# Cataldo Ambulance Hiring Open House



## Steam Engine (Aug 25, 2011)

Just got this in an email today...hope this helps!



*[EMTs & Paramedics Full/Part Time

Flexible 911 & Transfer Shifts Available 

TWELVE 911 Emergency Contracts

Competitive Benefit & Pay Packages

Contracts with TOP Medical Centers

18 Locations throughout Greater Boston and the North Shore Area


SEPTEMBER 7th: 2 pm - 9 pm                               

THE WESTIN WALTHAM HOTEL
70 THIRD AVENUE
WALTHAM, MA 02451                


 Please visit the employment section of website to complete questionnaire and  register before pre hire

 On The Day of Pre-Hire Test Please Bring:  



1. Application
2. Certifications 

3. Copy of Driving Record

 Additional info is available at  www.cataldoambulance.com 



See you on September 7th[/I][/I][/I] *


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## brs23 (Aug 25, 2011)

Thanks for the info, definitely going to check it out


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## bigbaldguy (Aug 26, 2011)

Looks like a good outfit.


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## emt-slick (Aug 26, 2011)

Just got hired... There were about 20 people in my orientation class and the instructor said they took about 50 percent of those who applied and passed the test so you have a good shot right now.


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## brs23 (Aug 27, 2011)

emt-slick said:


> Just got hired... There were about 20 people in my orientation class and the instructor said they took about 50 percent of those who applied and passed the test so you have a good shot right now.



What does the testing involve?


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## emt-slick (Aug 27, 2011)

written test which includes multiple choice, a couple narratives, and a map reading part, then the practical where they give you 3 scenarios and you go through everything.


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## Steam Engine (Sep 1, 2011)

FYI- open house is now September 22, 0830 or 1300 at 25 Eastern Ave, Malden. Contact Erica Robertson at 781-873-4348 to pre-register.


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## brs23 (Sep 1, 2011)

I'm registered for the test.  Anything else I should know/expect when I go in?  The only thing she told me was to bring my credentials and a copy of my driving record.  I meant to ask but (of course) forgot, should I be dressed as though I were going to an interview or is it more informal?  Thanks!


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## emt-slick (Sep 1, 2011)

I saw people dressed for an interview but I wore a t shirt and jeans for the test


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## brs23 (Sep 1, 2011)

emt-slick said:


> I saw people dressed for an interview but I wore a t shirt and jeans for the test



Thanks, I think I'll probably go for business casual, I hate feeling under-dressed for these kinds of things. 

I'm from the south shore so I'm not too familiar with the metro Boston and north shore areas, anything specific I should study to prepare for the map portion?


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## emt-slick (Sep 1, 2011)

Just know how to read a map it's easy the street names are in the bottom corner of each page and you just follow the grid to find the street.


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## brs23 (Sep 1, 2011)

emt-slick said:


> Just know how to read a map it's easy the street names are in the bottom corner of each page and you just follow the grid to find the street.



Oh ok, I was thinking more along the lines of "driving from x to y, what would be the fastest route" kind of thing.


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## emt-slick (Sep 1, 2011)

That's what it is I meant if you have trouble finding the streets they are listed in the bottom right so you use the grid to find them.  They ask you to find the quickest route to x hospital from y street.  Just find your way tO the nearest main street and you will do


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## brs23 (Sep 1, 2011)

emt-slick said:


> That's what it is I meant if you have trouble finding the streets they are listed in the bottom right so you use the grid to find them.  They ask you to find the quickest route to x hospital from y street.  Just find your way tO the nearest main street and you will do



Yeah, I figured that's what you meant...I was just thinking they wanted to know if you knew the route off the top of your head.


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## CobraIV (Sep 5, 2011)

emt-slick said:


> written test which includes multiple choice, a couple narratives, and a map reading part, then the practical where they give you 3 scenarios and you go through everything.




Is this a Cataldo thing where they test you or is this most ambulance companies? A girl told me she applied at Armstrong & Fallon and failed the lifting test I believe it was 120lbs? 130lbs? 

Thanks!


