Seeking mentorship to me develop career as a food safety consultant

Hello,

I am new to IFSQN as I am attempting to branch out into food safety consulting. I teach microbiology at our local college and was recently approached by a grain processing plant to help with some microbial risk training. Never done it before but successfully completed the consultancy with a hunger for more.

I have a BSc.and MSc. in Biology and recently completed HACCP training (International HACCP Alliance). The HACCP training was to begin my quest to develop myself into a an effective food safety consultant.

I have read the posts on careers and feel overwhelmed at the prospect of needing 5 years of experience before certifying as an auditor.

My inclination is to certify as far as I can to be able to  one day leave my teaching job and pursue consultancy full time. With my limited vision for now; I would like to help small and mid scale local grain /meat industries develop and maintain their HACCP compliance. As I grow, my end goal is to do international consultancy in Africa as they integrate into global food supply

 Would I be better off doing a PhD or another MSc in Food safety (spending no less than  $20,000) :( or rather get certified? What advice can you give?

If it is your opinion I certify, how far and what certification tracks should I pursue bearing in mind that I currently lack the full time experience to certify as an auditor?

Any help will greatly be appreciated.

Anything is possible if you believe you can.

You may want to consider taking a side position in Quality at a food manufactuer that has a broad range of products being manufactured (thus, covering a number of food sector categories) and may also consider contacting GFSI consultants to see if they would allow you to shadow them while they go about their work.  This is what we are about to do with someone that is interested in becoming an SQF Registered Consultant. 

Anything is possible if you believe you can.

 

You may want to consider taking a side position in Quality at a food manufactuer that has a broad range of products being manufactured (thus, covering a number of food sector categories) and may also consider contacting GFSI consultants to see if they would allow you to shadow them while they go about their work.  This is what we are about to do with someone that is interested in becoming an SQF Registered Consultant. 

Glenn,

"Apprenticeship" is a powerful way earn/learn invaluable experience. It is something I should explore.

Thanks.