Posted By Paul Hi all The reason why I am writing this thread is to highlight the lack of understanding which some recruitment consultant’s posses in terms of health and safety qualifications. I recently finished the NTU Diploma in Health, Safety and Environmental Management, and have for some time now been looking for a position. Last week I had several conversations with recruitment consultants, and was stunned to find that the only qualifications they seemed to be interested in were ones which had NEBOSH in front of them. I spent some time on the phone explaining what the NTU Diploma was about as they had never even heard of it before. I personally find this astonishing, as here we have “some” so called recruitment professionals specialising in recruiting health and safety professionals and yet they cannot be bothered to familiarise themselves with the scope of qualifications on offer to employers. I went on to explain to them that the NTU Diploma consists of seven modules which are Occupational Health and Hygiene, Law, IT and Statistics, Environmental Management, Safety Technology, Risk Management and finally a 12000 word dissertation which makes up the seventh module. The point that I’m trying to make is why are recruitment consultants blatantly ignoring a qualification which after all is awarded by a University, and has a similar course content to the NEBOSH Diploma, and in my humble opinion is at least on a par with it. However ask yourself when was the last time that you saw a vacancy advertised which asked for the NTU Diploma, because I’ve been looking for some time now and I haven’t found one. I know what your thinking; the vacancy asks for the NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent, but that’s my point, recruitment consultants are brain washed into thinking NEBOSH first, everything else second. I want to finish by asking recruitment consultants to provide a level playing field in terms of advising employers about all qualifications in order to do justice to everybody who has worked very hard in acquiring their qualifications, and in most cases have used their own money to do so. So come on recruiters live on the edge and dare I say it mention other qualifications, because to say that job advertisements have become one dimensional in terms of NEBOSH this and NEBOSH that is an understatement. I would be grateful for your views on this subject. Thank you for reading this thread. Kind regards Paul My email address is paul147@ntlworld.com

Posted By Paul Hi Paul Yeah it's a valid point. However i chose the NTU Diploma not only for the cost (paid for it myself), but because the course contained an Environmental Management module which i was keen to undertake, not to mention my close proximity to the course provider. Regards Paul

Posted By Keith Egerton I have 12years plus experience in aerospace engineering, with a resaonable engineering qualification (HNC) thanks to the RAF, and have just about finished my Pt2 Diploma - although via the Open University equivalent - sorry IOSH, a great deal cheaper than IOSH training. Anyway, I recently applied for a job as a safety engineer within the aerospace industry via a recruitment consultancy - only to be told my aerospace experience was not relevant/current enough. I countered that if I had applied for the job just after leaving the RAF I would not have had the risk management/safety training - HAZOP/FMEA/FTA knowledge etc, as this is/was not specifically taught by the RAF. It seems to me the job needed somebody with knowledge of how aircraft work and safety management/risk assessment techniques - in my view there is little point in having Pt 2 Diploma etc if you don't understand the fundamentals of how aircraft work and the systems involved etc It therefore seems to be a Catch-22 position. In my opinion, we should all remember that i. Recruitment consultants are 'sales' people and as such are motivated by targets/personal commission etc ii They wish to retain the possibility of future work from companies they are working for, therefore don't wish to get a reputation for sending poor quality candidates etc iii They have to keep the recruitment company they are working for happy - sales targets etc iv Finally, just maybe they might show some interest in the prospective candidate, but only if you have past experience - after all a recuitment consultant wants to do the minmal work possible for his commission, so why bother with people who don't have experience and/or have the key words on their CVs. I see the problem as being a closed shop mentality, no doubt this happens in other industries (nuclear etc) as the same people get re-cycled from company to company, with little 'new blood' moving into an industry - other then new (i.e. cheap) new graduates replacing older people as they retire. Middle career people have little chance of moving in. Maybe I'm being cynical...but I doubt it, but I find recruitment companies to be shallow and superficial who won't think 'out of the box' (to quote the infamous marketing/sales propaganda) In the meantime, if anybody knows of any openings back into the aerospace world, that doesn't involve going through agencies I would be interested to hear - although it appears most of the main aerospace companies and aerospace engineering consultancies only recruit through recruitment companies. Anyway enough of my ramblings, what is the opinion of others, regarding recruitment companies?

Posted By Bob Youel The only problem is that NEBOSH has been better than others re marketing and selling. As an x recruitment specialist [world wide] AND a SHEF specialist as a professional practitioner I dispair at the way BSC and NTU manage their marketing and sales. Having experience of all three diplomas and working systems NEBOSH is the least practicable. Rembember that recruitment specialists come in all grades from good to ???? as do SHEF practitioners and they are on commission therefore they will go the easy route. Employers and others need educating. I took my origional diploma [took a NESOSH Dip since to update]before NEBOSH was in existance, so you have got to take your hat off to their marketing & sales ability as they started at the back and have come to the fore. Its interesting that in other professions it is the membership grade that counts not the exam type you took to get there. Keep on trying