Posted By Burt Hawkins
I know it's an old chestnut, but does experience count for anything in this profession? Having been made redundant when my employer went bust. I, being out of the job market for some years, assumed that eight years as a hands-on construction safety advisor/manager, 4 years consultancy
experience, NEBOSH General and Construction Certificates and an honours degree in construction management may count for something when it came to getting interviews. However, five months, dozens of applications and no interviews later, I have revised my opinion. Is the NEBOSH Diploma now manadatory to work in the profession? I would be interested to get opinions from employers and recruitement agencies on this point. As Terry Wogan would say, "is it me"?

Posted By Brett Day

Forgot to add, I would have thought that your experience should be just as valid as membership grades, but some employers only want the bit of paper shown on the IOSH website, it could be argued that it shows a sloppiness in prospective employers that they haven't researched what would be required for the role.

I did hear from a recruitment consultancy that they were expecting a rush of construction related roles come Jan / Feb time as HMG were pushing banks to start lending money for construction projects apparently there are several PFI projects that have to get funding approved by march 2010 else the money goes back on HMG's balance sheet.

Posted By Paul Clarke-Scholes CMIOSH
Burt,

It's not you, times is tough! BTW you have e-mail.

Paul

Posted By clairel
No NEBOSH is not mandatory to get work. I don't have NEBOSH. However, I do frequently have to explain the fact that my post grad beats the NEBOSH as some people cant see past the NEBOSH route.

But I am CMIOSH and I do think that makes a difference.

My feeling would be that if you are not getting interviews it is becuase you are either going for jobs that you do not have the experience or qualifications for or you are not 'selling 'yourself well enough. The latter would be my best guess.

Get your CV and covering letter checked out. Not too long, not too short, not too wordy, not too self-congratulatory. CV's should be facts speaking for themselves with a little section on you and the covering letter needs to sell you.

Don't give up.

Posted By clairel
...as in, it's a higher qualification.

I wasn't saying it's a better qualification if that's what you're worried about, just that post grad is higher than NEBOSH.

However, I have to explain the fact that I don't have a NEBOSH to many people (frequently part of the contractor questionnaire thing) and when they question my qualifications as I don't have NEBOSH I have to explain that NEBOSH is not the only route and that in fact a post grad is higher and just as acceptable.

In all honesty I would say my post grad qualification has given me naff all knowledge that I can use in everyday life. I was jumping through hoops for my employer. Qualifications helped me get CMIOSH and satisfy the 'paper' requirements but it is my years of experience that actually help me do the job effectively.

Posted By John Fraser

clareL

If a postgraduate cert is higher than the nebosh dip, then what is the difference between the two?.

I was under the impression that once one did the NEBOSH Dip, then the only higher qual ( if you wanted to do it ) was an Msc for personal achievement.

John

Posted By Dave Wilson
Forget all this Nebosh / MSC/ Post Grad / NVQ kerpoppycock.

THE holy grail in safety is CMIOSH and it would depend in what industry a prospective employer is in, a Grad or TechIOSH may be be more than competent to undertsake this valued safety management appointment.

Remember as well, the bottom has fallen out of construction, it may be you concentrate on your core Safety Skills and what you have done / achieved relate that to the company you are applying for, don't go on about construction issues, tailor your CV matey

Posted By Raymond Rapp
Whilst CMIOSH might be the goal for many, I know several very senior people in h&s who do not hold CMIOSH and some them are not even a member of IOSH! It is something of a conundrum.

Competence covers not just qualifications, experience but knowledge as well. A good employer will look at the competence of a person rather than just their qualifications. However, as most decent jobs go through the HR department they tend to stick with tried and trusted NEBOSH etc.

Ray

Posted By Benjamin76
John,

You have to be kidding right?

To mock a group of people who have undertaken postgraduate studies shows your inadequacies rather than ours? Yes, I have a post graduate degree, as well as undergraduate, a diploma and certificates. Not one is better than the other as I learned different things during each one. I do know however that in my experience the post graduate degree has been seen more favourable than the others, albeit only to get an interview.

