I think that the north / south divide is still with us hence this could be the problem along with poor money that does not tempt northerners travelling south

Agree with the others Outside the M25 its still closures & redundancies for most industries - not that the inhabitants of the inner M25 would notice nor care. Nor only are we two nations but I think a separate species is evolving. I have no inclination to work "down there" as the lifestyle is akin to a zoo

When I said 'outside' in my previous post, I meant 'inside'.

I think its picking up generally but the way in which people are recruited is fast evolving. SHP Job adverts are no longer the indicators of the market as they were a few years ago. I get approached regularly via Linked in, nobody from the SHP has ever done this !!!!! Jobs are more readily available in the south always have been. Im a northerner who commutes south every week. I'm fine with this - Im home Thursday and off again Monday. Move down here, never in a million!

Once again, more evidence as to why I don’t post on this forum very often, or bother to read other peoples. Someone asks a simple question and they either end up being insulted, or people answer a completely different question to the one that has been asked or both. In this case someone seems to have felt the need to tell me their house price. How interesting. If I posted on Rightmove maybe they would give me sensible health and safety discussion. Who knows? For the record, my house is free. My commute takes me 20 seconds as I wander from my sleeping area to my living area on a small island. I get bored, pull my fur out and rub myself against the bars most of the time. My keepers give me three bananas, a handful of carrots and an apple every day. Children stare at me. I long for my life back in the jungle.

Let me guess, you are under 45 ?

Your way out and much north of 45.

I admit I struggled a bit to get into health and safety- I applied for alot of jobs and was turned down almost every time as I did not have experience to match my qualifications- I paid for my NEBOSH quals myself and am self funding my diploma at the minute. I have managed to get a FTC until next year but am worried I will be turned down again as I will have still only had a years experience. I find in the area I live they want pre-wrapped HSE advisors- not someone to develop- which I find a shame. I am 26- so could be looking at another 45 years of working- and the last thing I want is to end up in a menial job I hate when I trully do enjoy Health and Safety.

We are a medium sized company based in East Anglia and we have had trouble recruiting the "right" type of people. We aren't looking at employing new H&S staff (at least "I" hope not) but we are struggling to find intelligent, hard working individuals to fulfil a safety critical role. We put adverts out regularly, we may have 10 applicants each week and we have employed only 2 people in the last month. This seems indicative that the good, smart hard working individuals have already been taken. We offer a decent working environment, the pay here is good for the industry and the area but still we struggle. Make of this post what you will, this is just a very narrow snapshot of East Anglia.

Try working in the 3rd sector - salaries are at the bottom of the lowest quartile possible with the clarification that as we are a charity then that's what we pay. You then look at CEO and Directors level pay and some of them are on more that the Prime Minister.

My experience is that there is work available if you are prepared to do the groundwork, if you are willing to persevere and if you can use your experience, knowledge and personality to convince prospective employers that you are the right person for the job. I am 61 years old and based in the northwest of England both of which, according to the traditional line of thought, would work against my chances of getting employment, yet I have never been out of work. I started my current role in a high tech company in January this year. Prior to that I worked in the dairy industry for 3 years, and prior to that in an fmcg company that made detergents (3 years). I took my first full time H&S role in 2001 at the age of 48 with no relevant qualifications. It was only factory closures that made my decide to move on from some of these roles. Employers want the best person for the job, it's up to you to convince them that you fit the bill.

Something I was thinking about after reading the thread is that after a couple of knock backs where tbh I wasn't even replied following applications I asked for feedback and was told that my CV made me look too specialised and although looking good I was effectively putting off employers. Now, I spend some time every month or so looking and searching for the "next big role" and if I am honest, I think the job spec for many of the jobs I see is also "too specialised" which results in me moving on as I don't meet the requirement in some way. Perhaps both I and recruiters need to widen the search terms somehow? Just a thought, Jim

Totally agree. In the past I have worked in light engineering, for a company that made and installed printing presses which involved a lot of CDM work, for an fmcg company dealing with enzymes in detergents, for a dairy company and now for a high tech company. I have always found that the main areas of H&S are totally transferrable, and as David says, the intricacies can be picked uo reasonably quickly

Interesting topic and interesting responses.... Surprised that no-one seems to have mentioned the fears recently surfacing about the overheating of the construction market. Some of the biggest players seem to have bitten off more than they can chew pricing their bids rock bottom to win the work when times seemed tough and now they are moving on to site with prices rising they are finding they can't recruit the subbies easily... The market will have to change to reflect the rapid growth - the main contractors will not be able to survive on a 2% margin by taking client money early and paying subbies late as has been the model for the past forty years or more... There are suggestions that some of the big boys might "go under"... As a result - if I was in the market for a job with future security I might think twice before accepting a position in any of the big projects currently getting on to site, (many of which are in the London area - but it has ever been thus which is one of the reasons why so many outside the M25 have a jaundiced view of those within..). I lived and worked close(ish) to London for the early part of my career. My personal urge to get away from the place was so strong that my next job was in Shetland!