Hi all, I have recently passed my NVQ 4 Occupational Health & Safety and i'm now looking for alternative employment. I have submitted my CV for numerous posts and dont seem to be getting much response. Ive decided that it is probably my CV that is letting me down and not doing me justice, does anyone mind sharing their CV with me to give me some ideas? Your assistance as always would be appreciated. Ed

You're not alone. I've only had 1 email rejection notification, which was nice, and appreciated. I've applied for loads of jobs too. What I'm now doing is deleting all my application acknowledgements after two weeks, as I figured that if a company is interested in me, they'll be in touch sooner rather than later. I did have my C.V. critiqued by an agency, as well as a chartered member of IOSH (you know who you are). I was really pleased with their comments. I personally don't think my C.V. is holding me back, and I, like you, just have to keep on plugging away. As the year draws to a close, the jobs will drop off anyway, but a new year brings new opportunities. Stay positive, and good luck.

I have been advised that there is no advantage in converting your NVQ4 to the new NVQ 5 they are equal. Check with a reputable training organisation like the BCS college Notts to confirm, they will offer great advice Unfortunately this time of year recruitment does slow down Best of luck and keep applying

Hi all, Many thanks for your kind words and assistance, i have submitted for Grad IOSH status, so that will help. I'm currently in employment, however, there is an element of uncertainty with the future of the role in the organisation, hence the reason for searching for a new job. If anyone has any CV's that they dont mind sharing, contact me via PM and i'll forward you my e-mail address. Many thanks once again. Kind Regards Gareth

Same here with my CV. I don't think the CV is the issue, it's a lack of vacancies with a lot of people applying for them that is the issue

Check the search function, there was a really informative article in the SHP a few issues ago that covered CV content / layout etc. It was very informative.

Hello, I thought that as soon as I passed the NVQ L4 it was a dead cert getting a new job. I completed it in April this year. But I applied for loads of jobs and nothing really happened. I had a couple of interviews though but nothing. Then I decided to just go onto as many recruitment agency websites that I could find (H&S specific ones) and submitted my CV over the course of an evening to loads. Eventually I got a call back from one saying that they had a vacancy they thought I would be interested in. And guess what - I'm 4 weeks into the new role :) was quite scary though because my old company, where I learnt everything I knew about H&S is completely different industry to this one, and I was there for 6 and half years!! But I'm hoping it was the right move (fingers crossed!) I dont think it was my CV that was letting me down as such though, it was more my experience. I only know one industry and nothing else, so it was hard to break out. I wish you all the luck though, and I defintely recommend applying for Graduate status, because I did as soon as I passed the NVQ and then once that was done I applied for the IPD open assessment in September and recently found out I passed. So now my next step is the peer interviews, and hopefully chartered status in the new year sometime. I can give you the details of the recruitment agency I used to get this job if you like? I'm not sure if i'm allowed to post it though, so send me a pm if you like and i'll tel you the company name and the lady who I dealt with who was brilliant throughout the whole process. Merry Crimbo Everyone! :)