I’ve spend 15 years as a 911 operator. The past 7 years, I’ve focused on being a trainer, mentor, and conduct coaching (I am not a supervisor, I am shift lead and acting supervisor when they are not around. I do not have direct reports). In these 7 years, I’ve also become the liaison between the entire company and the FBI. I keep the company in compliance with state and federal regulations, I conduct weekly audits on the company and personnel; I read policies all the time and update them as needed. I’m constantly educating myself with these policies and knowledge of regulations so I can any answer questions that come up. Everyone, including those above me, come to me with their questions on how to do something and I have the answers.

Anyways, there’s no room for advancement and I’m just stuck. I love policy reading and training. I like the administrative stuff that it intel’s.

I would love to be a health and safety coordinator//tech/supervisor in a warehouse or facility, however everything I’m finding, requires 5 years experience or a bachelors in EHS plus years of experience. I’ve applied for a few positions, however I receive an email the next morning from the company saying they are not proceeding with my application. A couple of the applications make you answer “do you have experience as a safety coordinator in a warehouse” and/or “have you worked in a warehouse”. I have to answer no; therefore, I’m sure that automatically threw my application out.

When I apply, I go directly to the company’s website, not through a job search website.

I know I won’t get a job by only filling out 5-6 applications, but how realistic is it to switch careers 15 years in without going back to college to get a new degree?

I’ve taken OSHA 30 general industry and going to start on other trainings also. Such as the forklift safety, storm water management; just things to educate myself and show that I am committed and hopefully someone will see that.

In your honest opinion, would you hire someone with no hands on safety experience? Is there anything I can do to prove I’m capable? As much as I would like to keep my current pay, I’m not looking for jobs in my current range. I’m willing to take a pay cut to be able to grow in my career. So please don’t think I’m possibly overlooking positions because I don’t want entry level pay. With that, the only ‘entry’ level positions I can find require you to be in a college program and they will sponsor you and sign off on your training.