Posted By tonyo I attended my first H&S interview today and was caught cold on a work at height regs questions. I was also asked about the 5 steps of risk assessment. Are there standard Questions which are mostly asked and if so what are they? Thanks Tonyo

Posted By Melanie Fellows I can't imagine there are any standard questions, however, they should be tailored to the environment of the position you are going for (i.e. construction, office etc.) So it is always worth researching the company before you go for the interview, that way you'll have a heads up and hopefully avoid any nasty surprise questions. Mel

Posted By AF Just a forewarning to future jobseekers - It is all very well and simple being asked such technical questions in interviews. Without showing any disrespect to Tom, Dick and Harry, any half decent HSE professional can prepare him/herself for the interview by reacquainting themselves with the key legislative matters to the particular industry the role is applied to. Doesnt necessarily mean the person who shows the most knowledge & answers the questions correctly is best for the role (or does it??) I am noticing more and more agencies and HR professionals shying away from this style of interview, and looking at the american performance based solutions interviewing style. This in itself is looking to establish those who can build on previous successes, and bring those successes into the "new" role. After all it is the people who differentiates an organisation, and companies often want to recruit the best available talent who want long term security, and fit in with the organisations ideals, rather than them moving on again after a period of time (2 - 5 years seems to be the norm for HSE personnel). Talking from my own experience - In last 7 years - 8 Technical based inteviews, 7 roles offered, 2 accepted (including my current senior management role) 3 Performance based solutions interviews, 0 roles offered And this is coming from someone who has achieved a lot in HSE in the last 13 years, including written papers, business excellence awards galore, implementing management systems (ISO 9001, 14001, 22001, 27001, BS OHSAS 18001, BS 8855, EFSIS/BRC, etc) Obviously there must be something wrong with my performance??? lol

Posted By Ian G Hutchings Hi As stated I think a great deal depends on the role. Recruiting for consultants we are not simply looking for people that know the regs. We need to know how people solve problems, how they influence, without dictating and simply quoting the law. In my experience the competency and solutions based interview is nothing new. If you are only being asked specific questions about legislation, I would be questioning the skill and aptitude of the employing organisation, or at least their interview technique. However if they are asking how you apply this in a given scenario, that is different. I remember going for a job in the rail industry about ten years ago. The question was about a site visit and a crane not having the right paperwork. Rightly they were looking for a pragmatic answer, not one which was going to shut the job down and cost everyone hundreds of thousands of pounds. Good luck and all the best in your next interview. Ian