REBEKAH Sullivan always enjoyed food production so when she was considering tertiary study and employment opportunities, food science appealed to her.
"I wanted to combine something I like doing with work so I'd enjoy what I do," the 22-year-old said.
And she has found a job that satisfies that need -- working as a technical officer at Harry & Larry's Ice Cream, which includes diverse and interesting tasks, not least of which is tasting ice-cream.
Ms Sullivan did a Bachelor of Applied Science in Food Technology at RMIT's Melbourne campus.
The three-year course covered topics including chemistry, biology, nutrition, product development, quality assurance and food preservation.
"The range of topics gave us a fundamental understanding of food science."
Ms Sullivan also enjoyed an elective subject on dairy science and technology during her degree.
The sector is ever developing, as the world's growing population needs to eat and people, particularly in developed economies ,want healthy and convenient food options, she said.
After graduating, Ms Sullivan was keeping an eye on employment websites when she saw a listing for Dairy Australia's 2014 dairy manufacturing scholarship program.
The program saw Ms Sullivan and three other new graduates spend nine weeks earlier this year training with some of Australia's leading dairy manufacturers.
The graduates spent up to five days at the factories of sponsoring companies Murray Goulburn, Parmalat, Warrnambool Cheese & Butter, Fonterra, Lion Food and Drinks, Bega and Barossa Cheese.
"It was good to gain industry placements and be able to network with industry professionals and hear about their career paths," Ms Sullivan said.
"It was a learning curve to go from the pilot plants at university to the commercial scale."
The program also included industry specific training through the National Centre for Dairy Education Australia in Werribee and concluded in April, when the graduates made presentations on what they had learned from the program and their career aspirations to 40 industry guests.
The day after completing the scholarship program, Ms Sullivan got an email from one of Harry & Larry's Ice Cream's directors saying they had a job opening as a technical officer and would she like to apply.
She got the job and started at the premium ice-cream manufacturer at the end of April, about two weeks after completing the Dairy Australia program.
Her role includes working in the areas of quality assurance, new product development, sensory evaluation (yes, that means ice-cream tasting in this job) and production.
Ms Sullivan is thoroughly enjoying her job and credits the Dairy Australia program for giving her an understanding and appreciation of the dairy industry and helping her land her job.
Within six weeks of completing the program, all Ms Sullivan's fellow new graduates have gained employment in the food manufacturing industry.
See this week's Stock & Land for more on agricultural education and careers.
