Posted By KEVIN O'KANE
Debi, if you look at the statistics for interviews, the chances are that you are up against 4 others, 1 of which will not turn up, the remaining candidates might be H&S dinosaurs who think paperwork is managing safety - the complete opposite to your beliefs. Therefore my advice for what it's worth is the key to any interview is appearance and enthusiasm, enthusiasm, enthusiasm and yes I can understand that within the realms of H&S this can be difficult....!LOL....take some samples along of the work that you have previously done, comparing and contrasting the old version with your new version. You've converted the staff at your present company, so just prove to them that you want the challenge of doing this again.....

Good luck
Kevin

Posted By Mat
If i was you I wouldnt bother turning up for the interview, just reading your posting you come across as a Know it all and you over sell yourself, a recipe for disaster.

Posted By naomi
Hi
I wish you all the best in your interview, be yourself and be honest, if they ask you a question you don't know be honest and say I'm not to sure of the answer, they will respect you more for it.

As for Matt there is nothing wrong with knowing you are suitable for the job, as the last poster stated "having a bad hair day" or just sour grapes?
This forum is supposed to help people not put them down!

Posted By Bill B
Ok,

As someone who has recruited people for H&S positions in various organisations for my own team over the years (inc last week!), some pointers:-

Your technical qualifications / experience will have got you on the short list, so don't be surprised if these are not mentioned in anything other than a confirmation perspective (but have the certificates with you ready to support your CV!)
Be yourself, no matter how much you want the position, you are likely to be counted / discounted simply by virtue of your personality or manner. If you are a confident person (as you seem) by nature then this should be no problem.
Look at your CV, where you claim to have a certain traits, have an example ready of when you actually did this, nothing worse than "if I were in that situation . . " comments, all they show is that you know the theory, not that you have had experience of putting it into practice
Be ready to answer the expected Qs re what are your strengths & weaknesses, again be honest, but consider this, a strength over played can become a weakness and vice verse i.e. inability to make a quick decision can be seen as taking time to weigh up the consequences, being a quick decision maker can be seen as not taking time to consider implications. You know where you are weak, so think about how to turn this around. In this example, "People often think I take too long to reach a decision, but I like to take my time to reflect on the options before proceeding"

Go in relaxed, deep breaths that sort of thing, smile a lot, throw in some anecdotes, relate tales of difficult decisions and how you faced up to them.

Good luck with it and please let us know how it goes.

Now a message for 'Mat' - I suspect you may be up against this young Lady for the same job, I hope for your sake the employing organisation doesn't look at the IOSH website or Google your name. I must admit, I do it when I'm looking for people.

Regards,

Bill

Posted By DebiJ
Thanks guys for all your feedback, you have boosted my confidence no end, and Bill, I am very grateful for your contribution as an experienced recruiter. I will let all know the result for sure. Thanks again. Debs.

Posted By Charlotte Hazell
Just a little lighthearted footnote - why do you assume all your readers are 'guys'?? I don't think I have changed that much since joining the forum ... Hope you got the job.

Posted By Peter Hamilton
Hi Debi.
All they know about you is your c.v. make sure you know that backwards and can back up every claim with practical examples. If they do not tell you in their opening remarks, you can always ask them why they want a H&S Manager, that has proven an useful way for me to grab some quick info in past interviews. (of course you have to think on your feet then but isnt that what being a practising H&S "guy" is a lot of the time?)
A few thoughts about possible areas for you. If they are elec/mech engineers they will be fully into primary engineering controls as their bread and butter safety stuff so unlikely that they need you for that. No doubt you will have researched their activity, work on 3rd party sites? commissioning/installation?project management/project safety reviews stuff?
Who knows, as I said at the start know your c.v. and be yourself.

Good luck

Posted By Dave Wilson
After the battle I know but remember most MD / CEO want to know how you can adapt and overcome a problem and take the business forward, not "well we will stop that brigade"

Posted By DebiJ
Quite update folks............got a call late Friday to say that I've made it to second stage. date TBC. Thanks for all your words of advice, will update afterwards. Debs.

Posted By Chris Packham
Debs

Take a look at the comment I have made on the OH Coordinator thread. It might help you with the second stage, particularly since this will probably be a more in-depth interview.

Chris