Posted By Andy Bullen Hi I am taking the General Cert at the moment, (exams in December) I feel confident enough to pass now, if I am honest. I have been a Union safety rep for 11 years so have a fair amount of experience. I have written many reports and conducted audits,inspections and risk assessments. I will go on to take the Diploma starting in January. I will be made redundant in September next year. My Question is for the recruiters out there who I know read these forums. Do I have enough experience with my Union reps duties and the General cert, working towards the Diploma, (I hope to have passed at least unit A before being made redundant) to get a job in the Health and Safety industry. Or do I need to somehow gain more experience in the actual managing? Needless to say I am worried about getting a job but hopeful too, as there seem to be a large number of vacancies out there. Hays recruitment are saying there is a shortage of H&S proffessionals. Could someone put my mind at rest please?

Posted By Jane Lowe The HSE job advert states that you should be working towards your Diploma and the salary is £23,000 so it is worth applying

Posted By ITK Andy, you will have some experience from your TU functions but clearly not all required to be a full time H&S professional. Your qualifications and experience should be enough to land you an entry level job to start with. My advice would be to apply for those jobs which you think you can and also try the consultancies. Look for jobs on SHP4jobs.com and also try local authorities websites along with NHS websites. These organisations tend to have more entry level jobs. Keep going the job will come. ITK CMIOSH (former TU Rep)

Posted By MartinF Ok I've found jobs in health and safety easy to come by. Im 20! Only hold a General Certificate and have 1 years experience. If i can get a job at a reasonable salary - you should manage no problem. Note: Don't look at a job spec and say O i don't meet that job requirement so theres no point in applying. H&S professionals are hard to come by and most companies dont expect all the boxes to be ticked. Send your CV into all the open positions and see what oyu getback. My first position requested mechanical experiance which i had none of and my second position requested auditor's qualification which I dont have, but they agreed to put me on. All the best in your search.