Good morning everyone. As the title indicates, I have received unofficial notice that I was successful in my dissertation project and now have to wait for the official results within the next month. The awarding ceremony is in mid-July.

My question to you is: Should I or can I apply for GradIOSH (my degree is included in the awarding list) previous to finding a job? I have already started the long and hard process of getting my first job in HSE as a (soon to be) fresh masters graduate.

Any specific suggestions, feedback or general thoughts are much appreciated!

Regards, Achilleas

Although prospective employers have their own perceptions of MSc, there is really no point in doing the NEBOSH Cert. Instead, you could very briefly inlude in your application/CV an appendix that has some details/course content of the MSc including practical content .

I have an MSc and that was before my first health and safety role. If anything, I was over-qualified.

Refer to my posting at:-
http://forum.iosh.co.uk/...spx?g=posts&t=112684

Do the NEBOSH general certificate, employers looking for both academic and professional qualifications..

SHV

Thank you for your replies. I don't understand why should I get a certificate either. To be more specific, I have to say that I looked through every single MSc out there in Europe and mostly in UK, since it is in high demand. I decided to take the one I completed due to the modules included. I don't know if this is gonna be any good but here they are : environmental mgt, health and safety mgt, business law, business and risk mgt, research methods and professional development, workplace evaluation and control. At that time, I believed that this one was the right for me not considering rankings, fees etc. Maybe I was right, maybe I was wrong. I was also looking into the NEBOSH certs/diploma and I still don't understand why should I undertake this. I have a 2:1 M.Eng (environmental) where I practiced OHS as well. I don't think there is anything more to learn, especially in a 2-3 weeks time (typical NEBOSH length). Furthermore, in most vacancies they require an NVQ lvl3 , where if not mistaken, an M.Sc. equivalent is NVQ 7. Furthermore, a 5 month HSE assessment through dissertation provides more expertise than a week's experience in NEBOSH. Maybe I'm wrong here since I don't know this, it just sounds very strange to me.

Again, thank you for your comments, I really appreciate it. If someone could comment on my actual question on GradIOSH would be very interested to listen to your suggestions (and even keep this discussion going !)

Regards, Achilleas

The Nebosh Cert IS NOT a professional qualification.

Achilleas,

I agree that your don't need any more bits of paper; you need experience.
You might have to lower your sights, initially, to get that,

It is most unfortunate that employers and to some extent, recruitment agencies tend to go for what they know about rather than recognising that there ARE other equivalent qualifications.

The terrible aspect in our profession is that somehow, there is a perception, even amongst practitioners that some how NEBOSH is ALL, the rest is not worth it. I am not aware of any other place/country where a Masters Degree is perceived to be less than a -3 2 week certificate course!!

It may be worth to start attending your nearest IOSH branch meetings and networking with others--even if it is to get advice/mentorship on your options etc ( I do not mean the formal mentorship for IPD etc)

Achilleas

To answer your question, apply for Grad membership!

Thank you all for your kind contribution. To answer some questions:

1)Yes, it was the University of South Wales. Still don't know my final mark, I'll find that out in mid June but I expect a merit sadly (going for distinction). I think that I don't feel like following an academic career, so even though I did have the PhD in the back of my mind, I still believe and agree with most people here that experience > more education.
2)I do agree that I need hands-on experience, I just find it hard to get that first job. I started looking for HSE jobs in UK 1,5 years ago and the situation seemed better. Now, 90%+ of the vacancies are for ready made managers and require a lot of experience and I wonder where the new starters gain their first taste. Hopefully something will turn out soon.
3)I live near Cardiff currently but have no problem in relocating as my residential contract is about to end.
4)Sadly, it seems that I have to get that first job in order to apply for GradIOSH since I have to fill in my employers' information. Which leads back to finding that first job !

Thank you all again.

Regards, Achilleas