Case studies: Senior technical officer: Phillip Wilson

Phillip has a BSc (Hons) Environmental Health from Liverpool John Moores University and works as a senior technical officer for Wigan Council.

I went to university at 26 as a mature student. Originally when I left school I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do and so started work. By the time I was 19 I was working for a large utility company. I stayed working there until I was 28, as I was able to carry on working there part time through my first two years of university.

I wasn't progressing in my old job and needed to make a change. Whilst I was employed there I did a lot of work in health and safety and obtained a NEBOSH level 3 Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health, which was viewed as being equivalent to A-levels.

When deciding which degree to study, I looked for a subject that would play to my existing strengths and so chose environmental health. Relatively soon after starting my course at Liverpool John Moores University , I decided that I wanted to become an environmental health practitioner (EHP).
During my third year at university I undertook a work placement at Halton Borough Council and this enabled me to gain first-hand experience of the role of an environmental health professional.

Also in my final year, I saw my current job advertised and so applied. I did a lot of preparation for the interview based on the person specification and the key tasks of the team I would work for. When I attended the interview I made sure I knew the answers to the technical questions I thought they would ask and also made sure I demonstrated that I was very willing to learn and develop as part of a team. About 30 minutes after I arrived back home from my interview my new manager rang to offer me the job.

What makes my job different from that of other EHPs is that I work solely with the public, rather than with businesses. Whilst this means my job can be more confrontational than others, it also means that I can directly see the positive difference that environmental health can bring to people's lives. My job is also immensely varied - one moment I can be dealing with a noise complaint and the next I can be investigating waste management issues.

I have yet to complete my full professional qualifications. However, once I have I will be able to look for advancement and promotion, either with my current employer or elsewhere in the private sector. It also means that if in a few years I wanted to work within a different area of environmental health I would be able to.

My advice to other students thinking of this career is to make sure that you make yourself stand out as a candidate and get a work placement, even if it is unpaid as mine was. It was undoubtedly this experience that helped me to get a job so quickly after finishing university.

AGCAS

Sourced by AGCAS editors

Date: 

October 2011

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