ABOUT

Tell us who you are!

Hi I'm Farihah, I'm 24 and a registered nutritionist working as a Public Health Practitioner for Hampshire County Council.

So what do you actually do?

My role is all about public health nutrition policy, strategy and intervention.

I'm personally responsible for portfolios of Food Poverty, Health in Spatial Planning and Healthy Weight Strategy refresh. I also support with Physical Activity and Air Quality work and other bits.

What has your career path been?

I started answering this question in paragraphs but I've had so many setbacks with the successes that it's probably easier to just bulletpoint it...

- BSc degree in Biology (knew I was interested in health but not sure which area/how to get there)

- Sat modules in nutrition and global health in third year, then knew public health nutrition was the area I wanted to go into

- Applied for MSc degrees in Public Health Nutrition and got offers for both of them

- Had a bit of burnout in second year of BSc which meant in third year I narrowly missed out on a 2.1 which I needed for my MSc, had to resit an exam to secure the grade which meant I had to defer the master's degree (NB: the biggest mare of my education/career thus far)

- Took a year out which was a blessing in disguise as I got my foot in the door of public health by taking on an internship and a part-time job, did lots of volunteering, saved money for my master's which I wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise, and had a well needed break

- Had a beautiful year studying my MSc in what I love, and felt a sense of purpose for the first time in my education (!!!)

- Somehow applied for an amazing, fairly senior job I never thought I would get but here I am

I think people looking to get into my role see success both academically and in my career but aren't able to conceptualise the amount of setbacks I've had that have gotten me to this point.

For a bit of reassurance to students and graduates, the journey is always hard when you're navigating something new by yourself without a huge amount of support.

What is the best part of your job?

Working in Public Health is great because the goal is making a difference to the health and wellbeing of your population.

In terms of the job itself, I love that every day is varied. I also love the flexibility of it and being able to manage my own time and workload.

Why do you do your job?

I'm passionate about good food and health in general for all.

Public Health is very much about reducing health inequalities and delivering strategy and interventions to support that, by looking at the population's situations and environments and how we can make those healthier, happier environments.

One piece of advice for someone starting in your role?

Have faith in yourself - assert yourself and your expertise and be vocal in meetings and within projects.

Public Health is collaborative and creative so it is the perfect space for you to showcase the skills you've developed.

Any parting words?

We need more diversity in Public Health, reach out if you need more advice!

Check out Farihah’s socials below!

DAY IN THE LIFE

The job is desk-based and I currently work from home, but pre-COVID we would go to a lot of physical meetings and meet with different partners every day alongside project work. Currently it's all on Teams and sometimes Zoom to spice things up.

My typical day looks like:

8-9am: I attempt to wake up then probably roll out 30/40 minutes later, have breakfast, check emails and Teams to make sure there's nothing urgent to address that morning.

9-10am: I catch up with emails, admin work and bits of project work.

10am-12pm: I usually have meetings in this block. We meet internally within our Public Health team as well as partners across the system in the NHS, in other councils in the South East, Public Health England, service providers and more.

12-1pm: I usually take lunch but I can be flexible with it. It's an unwritten rule that no meetings are scheduled in between 12-2pm but some people are willing to ruin your day by putting one in anyway.

2pm onwards: project work, sometimes webinars and training, more meetings.

4-5pm: I tend to wind down, do admin tasks and emails, and log off around this time.

No two days are the same so I'll have various types of meetings and be working on a variety of projects every week, some short term and some longer term.

We are encouraged to carve out time to sign up for courses and carry out CPD and training which I love about my job.

Some weeks and days are hectic and I might work late or start early but generally it's comfortable, even though it's dynamic and fast-paced.