Hi Reed, very important question - which service? This will flavor the replies you get :<)
There are many vets in IOSH, background and qualifications, the ability to lead and teach, problem solve etc etc that service folk have are all valued by employers.

My advice is look inward first - think 5 years time what type of organisation would you want to work for and where. It may need a stepping stone approach. OSH covers the world of work - quite literally.

I strongly suggest you find the nearest branch/es and go along if you are not already.

There will be no shortage of advice (and banter) this is a second career for many of us - happy to talk more if you need and good luck. Steve

Ian, thank you for you comment. Due to me putting my post in the wrong forum, IOSH admin moved it to this forum. I will read up on the post you stated. It is fortunate for me that although I have already paid for the diploma, I only had to pay a small amount towards it.

Steve hopefully serving in the British Army in the Corps of Royal Engineers will give me more favourable Replies. Again thank you for the advise.

As an ex uniform wearer as well - but a more refined service.....my advice is this.

What you did/what regiment you were in means very little. Badges on your arm mean very little.
Don't believe the BS that the resettlement people tell you. At the moment I would imagine h&s is a very difficult sector to get into due to the economy etc. There is no recovery in most engineering/technical sectors. Plenty of people on the market looking for h&s roles.

I left 20yrs ago/20yrs h&s experience - you need to civilianise your approach to dealing with people - the army direct approach/abrasive approach will go down like a lead balloon to most 'civvies' who have no experience of dealing with Forces guys. Yes ex forces people have plenty of good selling point - to a spotty twenty something who is only interested in Facebook, isn't likely to be impressed by being 'ordered' to do something. Also understand the business/financial impacts of safety decisions you make - not really considered in the forces.

In my experience it takes 3-4 years to de-militarise.

Hi Reed

Some good advice here. I too am ex - and per ardua ad astra led me to H&S! Engineering background was the key - all the peripheral stuff, fire, confined spaces, work at heights, using PPE , chemicals, fuels, fumes. General workshop safety - from handtools to horseplay - all went into my CV or interview responses, to translate the military world into a civilian one. It did take a while but before internet!

The actual work I did - long forgotten, but the confidence gave credibility - 'fake it til you make it' to some degree. Do look within, at your communication and learning style, do lots of reading around safety - not just the technical but how you can package, deliver, influence etc. There are some great blogs out there in the wide world.

Recommend you add training (or learning development as we like to say!) to your portfolio - you may already have that from the service, plus management, mentoring experience. Make most of it.

Understanding the role and developing the soft skills will give you a head start over all the other ex-service and ex-oil industry job seekers, but getting interviews is hard now, so the CV is critical. (Although many large organisations, councils etc. insist on time consuming electronic form filling - however, CV text to copy & paste helps).

I left in the middle of 80s recession - the Careers Officer (what a joke title!) advice was 'you won't get a job doing that here'.
Good luck.

As much as any newspaper is true - story in the Daily Telegraph today 10th Feb

'Economists warn of more pain ahead, with 'no clear indications that the rollercoaster of risks is likely to abate'. i.e. the economy is still poor and associated job creation.

So people still think h&s jobs are easy to come by in the general economy. H&S specific positions within many companies are still often seen as non-essential / addition to overheads - despite the recognition that h&s law has to be complied with.

Still think its worthwhile spending hard earned money to train as a h&s specialist?

Meanwhile in George's small world, jobs and the economy are fine.