Topic: Firearms Examiner urgently required to work in Leeds UK

[Petrash]

Our Firearms unit is currently based in Leeds we will be expanding this area and hope to have a unit in London within the next 12 months.  In the meantime we are seeking experienced Firearms Examiner’s to work in Leeds, ideally someone that has GSR experience.

 ·        Perform examination and identification of fired cartridge cases and bullets.

·         Examine a variety of firearms including handguns, rifles and shotguns.

·         Determine classification of Firearms and Ammunition under Firearms Act.

·         Carry out tool mark identification and serial number restoration.

·         Perform distance determination, trajectory analysis and other relevant examinations.

·         Attend post-mortem examinations and crime scenes.

·         Testify as an expert witness in Courts of Law

·         Member of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners.

Salary very much dependent on experience but up to £45,000.


If you are interested in pursuing this further, please send your Resume/CV to alison.petrash@lgcforensics.com indicating your salary requirements, experience and availability.

[Robert Thompson]

I know, you guys are wondering,
as of 5-10-07, conversion:

Currency Conversion Results
Symbol British Pound Exchange
Rate U.S. Dollar Bid Ask
GBPUSD=X 45000 May 10 1.9789

89,048 USD   

Robert T.

[Jerryp]

I guess it’s just about 2 $ per pound.  What’s the cost of living?

[Richard Hitchcox]

. . . 1.9789 . . .

Robert gave the daily exchange rate for May 10, 2007. 

[babyglock9mm]

Now hold on there fellas...the number of posts don't make you "distinguished AFTE members". 

We can send Charles though!!!   

[Richard Hitchcox]

I have no interest in going back to Europe for anything other than a vacation.  I lived there for more than half of my adult life.  I was simply explaining the daily exchange rate.

Richard

[Jerryp]

Robert did a great job figuring out literally to the penny the exchange rate. I was just trying to simplify for the lay person.   

Seriously though,
I am wondering how far the 45 K pounds will go. For instance, an 80 k us dollar salary will go much farther in the rural states that it will in the big cities. 

Anyone from the UK care to jump in?

[Ed Wallace]

£45K (where you to be offered that  )would keep you quite comfortable in the Leeds area.

Cost of living isn't too bad. Gas prices are a killer ($8 a gallon), but driving distances tend ro be shorter. Other than that, prices are comparable to the average cost of living in the States.

I am having the posting modified to reflect that AFTE membership is desireable, but you don't need to be a Distinguished Member.

Ed

[Jerryp]

Thanks ED 

[Brandon Bertolli]

If the potential candidate ends up in London, he needs to think carefully about the standard of living. Unless you have been living in a two room apartment in a large city in the US, you are sure to take a big dive in the standard of living by coming to London on that salary. Between £40k and £45k is enough to pay rent for a very modest one or two bedroomed flat, but wherever you go on that money you will be living a less quality lifestyle than you have been in the US (in all likelihood).
My mother and sister live in Colorado and I have spent three months with them there. They have lived here in the UK with me and we have all lived in South Africa. There is no question that unless you are rich you are going to take a drop in living standards if you come to the UK.
I haven't been to Leeds, but I have lived in Bournemouth and I now live in London. I currently pay £100 a week rent for a little room with a shared bathroom. It's what we call a bedsit here in the UK. I can't afford a house, and even if I could I would probably have to pay in excess of £300k for a pokey little terraced house with two bedrooms. And I earn somewhere between £38 and £42k.
Don't get me wrong, it is better for me to be here in the UK, than in South Africa, but the reasons why that is so, probably won't apply to an American coming to the UK.
For instance in South Africa I would have to contend with low wages, affirmative action, daily risk of life and limb to criminal elements and certain work-related bio-hazards that are endemic in South Africa. So for me, the UK is a step up (a step I am forced to take) if I want to get anywhere in life.
But it may not necessarily be a step up for any of you.

On a side note, you will have to get used to being an unarmed citizen in a nanny state where political correctness is out of control and common sense in legal matters is not so common after all. But I digress...my main point is that serious research is needed before somebody does a move like this.
That's all.

[Ed Wallace]

Brandon is right, £45K won't go far in London, but London is a law unto itself when it comes to living costs. The positions that need to be filled now are in Leeds, and will be for the forseeable future.

As for the side note, he is spot on, and that would be a big part of the decision to move.

I came back from Texas because I am from here and my family is here, and that was enough to accept the other things that are part of living in England.

Ed

[Jerryp]

Much thanks to our friends and members in the UK for thier insight.