Nebosh

Jambo5

Hi guys. Met a guy in a pub. He advised me to do NEBOSH (General).
I am currently in Army and can get help towards paying for the course. I also worked as a Joiner for 7 years in Construction.
The drinker said the course would cost £1800. I can get 1k of it payed for me, resettlememt etc.

Ok there's only one thing I know about NEBOSH.
...Its a hard intensive course. One of my mates failed it.

Now the things he kept repeating were.......
"Its a licence to print money" & "health and safety will never go away, it will only get worse" & "you'll never be out of work"
& "its not a job that may satisfy you, but you will be satisfied with your bank balance".
He kept mentioning salaries like 60-80k a year!?!?!

It is worth mentioning this guy ran his own training provider business and was an instructor who ran such courses and has done well for himself.
He give me his business card etc.

Now then, I have looked at NEBOSH jobs, allbeit briefly and the jobs that I could find(not to many) had salaries of 25k average.
Maybe I wasn't searching correct job description, maybe theres somewere else to search other than on indeed.

Can anybody offer any advice? Is this guy right? Or is this another lucrative area or closed shop? I definately agree that Health & Safety is here to stay.

Reason I ask is I want to invest my money (for courses from the Army) wisely. But actually I was thinking about NEBOSH before I met this fella.

Any help or advise would be great! TIA

theoretica

If it seems like it is too good to be true it probably is - and any course which is a straight line to a high salary is going to be very hard (like medical doctor training hard) or companies would be swamped with applicants and the salary fall.

There are highly paid H&S roles, but they need far more than a short course to get them. See for instance the range of radiation protection roles: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/radiation_protection_practitioner_job_description.htm

ohreally

The H&S sector can be very cliquey, so if you are not networked bear this in mind.

The course is not difficult but the exam requires approaching with an eye on how NEBOSH expect the answers to be structured. When I did the course most of the candidates were already working in industry and were degree qualified, 1 chemist said they felt the questions were harder than their degree.

You are extremely unlikely to land a 60-80k job of the back of a level 3 10 day course or everyone would be doing it.

View it as an introduction to H&S or if funding permits, do the diploma.

Jambo5

Cheers. I knew the figures mentioned surely couldn't be earned on the back of a 10 day course. As you said, everybody would do it.

What does diploma consist off and is this likely to ensure work can be gained? I am not after the big bucks as it happens(altough it would be nice!)...I just want to leave the Army and be secure with a half decent wage...and I figured Health & Safety may be recession proof.
As I come from the building sites, he suggested that I go into that area of H&S.

ohreally

The Dip consists of 3 units, details http://www.nebosh.org.uk/download.asp?filename=http://www.nebosh.org.uk/fileupload/upload/ND%20OHS%20guide%20v11%20Sept%2014189201444157.pdf

Also bear in mind companies have downsized their h&s depts since the recession began so there are a lot of qualified and experience folks looking for jobs out there.

BTW, I'm not advising you ignore NGC to do the diploma only pointing out alternative routes. You may find the dip. a big challenge if you have no revenant background.

deedee71

I know a couple of people (ex army) who did NEBOSH and worked overseas - Somalia, Cameroon and a few sandier places - and certainly did earn huge fee rates.

This is for the oil exploration industry and having an army background does help.

I think breaking into it though is more "who you know" that what you know. HTH.

dickydonkin

ohreally wrote: »

Also bear in mind companies have downsized their h&s depts since the recession began so there are a lot of qualified and experience folks looking for jobs out there.

Tell me about it........been there, T shirt and all that!

Good advice from ohreally OP - I would certainly not dissuade anyone from doing a NEBOSH GC course but as one sector of the apparent economy recovery seems to be in construction, perhaps the OP could focus on his expertise and go for the NEBOSH certificate in construction health and safety.

It really will help having experience in this field - I have to concede that construction is not my strongest subject, but being a 'cliquey' profession, I have contacts who could assist me when I encounter CDM issues.

The NEBOSH course can be intensive (especially if you go for the block course) and if you have never had any H&S experience, some may find it daunting - that said, if you structure and allow plenty of time for swatting, you should be fine.

As for getting a job in H&S, I would like to think that organisations will start recruiting H&S professionals soon, but I have to state that there seems to be no significant evidence of this - certainly not in my region anyway.

I now only do it now on a part time basis and on my terms which works well for me. I'm too old and care too much about my blood pressure to do it full time again -

Just to add, as well as a qualification, you need good communication, writing and persuasive skills...........oh, and have the skin of a pachyderm!

deedee71 wrote: »

I know a couple of people (ex army) who did NEBOSH and worked overseas - Somalia, Cameroon and a few sandier places - and certainly did earn huge fee rates.

This is for the oil exploration industry and having an army background does help.

I think breaking into it though is more "who you know" that what you know. HTH.

I would suggest that having experience in the oil and gas exploration sector would be a more significant and essential attribute, although I agree with the last sentence in your post which applies to most sectors of industry.

hcb42

Hubby has done this, and has been in HSE (The E bit needs Environmental Quals of course) for about 15 years, around 10 in management.


HSE Managers might make anything from about £35K - £55K on the average. There will always be exceptions, and I would say as you approach £55-60K they will be looking for a more strategic/director level thinker - which a short NEBOSH course will not prepare you for on its own.


Consultancy - again I don't think a course with no practical experience of having done the job and having a proven track record is the right route. You would need to develop systems and processes to be able to consult, have a keen eye on new legislation, and probably need some training skills - assuming you had all that and some sales/marketing skills to go it alone, then £80K might be in reach.


A better approach might be to gain an HS Advisor role with a company that sponsors. Or do the course anyway if it is only going to cost £800 but get the real life experience first by trying to land an HSE role.


While a lot of HS is generic, there is also a need for specific industry knowledge. My hubby doesn't tend to look at rail jobs, oil and gas jobs and construction as these are not his background and the risks do differ than say in a FMCG factory.


Many companies will want to hire an HSE Manager, not just HS Manager, and so the E is important, but a whole different set of quals required for that. IEMA.








Principal People is one headhunting agent who has a lot of jobs viewable online. Have a look at salaries. If you find an £80K one, can you let my husband know

ohreally

hcb42 wrote: »

Or do the course anyway if it is only going to cost £800

You've missed a 1.

Jambo5 wrote: »

the course would cost £1800

Takeaway_Addict

ohreally wrote: »

You've missed a 1.

I think HCB said £800 because the OP can get the 1k paid for by someone else.

ohreally

My bad.....