My food & drink job: Tamsin Fenn, brand manager, Häagen-Dazs

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Häagen-Dazs 1

Name: Tamsin Fenn

Age: 29

Job title: Häagen-Dazs brand manager

Company & location: General Mills, London

Education: BA Marketing (with placement year) at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Gosh, this went from singer to fashion designer as a child… As a teenager it moved to criminal intelligence but, not to be cliché, marketing was the route I explored the most. I did work experience over the summer holidays to understand the different areas of marketing better and get a good feel for the industry.

Why did you decide to go for a career in food & drink? I enjoy working with brands that I consume myself (and that young me would be gob-smacked to see on my CV!). As a graduate, I was applying for roles across multinational companies and my career has somehow always ended up in the food & drink sector, even when I was working for an fmcg giant.

It’s exciting to see the products you work on for months land on shelf. The big project recently has been our new Häagen-Dazs Stickbars which launched earlier this year – more exciting plans to come!

“I like popping into supermarkets on holiday to see what other brands are doing abroad. It’s always interesting to see the types of flavours and different products on shelf”

Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I work on local product innovations which includes building the financials, pack configuration and design, as well as pitching these to retailers and creating activation plans to ensure they see success. I’ll then evaluate the product’s performance and take those learnings forward for our next delicious launch.

What does a typical day look like for you? A day can be so varied, which is one of the main reasons I love marketing – you get a little bit of everything! In one day alone, I can speak to the cross-functional team about a business case for a new product; then plan activations with our agencies using performance reports to evaluate effectiveness; then create decks to present directly to our valued retail partners, which shakes up the week and gets you out the office!

I feel energised by the fast-paced environment and the need to reprioritise on the fly, because there’s always something popping up that changes your week. And of course, there’s nothing like indulging in a mid-afternoon Häagen-Dazs ice cream break when you’re running between meetings!

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Tell us how you went about applying for your job: There were three formal stages applying for my role – and one extra I added myself! Firstly, there was an HR screening to suss out what the position entailed and if I made a good candidate.

The second stage was a competency interview with a task. This was shared live during the interview, and I had 45 minutes to prepare – a first for me and really tested how I worked under pressure. Then, as a third and final stage, I had a one to one with the EUAU marketing director.

Once I was told the good news, I had an informal chat with the hiring manager to get a sense about what the role, team and company was actually like in a more relaxed environment. This gave me time to ask the questions I wanted to know – not just to be impressive in the interview. This is a step I always recommend doing, as you can sense if it feels like the right fit!

What’s the best part about working for a food & drink company? It’s as simple as when friends and family send photos or share their own commentary on new products they’ve seen. My housemates and I have so much fun brainstorming new ice cream flavours – some have been pretty whacky! I also like popping into supermarkets on holiday to see what other brands are doing abroad. It’s always interesting to see the types of flavours and different products on shelf.

What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Whatever you do, make sure you love it and feel energised to get out of bed in the morning, because that’s what keeps you motivated during those really busy days!

Identify what personally motivates you and aim for businesses with similar values. Plus, if you’re ever unsure, don’t be afraid to reach out to someone already in the industry to get that all-important insider knowledge.

What’s your ultimate career dream? I’d love to gain experience as a marketing director in various industries such as alcohol, banking and airlines to shake things up outside of fmcg. Then after that, who knows where the path might go!