I am attending online classes to get a BS in Occupational Safety and Health. After the completion of this degree will I need to also get certifications to be competitive in this field? Also should I get them before looking for employment or wait until I see what kind of jobs are out there and make a decision then on the type of certification I should pursue?
Answers
Aaron,
You might want to consider a CIH designation. Check out the following link.
http://abih.org/
Sincerely,
Turk DeGraff
Aaron, when we are looking at Safety Professional resumes, one thing we look at is the ability to teach classes to employees. It might take some experience first to qualify, but maybe look into becoming an approved OSHA outreach trainer so that you could offer a potential employer in-house OSHA 10/OSHA 30 training (or similar), first aid, HAZWOPER, equipment safety, etc. This would be really valuable to us as we pay a lot to outside consultants every year to come in and conduct these types of classes.
Aaron; Once you complete your college degree you should start applying for openings, there are many different rules and laws that apply to EHS and each is different depending on state and local laws. Once you get hired, you should work with the company and begin getting the additional certificates that apply to your specific jobs and location.
Best of Luck
Eli
Dear Aaron,
One way to get a general idea of the experience, education, and certification requirements, at least for Federal jobs, is to look at the job announcements at www.usajobs.gov. When you visit the website, enter 0018 in the field for "Keyword" as this is the Series number for Occupational Safety and Health. Also, leave the location field blank and select "Federal Employees." The goal here is simply to see all of the open job announcements and the requirements for each one.
Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) details various job titles and requirements in its General Schedule Qualification Standards which you can find at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=List-by-Occupational-Series. Scroll down to 0018 and click on the position title Safety and Occupational Health Management Series.
For non-Federal jobs, you may want to conduct the same type of search, mainly to identify the requirements that are most common to each job opening.
Many thanks for your service and good luck with your transition!
Sincerely,
Bob Jurasek
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