BC hiring - station selection

[Can919]

Iam a certified PCP but havent worked in a service since graduation (1year ago). So im a paramedic sans ambulance. Ive sent applications to Mainland and Interior regions but my station selection is limiting me. Coquitlim, port Coquitlim, Richmond, Vernon, Westbank and Kelwona were my choices.

Ive travelled to BC several times on vacation so I am not very certain about the job prospects around the province.

Any one have suggestions of better station selections within the areas Ive mentioned that would allow me a better chance?

Thank you so much in advance

[mobey]

Sorry my friend you are in for some baaad news.

I suggest calling BCAS. But I can guarantee you, ems is not a career in BC till you have paid your dues to BCAS. That includes sitting at a station in nowhere forest, making less than minimum wage, and less than part time hrs.

[cprted]

These days you need a couple of years on before you can get into Kelowna, Westside, Vernon, etc. If you want to come to the Okanagan, try Summerland, Peachland, Sicamous, Oliver, etc. You'll need to spend some time working K and F shifts before heading into a larger centre.

[WolfmanHarris]

If you really want to work in BC you'd be better off going to ACP school and then applying.

[PCP]

Iam a certified PCP but havent worked in a service since graduation (1year ago). So im a paramedic sans ambulance. Ive sent applications to Mainland and Interior regions but my station selection is limiting me. Coquitlim, port Coquitlim, Richmond, Vernon, Westbank and Kelwona were my choices.

Ive travelled to BC several times on vacation so I am not very certain about the job prospects around the province.

Any one have suggestions of better station selections within the areas Ive mentioned that would allow me a better chance?

Thank you so much in advance

First of all welcome to the City!

where did you get your certification from?

Where do you live now? I am assuming you don't live in BC or you would know that you have no chance in getting hired to any of those stations, well not for a long while anyways.

I have never heard of Sans Ambulance before. Where are they located?

If you are looking to work at either of those stations you need to put in some time with BC Ambulance service. First of all you need to apply to BCAS, which then you do your interview( which a monkey could pass). Once you get hired you get posted to a rural station like Gold River, Sayward, Boston Bar which is located about two-three hours from downtown Vancouver. Once you have completed your six months of probation then you can lateral to a different station, which would not be in Vancouver or any of those places you named. To be able to work in Richmand, Port Moody, Kelowna, Vernon and some of those place you need probably at least 3 or more years of service.

To be able to work in the Vancouver post you need to post for a full time position which usually takes 5 years. Which at that point you get hired full time irreg. which means you get posted to a station, but you work out all the station located all over Vancouver. From there you need to apply for a full time position which means you get a regular station with a regular partner.

I have been with BCAS now for 3 years, not very long and I started in Gold River. We did 200 calls a year. Now I am working out Port Alberni and we do almost 5,000 calls a year, big jump from only 200 a year. We run three cars out that station 1 full time car, 1 kilo car (second car out) and a transfer car, as well as a spare care.

When you work part time for BCAS like I do ( the pay is not very good to start. You get 2 bucks an hour while you carry a pager while working on the KIlo car and then once you get paged out you get a minimum four hours pay at your base rate. Most of the rural stations only have a Kilo car, so you will need another job! you have to put in a minimum of 8 shifts a month, that does not mean you work 8 shifts that is just a number you have to submit for availability to keep your senority. We have about 4,000 EMR, PCP, ALS, CCP, ITT that work for BCAS, so that is a huge factor when it comes to applying for full time. Just cause there are so many of us trying to get a full time position that have taken their PCP training.

I am not a 100% sure how long it would take to get a station like West Bank, Vernon, or Kelowna, but I am going to guess a while since they are located in the Okanagon which is a very popular place to live due to the great weather! Kelowna is about the size of Nanaimo maybe and for me to lateral to Nanaimo is going to be about 4 years. We run two stations out of Nanaimo and we have two stations in Nanimo and out of those two stations we have three PCP man cars, 1 ALS car, and 1Kilo car to respond to a town with over 100,000 people living there. Kelowna is probably about the same so, yes it would take a while before you get a posting there part-time.

