Graduating student curious about resume competitiveness

[hibiti85]

After this semester im graduating university with a bachelors degree in psychology(opted for a degree instead of medic school for now) and was wondering how competitive my resume is. I have already finished a fire academy along with my EMT receiving an A.S in fire science, i speak 2 foreign languages Spanish, German along with English being my primary. I have plenty of Certs swift water rescue, confined space...ect.

im sorry if this thread is redundant, i am of course just curious to see how i would fair in the job market with my qualifications i had listed. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely Hibiti85

[FireFarrier]

Do you have a criminal record, recent drug use, or have you ever had any hard drug use? We need to know if you have anything working against you, not just what you have going for you.

[hibiti85]

thank you for your quick reply, i have nothing going against me.

[OHFirestopper]

Your resume is good, however if you're looking to get on a full-time department which I assume you are you're resume means nothing until you score high enough on a civil service test, even then some don't get looked at until after a physical agility and polygraph.

[fire49]

what state are you in and do you have a proble relocating to another state??

as in married? or other

[hibiti85]

im in California, i dont have a problem relocating. I was looking into doing CDF next season. Im hoping(of course like many others) to get on with a rather large city, but i am aware that flexibility is necessary in order to get the foot in the door.

Thank you for the criticism on my resume, i will make sure to study hard for the exams when i do take them.

[fire49]

Quote::::

I'm sure you've been looking at the descriptions, but many jobs in CA these days require a completed State Fire Marshal Certified Academy and some jobs are only open to Medics since many departments are going that way. I don't believe I've seen any that require a degree.

If you have the time and money to do so, get the Medic license. I know I would! I assume it would save the departments time and money, so you're almost instantly a better candidate.


Have you considered ATF???????

[hibiti85]

i have considered getting my medic license but i was more so hoping while being employed at a station. I already have the academy taken care of. I havent considered ATF, thanks for you suggestion ill look into it.

[paulLepore]

Congratulations on earning your Bachelor's degree! You are well ahead of the majority of the testing crowd. The next thing you need to do is to get a job as an EMT running first in 911 calls. This iwll give you a good foundation for Paramedic school.
This will make you much more marketable with fire department exams.

[athletefirefighter]

Chief Lepore,
I am in a similar boat as hibiti85, and right now I have the chance to either work as an ER tech or as an EMT for a small ambulance company that runs 911 calls. Which do you think would be more marketable as a fire candidate? Obviously every job is what you make of it but the ER tech position has a much higher patient volume and they will pay for phlebotomy training which is great practice for medic school if I go that route, but EMS in the fire service is much more geared toward 911/ambulance calls. Thank you for your opinion.

[paulLepore]

Athlete,
Great question. The way I evaluate a big decision (decision tree) such as this is I take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle and evaluate the pros and cons of each opportunity.
Here is what I came up with in your situation:

Ambulance Company
Pros-
In the field doing very similar work- the environment is very similar to the fire service. Scene safety, patient evaluation, rig and station maintenance, interacting with firefighters and paramedics. Also, 24 hour shifts give you the opportunity to quickly log EMT hours toward paramedic school.

Cons-
Small company may equate to not being very busy, which means minimal patient contact. Lots of down time (could be a pro if you use your time wisely for physical fitness or studying while posting).
If you are running a lot of calls, it is not uncommon to get minimal patient contact because the "fire guys" do all of the assessments. This of course depends on the area in which you work.

Hospital
Pros-
Lots of patient contact, patient assessments, hands on experience with patients.

Cons -
Very controlled environment which is much different than the field. This means that you do not learn about scene safety, taking blood pressures in the back of a rig etc. Usually less critical patients (lots of cuts and bruises). You are working 8 - 10 hour shifts which mean time does not build up rapidly if counting hours for PM school.

For the record, I was an ER tech before I went to Paramedic school. It was a great learning environment and made paramedic school and internship much easier.

The good news for you is that you cannot make a wrong decision as either one is good. I am sure others will weigh in and give their thoughts.