I am not hiring you, no one knows you...

[firemedic05]

I was just wanting to probe a touchy subject about the hiring processes of some EMS or Fire depts.. I am not talking about the places that will hire you if you have a wet inked license and a pulse (optional). I am talking after you are in EMS for a while (2 - 3 years or more), and you try to advance to a more elite working environment. I have found that due to not being willing to go drink till all hours at the local EMS hangout, that I am by default considered a snob or pretentious. What I want to tell people but presents uncomfortable, is that I have went through Alcoholics Anonymous and can't be in that environment anymore. I have made many contacts through several years of working in EMS and am by no way an ignorant or mean person. However, I have seen people hired in front of me due to everything from being the Chiefs neighbor to people that hang out at the union hall and drink all night. I have nothing against people who drink, I used to enjoy it, just a little too much. Has anyone else had a situation where it was hard to get hired, no matter how well you did on the testings? I know you have to market yourself but I can not market myself by hanging out in a bar.

[cfdmcclain]

the good ole boy system does suck. we should be considered for jobs based on our past employment history, not who we drink,golf or sleep with

[Dustdevil]

Wow... I have never heard of such a thing. :? What state is this?

In big cities, they don't expect to know everybody. In small towns, they aren't overwhelmed by applications, so again, they don't expect to know people, they're just glad to have applicants.

Sure, I guess it would be ideal to have a personal knowledge of each and every person I hire, but come on. That's not even realistic. Nor is it even a necessarily good thing. Especially if you know them from a bar. Personally, I'm going to be much more likely to hire the family man whose priority is at home than the party boy. Whoever you are talking about is just inviting wankers. I really don't think I'd want to work for this organisation. Doesn't sound like an "advance" to me.

[paraloco]

This is the reason hiring should be an HR only function. The only plus side to the popularity contest is that you can weed out the dumbf#@ks who you know did or continue to do really stupid things where they are currently employed. ( you find out if they are stupid or just poorly trained in the interview) When I tried to get on where I am now 19 years ago, they flat out told me that they didn't know me well enough.

[Lone Star]

I'm actually in a similar type situation....

When I worked EMS in Detroit, the company that I worked for put me in a position to have to choose whether:

A.) I followed company policy and risk my license for abandonment (to keep the 'client' happy....

B.) I followed state protocol, offending the client (a run down ECF) (ECF = Extended Care Facility), and get fired.

I made the only obvious choice that I could see, and got fired. When I filed a protest, the company supported the firing (looking back, what did I really expect to happen?)

Now that I've filed the protest and lost, that company will not ever hire me again. Didn't matter that I was working out of stations that no one wanted (constantly had problems staffing certain stations because of the locations). Didn't matter that I was putting in on average anywhere from 20-40+ hours in overtime a week) (The last check I had when I went down with my aneurysm, was for 80 hours 'regular time' and 120 hours overtime in a two week period)

Since the company mentioned above will not re-hire me, I cannot seem to get a break in any other company that I've applied to.

I don't bash the other company in interviews, I don't go into alot of detail over the situation...I simply state that there was a disagreement over which was more important....company policy or state protocol.

I'm good at what I do, and think that I'm a huge addition to any company, but I have to find a way to get past the stigma of getting terminated by this other company. Until I do, I can pretty much hang up my license and go back to working the temp companies till the economy in my area dries up completely.

[Richard B the EMT]

I had a different problem.

My experience on a community based volunteer ambulance was not accepted, nor was my non-911 ambulance experiences.

I was victim of that other school of thought, "Don't go near the water until you learn how to swim"!

[brentoli]

Don't give up morals,

be the man or woman you are,

forever one chance.

[firemedic05]

Richard B - don't you love that its like the credit game - you need credit to get credit. My service has 911 contracts with certain municipalities but in general I don't think I get any credit for that because we also do transfers, vent calls, and the nursing home circuit. You would think they would want to hire someone who at least has a vague concept of the EMS system anything from how to talk on the radio or incident command, than the boss's nephew but everyday they hire the guy who has connections. Quite sad and to me they get what they deserve, when that guy shames their department or quits after lots of training.

[emt322632]

I was very bitter when I wasn't hired over the summer for a job I wanted. I was among the last applicants to have their application forwarded on for final selection.

However in the end, they chose two brand new (ink still wet on their certs) AEMT-CCs over me. I have 1 year more ALS experience than them, and 3 years more EMS experience. But it didn't matter, because they knew people.

Now, however, one was fired because she had to call for mutual aid from another department on a chest pain call. When the other department got there, she hadn't done anything. No vitals, no oxygen, no IV, no meds...she froze.

They got exactly what they paid for...But I've moved on, have a nice cushy job in a hospital, and RN school. There is always a silver lining, don't get discouraged:-)