Hi Lindy, I think you will also find people CMIOSH etc have also posted on here regarding employment opportunities too.... I think most would agree it is pretty bad climate, even for professional trades too!

It is one of the most difficult times I have come across in almost twenty years. I know lots of CMIOSH members with degrees; post-grads, MSc etc. who are unemployed or who are in a precarious position in the current employment market. That does not mean that there are no jobs out there, nor does it mean that people who are not CMIOSH cannot move forward to a new role. Certain industries have been affected worse than other e.g. Construction is a good example. If you are looking for that all important new role think very carefully about what you are aiming for. Next look at the job market in your specialism and see if opportunities are available. By this I don’t mean send your CV to every agency that you make contact with, quite the contrary. Most agencies are building up banks of CV’s with little or no jobs coming-in. some are even resorting to profiling jobs that don’t actually exist, even the well-known ones are playing the fishing game. My view is that if you have a specialist sector that you are confident is stable enough for you to progress in then contact the companies direct. Send your profile to the most senior person you can i.e. MD/Director/Head of HR etc. If you see a role being advertised by a third party (agent) then speak to them direct and ask them for some further advice about the role before moving any further with it. Don’t be fobbed off with “we cannot provide any until we have your CV” in fact be very cautious if you get an answer like that. Once you do find a role of interest ask for the job-spec; company details; remuneration details etc. Again beware of agencies that inform you that they cannot provide details of employers once you have submitted your CV. The reality is that the job may not even exist and your CV will go on the pile. Very best of luck!

Call me cynical but I am very wary of using recruitment consultants as they all seem to be in it purely for their own gain. There are the odd exceptions of course but not many. I have recently got a new position after applying for many jobs. The furstrating thing is not hearing back from companies or agencies. I heard nothing for ages then suddenly had interviews and have a position starting soon. So there are opportunities out there but I think you need to be selective about applying and try to sort the wheat out from the chaff.

I work for a large employer and over the last 12 months I have made two appointments. The criteria that we currently work with are that we: a. Second or select someone from within our organisation b. Select potential candidates known to us from our HR database. These are candidates who have speculatively written in with their CV c. Potential candidates who are personally known to us. Like many large organisations there is staff introduction incentive d. Advertise through known networking sources e. Approach selective consultants who understand our approach and where we have a pre-agreed fee structure and arrangements f. Finally we would only contact general agencies when other sources have been exhausted. As you can see agencies fall well down our appointment selection hierarchy and times for specialist H&S agencies are very tough at the moment and I would not be surprised if they overrun with candidates at the moment. To be fair we are also receiving speculative CVs from agencies at the moment Having painted the above picture, eighteen months ago I too was made redundant and having put our house up for sale and after setting up plan B and C which possibly involved becoming a crofter in the Outer Hebrides, within one month I had a temporary contracting role and within two months I had landed a better job than the one which I had left and the job was through an agency. Part of this success was down to the development of a comprehensive portfolio where I identified my knowledge, skills (including transferable ones), projects which I had worked on.

I am leaving my full time H&S role at the end of this year to go back into engineering, we have had 64 applicants for my position, these range from the odd chancer with no experience or qualifications to CMIOSH.

It really is tough out there right now in the UK when searching for health and safety work ( especially construction ), especially so when you see the demise of 2 high profile contractors, leaving hundreds of staff unemployed. What you are getting now is dozens of health and safety personell going for one job, with so many disappointed in not getting in. But at the end of the day, all you do is keep trying, something will eventually break if you are not in work. Fairview - its quite a brave decision in leaving your job in the summer knowing that you did'nt have a job to walk into. I know I would'nt have down that no matter how bad things get in the workplace. Good luck in your new job hope it works out well. John