Resume Building

[catmasher]

Howdy y'all.

Ok, I am starting a EMT-B program in January, and after that I will be attending a paramedic program. My previous job is that of a student and motorcycle mechanic, which does not exactly lend itself to an impressive resume in a healthcare context (the mechanic part, the BS lends itself well.)

What would you suggest I do to get my resume to stand out from the others, or at least get into the acceptable range. Obviously, I would like to pad it with activities that will actually teach me something, not just something that might look good such as a club or something.

I know many of you (by many, I mean mostly dust=) would not recommend volunteer work, as it takes away from those attempting to further EMS as a career, but would it not be in my best interest to volunteer as a basic while in school?

I could be wrong on my train of thought here, but some advice, criticism, ranting, jokes, etc would be helpful as I formulate a strategy.

[Capman]

Howdy y'all.

Ok, I am starting a EMT-B program in January, and after that I will be attending a paramedic program. My previous job is that of a student and motorcycle mechanic, which does not exactly lend itself to an impressive resume in a healthcare context (the mechanic part, the BS lends itself well.)

Keep in mind cat' that not everyone does this fresh out of high school. Also keep in mind that many who do this still have occupations such as mechanics, farmers (in my area), truck drivers, etc. It is a field that does not segregate those who may not have the most spectacular resume. My best advice to you is to take the basic, attend all the trainings that you can, and enroll in the paramedic program, and you should be well on your way to landing yourself a job in EMS. You sound like you have a positive attitude and I encourage and welcome that in the new men and women coming into the field.

I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted and feel free to ask questions.

[Medic26]

You could get a job as a nurses aide, Patient care aide, ER tech or something like that in a hospital setting. Looks good when you have had some interaction and experience even though you would not really be performing any "skills" per say.

[UMSTUDENT]

Keep in mind cat' that not everyone does this fresh out of high school. Also keep in mind that many who do this still have occupations such as mechanics, farmers (in my area), truck drivers, etc. It is a field that does not segregate those who may not have the most spectacular resume. My best advice to you is to take the basic, attend all the trainings that you can, and enroll in the paramedic program, and you should be well on your way to landing yourself a job in EMS. You sound like you have a positive attitude and I encourage and welcome that in the new men and women coming into the field.

I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted and feel free to ask questions.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about a resume until you've successfully completed a paramedic program. In my opinion there is a huge step in the level of professionalism between the two job functions. A good paramedic program will boost your resume with a couple of key factors:

A) A degree (AAS or BS).

Clinical hours. Clerkship, Rotation, Internship, Externship...whatever your school calls it.

C) Membership to a professional "registry" of equally qualified individuals.

Add some volunteer hours in whatever you so choose and you're off to a good start. Remember, you'll be starting off new so don't expect to be gunning for an officer level position or time on a helicopter. Spend some time as a street paramedic and go from there.

As I've started looking for possible careers I've kept a couple of things in mind:

A) Competitive entry. If lots of people want to work for this employer, the package is probably fairly good.

Benefits, benefits, benefits...

C) Competitive Starting Salary. Look for bonuses for ALS qualifications in fire-based systems. This will depend on your area. I'd say 36,000+ is fairly decent in most of the country for a new paramedic. Where I'm at 45,000-50,000 is ideal.

D) Clearly defined advancement structure.

E) Respect for education and performance-based advancement.

F) Union Representation.

Go to your interviews in a suit, bring a copy of your resume, and be prepared to sell yourself...no not illegally.

[Dustdevil]

I know many of you (by many, I mean mostly dust=) would not recommend volunteer work, as it takes away from those attempting to further EMS as a career, but would it not be in my best interest to volunteer as a basic while in school.

You may have missed much of my point. The effect of volunteerism on the profession as a whole is only a very, very small part of my objection to volunteering as a basic. In fact, I don't think I ever even brought that part up to you. There are two other factors that are more important for you to consider:

• 1. Does it look good to your prospective employer?

2. Does it help your professional development?

• Volunteering it's usually not experience. It is just exposure. There is no consistency. There is no structure. There is no organised plan to provide you with professional guidance to build upon what you have learned. You have a different "partner" everytime you go out, and chances are that he has no real professional experience either. The result is that you end up with no real experience, but a great many bad habits and incorrect beliefs to show for it, and you won't have any idea that they are bad habits, because nobody around you is qualified to teach you the right way. Breaking bad habits and half-baked notions from anecdotal experiences makes learning harder, not easier. It is simply not good for your professional growth.