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## emt-slick (Sep 5, 2011)

Lifting tests I believe are required by all ambulance companies.  It was part of my pre hire physical at the doctors.  Different companies do different stuff as far as pre employment testing goes.  Some companies just call you for an interview and that's it but others like Cataldo require you take a written and practical test.  If you can't lift 120 lbs then how are you going to carry a stair chair or lift someone on a stretcher?


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## CobraIV (Sep 5, 2011)

I don't have a problem with lifting 120lbs


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## ffemt8978 (Sep 5, 2011)

emt-slick said:


> Lifting tests I believe are required by all ambulance companies.



No, they're not required by ALL ambulance companies.


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## SuperScarlett (Sep 20, 2011)

I'll be there Thursday for sure! Do you know how many people are usually present?


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## Artst10 (Sep 21, 2011)

*Cataldo hiring*

Congratulations! I didn't make it past the written exam.


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## SuperScarlett (Sep 21, 2011)

Artst10 said:


> Congratulations! I didn't make it past the written exam.



Do you mean the Cataldo one? What was it like? 

Maybe you can't tell but I'm wicked stressed about not having a job yet.


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## brs23 (Sep 22, 2011)

Well I was there today and I think it went pretty well, guess I'll find out in a week or so.


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## MassEMT-B (Sep 22, 2011)

Good luck to you all, let us know how it goes.


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## SuperScarlett (Sep 22, 2011)

MassEMT-B said:


> Good luck to you all, let us know how it goes.



Thanks! I'm dyslexic and have a LOT of trouble with maps...aside from that it didn't seem so bad...


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## brs23 (Sep 28, 2011)

Has anyone heard back yet?


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## nydgenga (Sep 28, 2011)

brs23 said:


> Has anyone heard back yet?


Sadly, I haven't heard anything just yet. Somewhat nervous.

The more I think about it, the worse I feel about this. I'm starting to question decisions that I made during the practical. :wacko:


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## brs23 (Sep 28, 2011)

nydgenga said:


> Sadly, I haven't heard anything just yet. Somewhat nervous.
> 
> The more I think about it, the worse I feel about this. I'm starting to question decisions that I made during the practical. :wacko:



Yeah, not hearing from them had me overthinking everything too.  I feel better knowing that I'm not the only one that hasn't heard back yet though.


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## nydgenga (Sep 28, 2011)

brs23 said:


> Yeah, not hearing from them had me overthinking everything too.  I feel better knowing that I'm not the only one that hasn't heard back yet though.


Through the power of snooping on these forums, I see that it tends to take them a long while to get their act together for contacting people. I had thought that I overheard the lead guy tell a few people that it would only be a few days, but perhaps I misheard. I didn't get the same speech as others, though. Perhaps they were ALS.


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## SuperScarlett (Sep 28, 2011)

nydgenga said:


> Through the power of snooping on these forums, I see that it tends to take them a long while to get their act together for contacting people. I had thought that I overheard the lead guy tell a few people that it would only be a few days, but perhaps I misheard. I didn't get the same speech as others, though. Perhaps they were ALS.



I thought I heard him tell someone it would be "about a week"...so we could definitely hear from them in the next day or so. I've been overthinking everything like crazy, too, but the nice thing is I'm pretty sure they'll be contacting EVERYONE, not just the people who passed, so we won't just be waiting indefinitely for the call that never comes...


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## brs23 (Sep 28, 2011)

SuperScarlett said:


> I thought I heard him tell someone it would be "about a week"...so we could definitely hear from them in the next day or so. I've been overthinking everything like crazy, too, but the nice thing is I'm pretty sure they'll be contacting EVERYONE, not just the people who passed, so we won't just be waiting indefinitely for the call that never comes...



Yeah, I think you're right.  Just hope it doesn't take too much longer to hear back.  I'm wondering if I shouldn't call on Monday if I haven't heard anything by then.


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## SuperScarlett (Sep 28, 2011)

brs23 said:


> Yeah, I think you're right.  Just hope it doesn't take too much longer to hear back.  I'm wondering if I shouldn't call on Monday if I haven't heard anything by then.



I was thinking Monday as well, maybe Tuesday. Its that fine line between "people who follow up on things are good" and "um we said a week, doesn't this kid listen?" 

Plus there were at least 25-30 people in my session and who knows how many in the other, they obviously have a fair amount of candidates to review.


