Posted By Jason McQueen Im applying for a job where it asks me to state my salary expectations. The only problem is that I have no real idea as to what a reasonable amount is. The post asks for a NEBOSH Certificate holder, which I am but makes no mention of desired experience etc by which you could guage it by. So what is the going rate for a health and safety co-ordinator at certificate level. The post is in the north of England so theres no need to account for London expenses. I dont want to over estimate or sell my self short.

Posted By Mick O'Neill Jason, A sensible yardstick as a starting point is - look at other advertised vacancies for similar roles in the Safety and Health Practioner and see what they are offering. Benchmark your requirements against these and add a little more based on your potential to them. Off course the straightforward answer is how much do you need to earn to live comfortably.? Good luck Mick

Posted By Paul Adams As others have said, difficult to say, I asked for what I need plus a bit more, got it and things have improved since then. (I am based in North East). One thing I would ask for is a financial commitment to help you achieve MIOSH. If the organisation is serious about what they want you to achieve, they will support your ambitions in this area. If, however, they are going through the motions, then you are better off elsewhere.

Posted By Steve A few weeks ago a company in North Staffordshire were offering £24k for a suitable person with a NEBOSH Cert, on the other hand, the local County Council were advertising a postion for a Graduate with MIOSH for £21k ??????

Posted By John Murphy Jason. In local authority, jobs are properly and independently evaluated against specific criteria such as responsibility, budget management, staff management, position in the management strucure, the roles and responsibilities of the job. You may wish to consider a chat with your local County or Metropolitan Safety Manager with a view to comparing job descriptions and salary scales. This may give you a basis upon which to form your salary range expectation. (I would commend a salary range as this gives you something with which to negotitate) Contrary to earlier "advice" local government tends to be paid less than the private sector but again you can compare this in adverts in the Practitioner. (PS Local Government will always state the salary range for the post being advertised). Good luck John

Posted By N Derbyshire Jason, I am a recruiter specialising in Health and Safety, in my experience, I would advise you to leave the section blank. for the following reasons: i; you may put £20,000, and the client is already expecting to pay £25,000! congratulations you have lost £5,000!!! ii; you may put £20,000, the client is only looking to pay £18,000 and although you may accept £18,000, the client rejects you on the basis of the £20k! iii; if you put nothing and the client is interested remember this..... "the first person to mention money loses" and if they have to ask what your expectations are...... you have them!!!! Good luck. Neil Derbyshire.