Your comments are absurd to say the least and somewhat comical.

Posted By Jermaine
There are contradictions in IOSH Memebership.

Who would you employ?

A Tech IOSH member with 5 years H&S experience and a NGC.

Or a GradIOSH with no experience but with a H&S degree or the Nebosh Diploma.

For me the Tech IOSH will be the more competent practitioner.

The Grad IOSH would get eaten alive in the workplace.

I am not against anyone with a degree or a NEBOSH Dip(I am currently working towards my Nebosh Dip, and I have a degree). But to just attend a course and be granted Grad IOSH a higher status over Tech IOSH just dont make sense to me.

What counts in the world of work is experience. The NEBOSH Dip is essentially an academic qualification.

Posted By clairel
You know this debate about qualifications comes up frequently and it always makes me laugh that the scenario is someone with a degree or a masters who has NO expereince v's somewith NEBOSH or NVQ and bags of experience. The assumption always seems to be that someone with high qualifications couldn't possibly have experience.

Can I set the record stright that there are also loads of us with a degree, postgrad or masters who also have lots of experience!

Equally there are plenty of people with NEBOSH or NVQ with virtually no experience, this careers forum is testimony to that.

Just wants to balance the books here!

Posted By Jay Joshi
It is a fallacy to construe that most of the Occupational Health and Safety -University post graduate qualifications are largely academic and do not cover the practical aspects.

The fact of the matter, as highlighted by me on a continual basis is that many employers are ignorant of the assessment of these qualifications .Therefore we get anecdotal feedback regarding the candidates as the comparison is not with like for like. I mean it is not use comparing either a NEBOSH or a higher education degree holder without any experience with those who have experience.

My professional view is that individuals are commenting upon qualifications without knowing in-depth the assessment/examination standards and what the examination/assessment is meant to indicate. I go on record to state that none are "perfect" and that is why there is an additional requirement to undertake IPD.

For example, I have undertaken a full time 1 year MSc in Safety Management in the academic year 1992- to 1993 at the then University of Paisley.

There is absolutely no way that it was largely academic. The faculty for the core health and safety subjects were practicing professionals in their own right, and for the other subjects, they were academics who were consultants within the University. We had several "site visits" for first hand appreciation of the hazards and hence risk etc. We handled air & noise monitoring equipment. The assessments methods were BOTH examinations and assignments. Although there was a final award, we received "grades" for each of the subjects. I have never been asked by any employer so far how I had fared in the individual subjects to get some idea of my strenths and weaknesses.

Posted By John Fraser

DP

Any interviews that I have had has been on the back of relevant experience and the NEBOSH quals that I have attained.

John

Posted By John Fraser
DP

Both.

Posted By GaryC40
I graduate from Strathclyde in 2 weeks time and it will be an extremely proud moment for me. I can't understand how some people on here seem to have so little knowledge of what post grad studies entail. The course I undertook encouraged me to use my current role to develop experience and complete many of the activities and assignments. Personally it is those with the Nebosh Dip that I have found to be dismissive, however I guess this is ignorance rather than experience talking. Nebosh qualifications may be well known and respected but any employer worth his salt will know what post grad studies are all about also.

I looked into the requirements of the Nebosh Dip and it did not meet my expectations for career development so I chose a training programme that did. This will hopefully not make me a 'bighead' rather a person that evaluated what was out there and chose a fit for purpose route.

I carried out a career risk assessment if you like and decides that my best control measures was post grad studies:)

Yes, and all this IOSH designation talk bemuses me. I am TECH status and may try to progress to Grad and CIMOSM if I decide to take the time to chronicle and develop my CPD online. Something that I don't always feel like doing after a hard week at the office!

To suggest that TECH status denotes beginner is ludicrous, one should look at the 5 years experience, position and achievements attained before deciding on that. I could have waited a few months and applied for Grad Status but wasn't that fussed to be honest. I look at IOSH designation as a 'nice to have' and now that I have a little more time on my hands, I hope to develop and understand its place / standing in our industry a bit better.

Take it easy

Gary