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## brs23 (Sep 28, 2011)

SuperScarlett said:


> I was thinking Monday as well, maybe Tuesday. Its that fine line between "people who follow up on things are good" and "um we said a week, doesn't this kid listen?"
> 
> Plus there were at least 25-30 people in my session and who knows how many in the other, they obviously have a fair amount of candidates to review.



I was thinking the same.  I think there were about 25 people in my session as well (I was in the afternoon session).


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## SuperScarlett (Sep 28, 2011)

brs23 said:


> I was thinking the same.  I think there were about 25 people in my session as well (I was in the afternoon session).



I was in the afternoon session too. I ran into a couple morning session people in Dunks, I think they said they had about 30ish? But I really don't remember...I was in freakout mode at that point.


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## nydgenga (Sep 28, 2011)

SuperScarlett said:


> I was in the afternoon session too. I ran into a couple morning session people in Dunks, I think they said they had about 30ish? But I really don't remember...I was in freakout mode at that point.


I was in the morning session. We were packed pretty tightly. Someone was sent out to find more chairs at one point. When I walked in (a mere five minutes before the appointed time; damn traffic), I nearly died at how many people were already there. <_<


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## brs23 (Sep 28, 2011)

nydgenga said:


> I was in the morning session. We were packed pretty tightly. Someone was sent out to find more chairs at one point. When I walked in (a mere five minutes before the appointed time; damn traffic), I nearly died at how many people were already there. <_<



I sat in my car in the parking lot for a while (I got there wicked early) and when I got in there, 15 mins early, there were only 3-4 seats left open.


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## MassEMT-B (Sep 28, 2011)

When I took it they said you should hear in about a week. I think I took it on a Monday. I had not heard anything from them and it was bordering on 1 week and a half to two weeks. I called and they scheduled the interview right then and she said she was still calling people for interviews. So it may take a little more than a week. They have 1 hr person and I think an assistant. Hopefully you all passed. If anyone has any more questions you can PM me.


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## SuperScarlett (Sep 30, 2011)

MassEMT-B said:


> When I took it they said you should hear in about a week. I think I took it on a Monday. I had not heard anything from them and it was bordering on 1 week and a half to two weeks. I called and they scheduled the interview right then and she said she was still calling people for interviews. So it may take a little more than a week. They have 1 hr person and I think an assistant. Hopefully you all passed. If anyone has any more questions you can PM me.



That definitely makes me feel better...I'm just hoping I passed, the guy doing my practical told me I looked like my eyes were about to roll back in my head. Very reassuring...


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## brs23 (Oct 1, 2011)

SuperScarlett said:


> That definitely makes me feel better...I'm just hoping I passed, the guy doing my practical told me I looked like my eyes were about to roll back in my head. Very reassuring...



Yeah, I agree, thank you.  I think I'll give them a call on Monday.


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## SuperScarlett (Oct 3, 2011)

brs23 said:


> Yeah, I agree, thank you.  I think I'll give them a call on Monday.



For those who are still waiting...I just gave them a call to follow up. The woman on the phone said that the test results weren't in yet and that they would be in probably later today or tomorrow. She said phone calls/emails would be going out by the end of this week. I'll probably follow up again on Thursday if I still haven't heard anything.

Good luck everyone!


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## nydgenga (Oct 4, 2011)

Woo! I got my results!



> I wish to offer you congratulations on passing both portions of the Cataldo Ambulance BLS pre-employment exam. Your test results are valid for one year. A Human Resources Representative will be in contact with you should there be an appropriate opening in the schedule. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any questions.



^_^


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## brs23 (Oct 4, 2011)

I just got the same email


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## SuperScarlett (Oct 4, 2011)

brs23 said:


> I just got the same email



Congrats, guys! I haven't heard, so i probably didn't pass. Just my luck.


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## SuperScarlett (Oct 5, 2011)

False alarm, I got my passing email this morning! I'm super curious what the passing % was...


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## nydgenga (Oct 5, 2011)

SuperScarlett said:


> False alarm, I got my passing email this morning! I'm super curious what the passing % was...


While I would love to know the percentage, I would also be terrified to know. :wacko:

But now I wonder how long the wait will be to hear anything else or if I should call eventually. Bah! I'm so bad about these things.


