Hello everyone, I am a bit surprised and feeling a bit down as no one has replied to my above post. No disrespect to anyone, I thought I am being rejected only by potential employers or recruitment agencies as of now - shocking to learn that no one here is also ready to help me or offer some guidance. VLK

People may answer your post when they know your name VLK. just a thought. Good luck in your quest VLK.

Vik, Your various posts ask a number of questions and pose a number of reasons why you might not be successful at securing a role. One question is about the lack of response to your posting; this could be because there are few of us who have sufficient knowledge of the recruitment process to be able to help - to say that it is shocking to learn that no one here is also ready to help me or offer some guidance is (in my view) a bit strong. Unless I have misunderstood, it appears that the issue is you going to interviews and not being successful. You will have gone through quite a few hoops before you were shortlisted for the interview, so there will have been something in your application and C.V. that attracted the employer. This in itself is a positive. I guess you need to put yourself in the position of the potential employer who is taking a gamble on you, and needs to be sure that you are the right person for them. I wonder if the issue is the actual interview process; for example:are you over or under confident at interview, are yiou articulate, are you able to give good examples of your achievements, are you going for any job or are you focusing on particular areas (have you a particular specialism?), do you research the company beforehand, do you look carefully at the job description before the interview and then demonstrate that you have the skills and knowledge to match, are you over or under qualified for the roles you are going for, do you ask questions? Your background should have absolutely no bearing on anything in the recruitement process. I think if I were you I would look for a decent Health and Safety Recruitment company who should interview you and get as much information as they can to enable them to match you with a suitable role.They will also be able to give you feedback and support on any areas where you might be weak. Hope this helps a bit, Best of luck.

No offence taken. I am not sure what I can add to your dilemma, but I wonder whether your international experience could be used more to your advantage in your interviews. Also your MSc might be putting employers off. You need to make sure that you are going the right jobs as you might be percieved as being over quailified for some. Have you though about approaching consultancies for job opportunities? I get your point about the lack of responses, with over 230 views and very few replies.

Fay Indian safety legislation mirrors that in the UK a couple of decades ago, whilst many companies there will base their standards on either OSHA or European. I think that Vivek's experience offers transferable skills in the U.K. We've recruited an Indian fire/safety specialist in the past. Perfectly capable of settling in to application of UK standards and now working in the Middle East.

VLK As I spent well over a decade as a career and redundancy managment coach, I very much appreciate the struggle you report. It is easy to lose sight of the reality that your main tasks involve understanding needs of organisations that you can fill, and that what you have in mind by the term 'safety management' is not the only way in which you can help organisations. This fuels assumptions that are commonly at the root of miscommunication in approaching organisations for opportunities. A related problem is what is known as 'values' of an organisation, what those who lead it want most. Unless they have a well-developed culture, there's often quite a gap between what is said during recruitment and what actually goes on in workplaces. This is as true in 'safety' as in any other area. There are two practical ways open to you to try to break new ground. One is to consult a coach who specialises in coaching people to find work. A good one may well be able to add to your efforts by enabling you to recognise capabilities of your own that you are not communicating, as well as needs of organisations that you can fulfil but are not aware of. A suitable one will have the sepcialist skills needed to assess your personality and other attributes using objective tools, as well as 'action learning' and other methods geared to ensure that you tackle hurdles with pace and poise. The fiy in the ointment, perhaps, is that you normally have to pay for good coaching; after all, a business coach has to earn a living too! The other is the pair up with one or two other business executives and to meet at least once a week for 'action learning' meetings as a practical way of sharing insights and enquiries. While you may not enter an organisation this year in a safety role, getting into a motivating job in any role with scope for your social as well as your technical knowhow can become the path to eliminating frustration and getting onto a new career avenue. I've known many people, including some who left work in pain and anger after injury at work, and look back a couple of years later at a phase 'between jobs' and say now, 'I felt awful then, but now I can see only opportunities. If I lost my job this week, I've learned how to investigate several new ares now open to me!'.

Vivek, Keep at it, it is a long procedure, I was off on maternity leave for 18 months and attended so many interviews I cannot remember how many, and I kept getting turned away I believe because I was a mother of a young child, and there was a fear of me taking time off all the time, only wanting part time hours etc etc etc....but I wouldnt blame employers thinking this though. If you can afford to go get a UK qual, I would advise that, NEBOSH cert might be a good start. Then perhaps contact companies who take on grads, you are probably well above graduate level, but its a foot in the door. Chin up, and keep trying.

Hi Vivek I live in Rep of Ireland and am looking for work in the UK and I am too finding it hard to get in some where. I have a Professional Diploma in Safety & Health (first class honours not blowing my own trumpet) I am a Manual Handling Instructor, Occupational First Aider, Safe Pass card Holder, this makes no difference as I have applied for numerous positions and not even 1 interview. Fortunately I am an optimist (like the Irish soccer fans) and feel once given the opportunity I will succeed in the Safety industry. It might take more time than I would have wished for but eventually I will get there. So keep the head up and don't give up