Feel free to pm me with any more questions or on this forum.

Brian

[Happiness]

http://www.bcas.ca/

Here is the offical website you can get more information. Unfortunantly you are trying to get into stations that are very highly wanted withing the BCAS employee listing. There are other stations in BC that are isolated or rual that you will have to start with and then by getting your senority and doing lateral moves. Good luck.

PS. PCP I'm not even going to comment of the Monkey comment except to say that is in bad form.

[PCP]

http://www.bcas.ca/

Here is the offical website you can get more information. Unfortunantly you are trying to get into stations that are very highly wanted withing the BCAS employee listing. There are other stations in BC that are isolated or rual that you will have to start with and then by getting your senority and doing lateral moves. Good luck.

PS. PCP I'm not even going to comment of the Monkey comment except to say that is in bad form.

Happiness I apologize for that comment, as it was wrong of me to say Sorry if I upset you or any other BCAS member on this forum. I will think what effects my post or wording I use may have on others or on my credibility.

I understand why it upset you, as it is putting down our service, which I did not think about before hand. I was just attempting to say that the interview portion is not that hard compared to other interviews I have done. That is what I should have said.

[crotchitymedic1986]

I will be the one to vote the other route. There is an old joke: A guy is interviewing applicants for an accounting position, as the applicants come in, he asks one easy question, "What is 2 + 2 ?" Everyone quickly answers 4, and is then shown the door. Finally an applicant comes in and answers, "what would you like it to equal", and he is given the job. In this economy, I advise that you sort of lie; answer no about being terminated, and then don't list that employer on your application. There is no way for them to check it if you do not admit to working there.

[cprted]

I will be the one to vote the other route. There is an old joke: A guy is interviewing applicants for an accounting position, as the applicants come in, he asks one easy question, "What is 2 + 2 ?" Everyone quickly answers 4, and is then shown the door. Finally an applicant comes in and answers, "what would you like it to equal", and he is given the job. In this economy, I advise that you sort of lie; answer no about being terminated, and then don't list that employer on your application. There is no way for them to check it if you do not admit to working there.

Hmmm. I like to think of integrity as one of my strengths and an important personal quality in this line of work. Food for thought, assume they do find out, how do you come back after being caught in a blatant lie like that?

[tniuqs]

CAN919:

You can apply and through BC Licensing and get your card, but realistic access to FT employment from my experience as an ACP is limited by BCAS and moreover CUPE, like climbing a ladder that is sitting in quicksand. I believe a court challenge is needed i.e. the Inter Provincial Labour Mobility Agreement before their is real reciprocity in Canada.

I have yet to be considered to be interviewed for the 3 positions I have applied for, and they are not the most bid areas btw, apparently "applicants from IN House have priority" well, so I am told from the horses mouth, no matter experience or what or what credentials one may have.

Better Question is do you know about the cost of living in the Lower Mainland and Kelowna area (s) ?

PCP ... Ok question: If you were in Gold River (low call volume hence patient contact) how did you maintain "Patient Contact Hours" as working in AB I can not by law (re: Health Care Information Protection) cannot pass fill out the on line reporting ethically .. I believe I will just let my let censure expire then apply again from out of province ... way easier that doing Con Ed reporting in 2 provinces and 3 regulated professions .. maybe time to push the peas off my plate with slim to none chance of working in BC myself. btw sans = without .

Dear Crotch: 2 + 2 = 4 your ethical standards are questionable, the rules of employment in Canada are a bit more stringent, we require Criminal Records checks vulnerable sectors and mandatory yearly reporting in Alberta AND if you are terminated from any position for any reason of competency it is reportable to the regulatory body, to apply for licensure in BC from AB requires full disclosure.

Edited April 23, 2011 by tniuqs