that are open to you and not to try and bash down the ones that are not.”

Amanda Toone
Careers Department, Ampleforth College
“A good piece of advice from Jon Oringer, the founder of the massively successful Shutterstock: ‘Failures were moments of learning to get to the success’.”

Professor Peter Kettlewell
Harper Adams professor
“The best advice I ever had and would give to a very young me when being promised something (especially pay) is ‘get it in writing or you probably won’t get it’.”

Dr Ivan Grove
Harper Adams principal lecturer
“A real job winner is showing enthusiasm for your subject, and if you don’t know the answer to a question, admit it, and acknowledge it’s an interesting question!”

Sam Wane
Harper Adams senior lecturer
“Network! Attend talks/shows/field visits and talk to people. Show that you can talk to strangers and be engaging – you never know where you might see them again.”

Charles Robinson
Harper Adams alumnus
“Whenever you are asked to do something for your boss, write it down immediately in a notebook, and then ask them when they need it by. Avoid post-it notes as these have a habit of going missing!”

Andrew Black
Harper Adams senior lecturer and former student
“I particularly like a rhyme from a children’s book: A wise old own sat in an oak, the more he heard the less he spoke, the less he spoke the more he heard, why aren’t we like that wise old bird!”

Emma Tappin
Harper Adams associate head of department
“Use your summers and get experience as it may help you decide what you want to do. Try new things - you may like them. Make sure you've got the most out of your uni years - there will be opportunities you won't get again.”

Dr Laura Vickers
Harper Adams lecturer
“The best advice I ever received is that life is a marathon, not a sprint. The best advice I’ve ever given is this: don’t go looking for a career, look for a job until you know what career you want and then it will come knocking on your door.”

Robert Icke
Careers Coordinator, Reaseheath College
“Something one of our former students said, when passing on advice to future generations of school leavers was that one of the most valuable things we can learn is how to turn apparent short-term failure into positive long-term success'. We think that’s a very valuable lesson.”

Anne Simpson
Careers Dept, Moreton Hall School
“Although a BTEC was my second bite at the apple to get a level three qualification, one of my BTEC lecturers gave me the best opinion: ‘t might be a different way of doing things, but as long as it’s the right way for you, and gets you were you need to be, it’s the best way’.”

Zoe Mitton
Harper Adams student
“Get as much experience as you can and meet as many people as you can as they can often be useful links to jobs/placements and may be prepared to put in a good word on your behalf. Also if companies have already met you then they know you are someone who has genuine interest in that area.”

Thomas Green
Harper Adams student
“Applicants should always do a course that interests them, even if they don’t know where they want to end up. A degree (unless it completely specialist) always contains types of transferrable skills that employers want. Huge numbers of people have degrees which are completely unrelated to their employment.”

Laura Harper
Harper Adams head of registry
“Gain relevant work experience, work part-time, do internships, volunteer, etc., in the field you want to work in while you are in college (and even school). This can prove invaluable in helping you to decide your future career path and to help you to succeed in securing job/university/apprenticeship opportunities in the future.”

Louise Allen
Careers Department, Queen Elizabeths Grammar School
“Most careers are a meandering path, not a straight arrow. If, like many of us, you’re not sure exactly what career you’d like, just keep an open mind, take opportunities that sound interesting, discover what you enjoy and are good at, and enjoy taking the scenic route or having a portfolio career where you do several jobs at once.”

Claire Robertson-Bennett
3.7m editor
“When thinking about which university to choose I would advise students to do lots of research by 1) attending college open evenings 2) attending taster sessions and open days 3) reading through prospectuses and 4) researching online. Ultimately, they need to think about what interests them, what they are good at and what they enjoy.”

Leia Winch
Careers Adviser, FutureFocus (formerly Connexions)
“A wise colleague suggested I identify which times of day I work best and use that time for the difficult work involving problem solving skills and imagination and to use other times of the day for more routine and less challenging tasks. I then realized that I work best in the afternoons and evenings! She also advised enough sleep, fresh air and exercise - all important too.”

Dr Sarah Parsons
Harper Adams senior lecturer
“I always remember my father saying: “Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom if ever wasted.” Being a WW2 military man he was probably more concerned about looking out for the enemy, but in the context of ones future career, I would sum it up to say: ‘If you don’t go and see, or give it a try, you will never know if it was worth doing.’ So if someone is thinking about going to university – then have a good look around before deciding!”

Jim Loynes
Harper Adams associate head of department
“I had no careers advice whatsoever from school or college!! My parents advised me to “Do what you enjoy” and to a certain extent I still agree with this … BUT I think now I would advise my younger self to do half of what you enjoy/what you’re good at, but to look into the potential career pathways and prospects that different degrees might lead to. Ideally study a subject that can be your craft rather than generic, otherwise finding a job will be much harder!”

Rachel Brookes
Harper Adams marketing officer
“If you are just about to complete you’re A levels or higher education course and you are thinking of going to university because you don’t know what to do and/or going to university is deemed the next step, then don’t. Go to university because you want to go to university, you want to learn and you can see that the course you want to do will help you get a job doing what you want to do in the future. If you are not sure what you want to do then try and take some time out, try a few things and talk to people about their work experiences. University is a big investment both mentally and financially. Make sure you make the right investment so that the return on that investment gives you rewards well into the future.”

David Clare
Harper Adams senior lecturer
“For people who are looking to work with animals there are so many careers available. Personally when I was in school and said I wanted to work with animals I was pushed down the veterinary route and thought it was the only 'good' job I could get involving animals so it's all I thought about doing. Unfortunately I didn't quite make the grades to get into veterinary school and thought that was it; I wasn't going to university and I'd have to re-sit all my A-levels. But then I was looking on clearing just out of curiosity and found Harper Adams, which I'd never heard of. I am currently studying my second year of Bioveterinary Science and have realised how many careers this degree opens up for me and all the opportunities I get with being at Harper Adams. I no longer want to be a vet; when I graduate I hope to gain a career in animal research possibly in health products or nutrition.”

Francesca Irving
Harper Adams student