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## SuperScarlett (Oct 5, 2011)

nydgenga said:


> While I would love to know the percentage, I would also be terrified to know. :wacko:
> 
> But now I wonder how long the wait will be to hear anything else or if I should call eventually. Bah! I'm so bad about these things.



I called 

The woman on the phone (Erica) said that in the next week or so, they will be going over their schedule along with the availability sheets we filled out at the test and would start calling people for interviews some time next week. I made sure to mention that I have a super open schedule...if yours is really flexible, it probably wouldn't hurt to do the same; they're obviously going to want people that don't have a ton of other commitments to work around.


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## nydgenga (Oct 5, 2011)

SuperScarlett said:


> The woman on the phone (Erica) said that in the next week or so, they will be going over their schedule along with the availability sheets we filled out at the test and would start calling people for interviews some time next week. I made sure to mention that I have a super open schedule...if yours is really flexible, it probably wouldn't hurt to do the same; they're obviously going to want people that don't have a ton of other commitments to work around.


Ah, thank you for the information! If I recall correctly, I had marked myself as being amazingly available for any shift.


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## brs23 (Oct 5, 2011)

nydgenga said:


> Ah, thank you for the information! If I recall correctly, I had marked myself as being amazingly available for any shift.



Congrats guys!  I also marked my schedule as available any time


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## MassEMT-B (Oct 5, 2011)

They told us in orientation the pass rate was about 40 to 50 percent for all the tests they do.iun


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## nydgenga (Oct 5, 2011)

MassEMT-B said:


> They told us in orientation the pass rate was about 40 to 50 percent for all the tests they do.iun


:blink: Wow. That's somewhat comforting for me. I feared that it would be rather high.


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## brs23 (Oct 5, 2011)

nydgenga said:


> :blink: Wow. That's somewhat comforting for me. I feared that it would be rather high.



Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.


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## Needajob (Nov 2, 2011)

*...*

Just figured I'd throw out my experience. I took the test last November, and after about 2 weeks got the same email about passing. Then I never got called, eventually I got another job at a less than ideal company(so my username is somewhat misleading), I really want to be with Cataldo, though. I have tried to contact them on multiple occasions to no avail after gaining a 6 or so months of experience. Once I talked to the hr girl and she told me she would call back after getting my information together, but never did call me. Other than that it has just been unreturned voice mails and emails. So now I'm taking the test again this month on the 29th. Really hoping this time around things work out the way I'd like.


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## emt-slick (Nov 3, 2011)

you really need to be on top of them.  one of my friends who also works there said he had to call every day for about a week before finally being able to get in touch with them.  the 2 hr women are really nice but also aren't that good at getting back to people.  i work for the company and i still don't get responses to emails i send them lol.


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## Needajob (Nov 3, 2011)

Yeah I am sure both girls are busy considering just the two of them for that whole company.  I've talked to a few people from over there who said basically the same thing about just pestering them until the give you a job. I think I should've been more proactive about it but this time around I plan to be.


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## Steam Engine (Dec 2, 2011)

In case anyone's interested, I just received an email stating that Cataldo will be holding an EMT-P testing session.
                             *                               *                                   *

DECEMBER 14th: 8 am - 7 pm  (please arrive no later than 4 pm)                            
THE WESTIN WALTHAM HOTEL
70 THIRD AVENUE
WALTHAM, MA 02451

You MUST pre-register by contacting Human Resources @ 617.625.0126



Please visit the employment section of website to complete questionnaire before pre hire

On The Day of Pre-Hire Test Please Bring:  


1. Resume
2. Certifications
3. Copy of Driving Record

Please visit the employment section of the Cataldo Website to download these forms [www.cataldoambulance.com]


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## emt-slick (Dec 2, 2011)

Guarantee there's tons of 12 lead stuff on that test a lot of medics failed their 12 lead test last month and were taken off the schedule.


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## MassEMT-B (Dec 2, 2011)

emt-slick said:


> Guarantee there's tons of 12 lead stuff on that test a lot of medics failed their 12 lead test last month and were taken off the schedule.



Really? From the people I talked to it sounded like it wasn't too bad.


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