Posted By Neville
Would you like a health and safety professional working for you, for a two week period, for free?

The deal is, that you must have a likely H&S position in the off-in, within your company, and serious about employing someone in that role, before the end of AUG 07.

You can have my services for free and assess my suitability for the role, within that time. If you should not require me after that period of time, then you will give me a comprehensive de-brief by interview and a decent reason for not taking me on.

However, should I impress you with my versatility within the H&S role, then you take me on full time. I am serious and hope that you are too!

I have in excess of six years experience in H&S roles, covering air and road transport, logistics, engineering/manufacturing and training. I have recently taken the NEBOSH National Construction Cert (result pending) and have NEBOSH General Cert, plus three other IOSH accredited courses. I am a trained trainer through CIPD, qualified First Aider (four day) and have completed several other CPD courses. I can and have covered many areas within H&S, such as: bespoke training packages, work place assessments, inductions, safe systems of work, method statements, policy writing, accident investigations, audits, quality management, training needs analysis, RAs, COSHH, NARO, emergency planning and lots more.

I am looking for a position within 40 mile radius of Preston, and don’t mind travelling or operating over several sites. I am IT literate in all MS Office Professional applications.

For further information, or a copy of my CV and an accompanying letter, please get in touch. I have previously completed a career in the RAF and am very flexible and open to offers.

Posted By S Murney
Can you contact me regarding you salary expectations etc as we currently only have a vacancy for a Safety Technician?!
Many Thanks
sarah.murney@drsl.co.uk

Posted By Neville
Thank you for the responses and I am still open to offers within the North West.

Thanks also Ian, but I did state that I was serious - and hope that you are too!

Posted By Glyn Atkinson
Free is great for two weeks, what could be holding people back is the request for the job afterwards.

I admire your style and enthusiasm, and hope that someone sees your endeavour as a worthwhile quality in your job search !

Just don't think that a freebie giveaway will make a job appear from nowhere !

Posted By Crim
Great initiative and if I had a job available it would be yours.

If you haven't got what you want yet it may be because you are advertising in the wrong place. We are all probably in employment and will not give away our own jobs.

Also prospective employers may think you are desperate and wonder why you have not got a position through normal channels?

Try the local Job Centre, (if I can say that)?

I wish you luck.

Posted By CFT
Neville

I'll probably get shot down in flames for this suggestion, but you seem comfortably pro-active, so what about hitting the Business estates around you whereby you could look to encompass other work in with H&S thus making your potential employment with someone a financial gain. I am not suggesting you take a job from anyone but if you can run basic facilities/first aid/fire/H&S (all within the limits of your knowledge, experience & qualifications of course, I feel you may then be able to offer an employer something that they may not have considered. How do you know when you knock on the door that they were not going to place an advert that week.

Just a thought.

CFT

Posted By Peter Leese
You need to get an advert in YP soonest if you decide to go that route. Not great for quality new clients but any will do to begin with.

Posted By Ian G Hutchings
Hi Neville

I guess that if a company needs a health and safety adviser they will go through the normal recruitment process. So they wouldn't necessarily do a free trial and then have to look again if they weren't happy.

Much time and effort is needed to bring a new person in and support them. So it is not really for free as a manager will need to assign time and effort up front for any new member of staff.

You have made a commendable effort, but it may just be worth going down the traditional route of job adverts, recruitment consultants and speculative letters. Is it also possible to spread the distance from Preston to Merseyside and Greater Manchester? You may get more results.


Good luck

Ian

Posted By Ian G Hutchings
Hi Neville

I probably didn't explain myself properly. When I was talking about management time and effort, I was referring to once a person starts in the role. So the two weeks for free is not really free for an employer. I would be wishing to spend as much time as possible with any recruit, regardless of their background or experience.

My comment about distance was meant to suggest that in some peoples minds, 40 miles from Preston may not cover all of Greater Manchester and Merseyside. I was just saying you may wish to broaden your search, as some employers may be flexible about your working arrangements if they think you are the best candidate.

Perhaps you need to look at the advice between the lines before making a fairly defensive response.

Are you able to describe some more about the type of role you are looking for?

Ian

Posted By anon1234
Tend to agree with Ian - that irrespective of what your background is, if you came in as part of my team I would want to spend a significant amount of time with you over the early stages to satisfy myself that you could be left to your own devices. Additionally it si not just about H&S knowledge and experience you also need to understand the way the business wantys things done.
The only taskls were you could be left to your own devices without this induction process would generally be of low value and impact tot he business and thus probably wouldn't show your true worth.
You may be the best thing since sliced bread but unless I go through the normal due diligence type processes I can't satisfy myself of this

Posted By anon1234
Full marks for trying a different approach - not trying to be negative just making suggestions as to why you may not be getting much success following this path.

Posted By Jean
Neville

Many persons have been offered employment as a result of undertaking short stints in a company. Its rather like providing a two week reference. You may have to go through the full recruitment process but you are almost guaranteed the post. (I know it happens) Employers could always provide you with a small project to work on. You could easily have undertaken some auditing for them. If we said £500 per day, then you could have saved them a minimum of £5000. Not to mention what they could have done with the information you would have collected.

However, I suspect you might not have done yourself any favours with some of the responses you have made on this posting. You sound as if you might be a bit of a challenge and unfortunately have across as being a bit argumentative.

What do you do at the end of August?

Posted By Shane J
Neville,


Nice initiative but not suitable for H&S I think.

1) How much weight can you place on "free advice".

2) The concept flies in the face of Employer -employee psychology.
How can the boss, who clearly enjoys being the boss, give direction to someone who's not really working for them.

Posted By Neville
Thank you, SAF, Jean, ITK, Shane and Neil for your responses.

I once heard a Drill Instructor come out with a comment to a recruit, whilst undergoing training, which went, “ Listen here son – I haven’t just stepped off a banana boat from up the Clyde.” This was stated in a strong Scottish accent. We all understood the meaning!

It may well be that I have labelled myself as a H&S person with in excess of six years, but the truth of the matter is that I spent almost thirty years in air transport, with an exceptionally clean safety record. I also undertook management training and many exercises for emergency scenarios (Nuclear and Aircraft Disaster) and was also qualified in explosives and dangerous goods, by air, road, rail and sea. Perhaps I have undersold myself.

If my entries have rattled a few of the self righteous on here then so be it, but at least I write my responses in my own time and not that of the company’s.

Turning on people is a regular sport on this website, from what I have read, although I do not class myself of that mould.

Posted By Jean
From a Scot in own time

Oh wad some power the giftie gie us
To see ourselvs as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An 'foolish notion

Robert Burns 1759-1796

Posted By Linda XC
Neville has just made telephone contact. I fully support what he is doing. Go on Nev all the best!

Regards

Linda

Posted By Robert.
Neville I've read this thread with the utmost admiration for you.
I couldn't offer you a job if I tried.
You have in so many ways demonstrated how confident you are and that you are well versed in many disciplines.
Isn't there just the (real) risk that someone out there will be eagerly looking for a chink in your armour.
For example people management and inter-personal skills.
I'ts not a dig in any way and good luck.

Posted By Dave Mason
Neville,

I have only just joined the forum and read your posting, do you have anything yet? We run a consultancy based in the Lake District and are currently looking at recruiting someone t work for us, could you send me your cv and maybe I could take you up on your offer,

Dave

Posted By SAF
"Don't bite the hand that feeds" is the expression that springs to mind when reading all the posts of this thread.

Diplomacy and tacit, very important qualities for any HS professional in the commercial world.

Posted By Shane J
Nothing wrong with a little grief, once you stick to your principals and you've got the legislation to back you up.