Inspecting Officer or Consultant

[Tom W]

Hi

I have a nice dillemma and i was wondering what everyones thoughts are.

I am currently managing a consultancy department for a fire safety company offering risk assessments/training etc. Doing very nicely and have got training and driving lessons paid for by them.

I started the department and in the two years it has been running it is making a nice profit. I like my job, i have been here for 4 years and im good at it but there is no more progression, this is it.

I have recently seen a job advertised for a Non Operational Inspecting Officer for the county and im really considering applying. I would obviously start at the bottom but i like the idea of a challenge. I feel i have the necessary qualitys to get the job as long as i don't stuff the interview up

I know i want a career in fire safety but fire fighting doesn't interest me, ultimately i would like to get involved in arson related work and investigation. I am still studying and if i got the FSO job i would have to pay back the fees for my course and probably some of my driving lessons.

The job just seems so much more interesting but i am hesitating

1. I like the people i work with
2. They have been so nice to me
3. Its easy to stick with the familiar

I just think that if i worked for the fire service it would be a job for life. FYI the money is the same

I was wondering what everyone thought as i presume the majority of you are consultants or work in the fire service!

[Midland Retty]

Hi

I have a nice dillemma and i was wondering what everyones thoughts are.

I am currently managing a consultancy department for a fire safety company offering risk assessments/training etc. Doing very nicely and have got training and driving lessons paid for by them.

I started the department and in the two years it has been running it is making a nice profit. I like my job, i have been here for 4 years and im good at it but there is no more progression, this is it.

I have recently seen a job advertised for a Non Operational Inspecting Officer for the county and im really considering applying. I would obviously start at the bottom but i like the idea of a challenge. I feel i have the necessary qualitys to get the job as long as i don't stuff the interview up

I know i want a career in fire safety but fire fighting doesn't interest me, ultimately i would like to get involved in arson related work and investigation. I am still studying and if i got the FSO job i would have to pay back the fees for my course and probably some of my driving lessons.

The job just seems so much more interesting but i am hesitating

1. I like the people i work with
2. They have been so nice to me
3. Its easy to stick with the familiar

I just think that if i worked for the fire service it would be a job for life. FYI the money is the same

I was wondering what everyone thought as i presume the majority of you are consultants or work in the fire service!

Hi Piglet

In many ways both roles as very similar. They both identify hazzards and evaluate the risk created by that hazard

A fire safety consultant will be look at a premises, identify any measures that need addressing to comply with the Fire Safety regulations but will try and implement solutions with as little financial burden on their clients as possible.

Inspectors will look at a premises and will also identify any deficiences, and give advice on how those deficiences can be remedied. They also enforce the regulations and are therefore more involved with the legal side of fire safety.

There is probably more opportunity to do training as a consultant/trainer in your current role I would suggest, and whilst they educate people Inspectors do not provide training sessions to the public /business. This is done by another fire service department. So if you would really miss delivering training to people then perhaps the fire service route wouldnt suit you.

Both roles involve plenty of paperwork!, both involve looking at various different premises and getting out and about, both roles involve meeting new people, both roles require a good working knowledge of fire safety to be carried out compentently.

The only other MAIN difference i can think of is that your consultancy probably covers most of the country and involves a lot of travelling to different places. As an inspector you work fairly local to the office!

Curently in most fire brigades both Fire Investigation and Community Task Force Officer positions are only open to operational staff unfortunately.

Finally and this is very important - find out whether or not there is scope for progression if you did join the fire service as a non op Inspector.

Alot of brigades are employing non operational inspectors nowadays, however there is as yet no scope for promotion for that role.

This may change in future, who knows.

Eitherway best of luck

[AM]

I was an non-uniformed inspecting officer, and I enjoyed it untill it was made very clear that there would be no opportunities to progress, so I moved on. The actual job, I think, depends on what brigade you join - I was there to do the same job as a Fire Safety Officer (but for less money) - so I did inspections of all property types, building regs, Unwanted Fire Signals. Some Brigades only have civvy officers doing inspections of only a narrow range of property types.

On the negative, it's a very political culture, but so are a lot of workplaces. On the plus side, the hours are good, flexi time working, and the pension scheme is a local government one, which is better than most private firms can afford, and you'll get a different perspective looking at fire safety form an enforcement angle, which could be a benefit if you decide to leave and move back into consultancy.

[AnthonyB]

I looked at non uniformed inspecting officer jobs, but the pay was laughable and I would be stuck in a narrow pay band for life and although I was really interested in that side of things it was too much of a sacrifice and potentially a dead end.

There's more brass in consultancy, but obviously pressures from sales & work targets and lots of UK travel - but you get to see varied workplaces & buildings of all types so it is rarely just routine (other than recent/new builds which are a bore to do).

There's no right or wrong route overall - it all depends what you, the individual, want out of life.

[Tom W]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Im still not sure what to do but i decided to apply and atleast get an interview. This way i should be able to assertain exactly what the job prospects are

Again thank you for your advice

[CivvyFSO]

I looked at non uniformed inspecting officer jobs, but the pay was laughable and I would be stuck in a narrow pay band for life

Some Authorities have a reasonable career path for civlian inspecting officers, and others are actually putting them in place or at least working towards it at present.

The positions within this authority range from 17k to 37k+. The fully trained inspecting officers tend to be over 24k, their managers would be about 28k.