There are some employers who do look favourably on volunteer experience. In Houston, it's probably a toss-up. But those who view it unfavourably are really turned off by it. And those who don't, usually don't really count it seriously in your favour. They simply don't hold it against you. That's because they know what I am saying. It really contributes nothing of significance to your professional growth. I know that sounds counterintuitive to you, because it would seem to make sense that practice makes perfect, right? But the caveat is, only perfect practice makes perfect. And perfect practice is extremely elusive in volunteer FD EMS.

Volunteering is a lot like masturbation. Yeah, you break a sweat and get to pretend like you are actually having real sex. But you're fooling yourself if you think that is really going to help you become a better lover.

As for what you mentioned, again, you don't seem to be understanding what I and others are saying. The "career" you speak of isn't somebody else. It isn't some guy in New York that you'll never meet. Volunteering isn't just taking away from others. It is taking away from YOU! YOU are the one who expects to get a job out of this, aren't you? Yeah, you'll find a job. But that job isn't going to pay nearly what it should, because 75 percent of your county gets their ambulance drivers for free, so the remaining 25 percent isn't willing to pay much more than minimum wage for theirs.

I would agree with others, that a hospital job could be helpful for you. It does not carry the negative, unprofessional stigma that being a whacker does. Although there are probably some idiots hiring for some companies that don't think hospital experience is real experience, they don't hold it against you like they might volly experience, at least. And it is very helpful to get supervised, hands on experience with patient assessment, which is the most important skill in all of EMS. In the hospital, you are seeing patients all day, everyday. Not just a couple of runs a week, if you are lucky. Not to mention being constantly surrounded by doctors and nurses is an excellent learning resource. And, of course, getting paid is always a big plus, so it's really a no brainer.

Do what you want, Bro. Few people listen. But you asked, so I'm giving you the straight scoop. I -- like all the others here who will tell you the same thing -- have lived this and learned from our mistakes. We hope you can too.

As for the resume, I think yours will be just fine when you graduate. Just emphasise education instead of experience. And in the experience department, emphasise not the title you held, or the job you did, but the professional attributes that you developed while doing that job. I know I personally would rather have you as a new grad, with the background you have, than some straight out of high schooler who has been whacking for CyFair since he was 14. Don't sweat it. You have an edge that those vollies only wish they had. You'll do fine.

[NREMT-Basic]

Dust-

I really am curious so please leave the guns in the holsters. On what do you base the generalizations you make about volly services? Is there some study out there that shows that volunteers are inadequately trained, poor quality providers? Does it show that they dont follow the same protocols as their paid counterparts? I know I hear you and a lot of other anti-volunteer folks (and everyone has a right to their opinion) constantly bashing volunteers and the agencies for which they work (which was supposed to be stopping on this site) and I am truly interested on what that constant bashing is based. Because someone shows up in the ER or at a scene wearing their agency's t-shirt and ball cap and blue jeans does not make them a poor EMS provider any more than the military special operators we see in AFGN with ragged beards who look as though they have never seen a shower. Im sure, in fact I know, that there are a lot of people out there who are alive and kicking because there was a volunteer service available to assist them. I just dont understand where the wholesale hatred of all things volunteer comes from. I was in an ER the other night and saw a volly crew come in, the volly paramedic up on the cot pumping the patients chest giving text book CPR. In what way was he failing his patient because he was wearing a real-tree camo baseball cap and if that patient lived, do you suppose they cared who took care of them. The strange thing was, once he handed over care to the "professional" hospital staff, it took a room full of people and 35 minutes to try to get a tube in (and I literally mean that every paid provider in that ER flocked into the room whether they needed too be there or not just to try to get in on the action. What bad habits are learned by volunteers that would automatically be straightened out by a paramedic making $8.50 an hour.

All Im really saying is that I would like to see the numbers that say volunteer services give less than standard care. And is that just in the US or would you also say that Israel's MDR is also less than good at what they do because they are largely volunteer? Perhaps you are right, but I like facts and figures and Ive yet to see any pertaining to this particular argument.

