What to look for when searching for a quality employer

[46Young]

Okay, you've finished EMT/medic school. Now what? Are you looking for FT work as a career, PT side change, or a stepping stone to bigger and better things?

Salary is the first thing that comes to mind. It's important to realize that the starting salary isn't your only concern. Some places pay well to start, but it may be that way to distract one from their horrendous working conditions, lack of career development, or low potential for raises above that. The FDNY and NYPD start their employees at almost a welfare rate (for the region), but their 5 year + personnel are rewarded for sticking around. New employees eat it at first so that tenured employees may benefit with higher compensation than might be possible otherwise. An important thing to ask at the end of the interview, when they ask if you have any other questions, is "How do you determine hourly (or annual) compensation and merit increases"? That particular wording requires a straightforward answer.

http://www.nypdrecruit.com/NYPD_BenefitsOverview.aspx

http://nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/community/ff_salary_benefits_080106.shtml

A yearly salary quote can be misleading. Are you working 40 hours/wk? 44? 48? 56? Are you FLSA (fire based dual role) or not? Let's take a quoted yearly salary of 49920/yr as an example. If you're working 40 hours/wk, you're getting 24/hr. If you're working 56 hours/wk, getting 40 straight and 16 at 1.5 time, you're earning 15/hr straight and 22.50/hr built in OT. If you're FLSA like me, all of your scheduled work hours are straight time at 17.14/hr. Your OT will be 25.71/hr however, over 3/hr over the 40+16 scenario.

Is your schedule fixed, as in MON/0600-1800, WED/0800-0000, SAT/0700-1900? Or do you rotate as in a 24/48 and the like? Once you get your schedule is it yours permanently, or does management change it up every six months to a year? Is there a mandatory OT policy? Is it capped at 2 hours, or is it 8, 12, or even an extra 24 hours?

What is their leave policy? Do they approve when the staffing ratio allows, or do they make it prohibitively difficult to use any leave? How many sick days and paid days off do you get per year? Can you roll over, or do you lose your time?

What medical/dental plans are available? Deductibles involved? 401k/403b (defined contribution) with matching? Or do they have a defined benefit (pension) with hopefully a 457 deferred comp. Our multiplier results in a nearly 75% compensation rate based on one's highest three years of earning for each year, with COLAs. We also have a three year DROP -

http://benefitsattorney.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=14

By my calculations, my pension will outweigh what I would have otherwise had under a DC plan (under the best of circumstances) in about 6 or 7 years tops. Every year thereafter I'm making out like a bandit.

I'll discuss working conditions, differences between private IFT, third service, fire based, as well as career development/career change utilizing EMS in later posts.

[spenac]

For the newbie make sure they actually pay and that checks don't bounce. Sadly some privates take advantage of new basics knowing that when they leave after not getting paid someone else will step in.