[Capman]

NREMT'

This needs to be considered as well. In my area, a lot of the outline towns that do not have an ambulance base are volunteer services. Volunteer first responders show up prior to the ambulance to offer care. Most of these first responders are the EMT's and Paramedics who work full time, but are responding on their day off. Does the term volunteer some how degrade patient care, or the fact that they are responding in blue jeans and boots?

Of course when I say first responders, I don't mean the license level.

[ERDoc]

NREMT et al. I don't think people have a problem with the level of care provided by people who work in EMS and do the volley thing on the side. One of the biggest concerns is with the people who only volunteer. How do you become and stay a competent provider when yuo run 2 or 3 calls a month? How do you stay abreast of the latest research on ALS topics if you only run 1 ALS call per month. Yes, anyone can run through their protocals, but I think the point that people are trying to make by making a big push for education is that we can get rid of protocals if we have educated, experienced providers; providers that are able to think on their own and not depend on protocals to tell them what to do.

We can all say we have seen bad things done by such and such provider of every level. Keep in mind that in some ERs you still have non-EM trained docs (IM, Fam Med, Surg). These are people who do not have the education and experience that should be required to work in an ER. I find it hard to believe an EM trained doc would wait 35 minutes before getting out the scalpel (though if this happened in an academic center I can see it happening as each person thinks they can do it beter than the person before).

[NREMT-Basic]

NREMT'

This needs to be considered as well. In my area, a lot of the outline towns that do not have an ambulance base are volunteer services. Volunteer first responders show up prior to the ambulance to offer care. Most of these first responders are the EMT's and Paramedics who work full time, but are responding on their day off. Does the term volunteer some how degrade patient care, or the fact that they are responding in blue jeans and boots?

Of course when I say first responders, I don't mean the license level.

Im not really sure of your point here. Im just saying that I have a problem with those that assume because someone is a volunteer, that they provide inferior care. As for the poster that makes the generalization that volunteer providers run 3 or 4 calls a month, its just that, a generalization. In the town just north of me, the volly rescue squad runs 5-6 calls a day on average and alot of them would put so called "professionals" to shame. If the number of calls is the defining parameter, then does a "professional" provider lose their skills when they only run 4 calls in a given shift. The idea that all vollys are worthless and inferior to their paid counterparts is ridiculous and without statistical back up. Almost every time this is brought up, I ask for someone to show me the numbers, and they never do.

[catmasher]

Volunteering is a lot like masturbation. Yeah, you break a sweat and get to pretend like you are actually having real sex. But you're fooling yourself if you think that is really going to help you become a better lover.

finally, someone breaks it down in terms I can understand!

seriously though, everyone is making what I think are great points. Here are some of my thoughts on the responses.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about a resume until you've successfully completed a paramedic program.

I want to stand out to a prospective employer, and while I am in school, I will have opportunities to build my resume beyond what the school provides. If I don't, it seems as though I will be on a level playing field with those that graduated with me, which is what I don't want. I want to stand out on paper, even if it is just a little. I want it to be a no brainer for the HR person or whoever to invite me to an interview as they skim however many other applications.

UMSTUDENT: Your abc's were helpful, I will certainly keep those in mind. I also just bought a pimpin new suit on sale that I can use for interviews!

The straight scoop is why I asked, and I had an idea why vollies are frowned upon by some folks, (I also see why they are needed in some areas, NREMT-Basic) but the whole volly issue is becoming more clear to me. I don't think I will volunteer, there are 3 hospitals in my area that I would love to work at (and be paid for it). I think it will be helpful to see what happens as EMS drops off the patients, I reckon it will help me understand and perform better as an EMS responder.

Do what you want, Bro. Few people listen. But you asked, so I'm giving you the straight scoop. I -- like all the others here who will tell you the same thing -- have lived this and learned from our mistakes.

I am asking these questions so I can learn from your mistakes and hopefully avoid more advanced mistakery. I dont at all mind getting a harsh response, as I would much rather get a bit of a verbal lashing here than make a mistake that causes my career harm.

I am pursuing this as much as I can with the long term in mind. I am doing my best to approach this as my budding career, not as something to do for the next few years. This site has been an incredible resource for me as I begin my endeavor here, and I cant thank you guys enough for your replies.