# Rural/Metro San Diego



## static78 (Jan 2, 2015)

So I just scored an interview with rural/metro in San Diego it's my first interview for emt-basic could really use some advice about interviewing with these guys.


----------



## Aprz (Jan 3, 2015)

Most interview questions I have been asked for EMT positions were very standard common interview questions that you'd get at any job. If they gave a scenario, it was usually about customer service, ethics, dealing with stress, team work, etc. rather than with actual clinical knowledge. I've been asked very few clinical questions, which is kinda sad for me because I kinda feel like that's my strength personally.

I highly recommend Googling common interview questions. Review them and try to come up with answer for a lot of them.

Reflect off of your experience. Think about your experience with customer service, team work, stress, ethics, etc.. So for example, prior to your interview, think about what customer service is to you, think about multiple SPECIFIC instances where you provided excellent customer service, and why customer service is important. Think about what it takes to be in a team, think about multiple SPECIFIC instances where you worked as a team to achieve something (school, work, personal life), and why it is important to be able to work as a team. See where I am going? You should be prepare to answer common interview questions, but be prepared to quickly answer questions that you haven't come up with an answer yet, and by thinking about these CATEGORY of things in advance, it'll make it easier for you to answer these questions rather than winging it on the spot.

Do mock interviews with yourself in the mirror or with friends. It's sometimes hard to talk to about yourself with total strangers. You might be asked a question and your first reaction (without practice) is to chuckle a little, grin a lot, or look very confused while your brain tries to go into gear. Practicing with friends might make it easier for you and more natural for you to see it when you have to say it to strangers. I have also read that people make a lot of gestures during interviews that might be off putting during the interview (such as the grinning, laid back, chuckling, playing with hands, looking down, etc), which is why you should practice in the mirror.

Sometimes e-mails will come with instructions. Follow them. If you are unsure, ask.

Dress for success.

Bring a copy of your certifications and resumes. Bring enough copies of your resume in case you are interviewed by multiple people. Double check that you have everything before you leave your house.

(I have forgotten to bring my copies of my resume before. I have brought copies of my resume to all my interviews prior to that interview, and people will usually say "Oh, I got a copy here. It's OK." I prayed to the EMS Gods that they wouldn't ask for a copy of my resume in this interview since I had uploaded it online. Guess what? They asked for it. I felt so stupid! Don't make the same mistake as I did.)

Show up early. Usually about 10-15 minutes is acceptable.
_________________________

Example EMT Interview Questions.

*1) Tell us about yourself. / Tell us about your professional and educational experience.*

This is how most places start the interview.

*2) What are your strengths?* They might rephrase this such as "If we talked to your boss, friends, or co-workers, what would they say are your strengths?" Be prepared to have more than one.

I find this question difficult to answer. If you didn't sell yourself when they said "tell us about yourself," then this is the perfect opportunity to sell yourself. Try not to come off as cocky. I also think being vague like saying "I am knowledgeable" will hurt you. If you can, give them examples (physical proof like an award or tell them a story).

(One of the first time I interviewed, I said "I am knowledgeable." They wanted me to clarify. I told them I am good at math, lol. They then gave me a math problem to solve. Be prepared to prove it.)

*3) What are your weaknesses?* They might rephrase this such as "If we talked to your boss, friends, or co-workers, what would they say are your weaknesses?" Be prepared to have more than one.

There are multiple ways to answer this. I've heard of people giving a weakness that is: actually a strength, already resolved, doesn't relate to the job, or isn't their fault.

Example of a weakness that is actually a strength. _"I want to make sure that everything is perfect."_

Example of a weakness that is already (somewhat) resolved. _"I have a fear of public speaking. I took a public speaking class to help."_

Example of a weakness that doesn't relate to the job. _"I'm not very good at cooking."_

Example of a weakness that isn't their fault. _"I look very young."_

I personally don't like to skirt around the question. I dislike the question, but I also think it is interesting. Even if you are great at everything, you are always going to be better at some things than others. I'll give them an actual weakness. Be thoughtful, and don't throw yourself under the bus.

(My weakness is interviews.)

*4) Define customer service.*

*5) Define work ethics.*

*6) You and your partner have a disagreement and the conversation starts to get heated. How would you handle that? / Tell us in your experience a time that you had a disagreement with a co-worker.* Sometimes instead of saying your partner, they'll say you got into an argument with a patient or a nurse.

It's not important about who is right or wrong. What's important is working together to resolve the problem or find out the correct answer.

*7) You are instructed to do something that you disagree with. What do you do?*

I highly recommend reading about Crew Resource Management (CRM). In the past, airline pilots used to come from the military. Whatever the Captain said was words sent by God practically. You did not question your Captain. In some situations, the Captain wouldn't notice something is wrong, but the crew did. The crew would either not say anything because they believed the Captain already knew, or they were very subtle about it. Sometimes they did say something, but the Captain would ignore what they were saying because he is the Captain and the Captain is always right. The end result was preventable plane accidents. NASA and another organization (I forget the name of) put together this concept of CRM. I probably got this all wrong, but this is my take from CRM. If you are the Captain, consider what your crew is saying. Don't let your ego get in the way. If you are the crew, state your concern in a clear way, but be sure to be polite. In the end, the Captain makes the final decisions.

I'll usually determine if the thing I disagree with is significant or not. For example, if the paramedic told me to take a route that is a different route from what I was thinking of, I'll probably just do it without saying anything even though I think the other way is better.

If it is significant, I will definitely speak up. If possible, I will try to speak to them off to the side (ask them for a minute or catch them off to the side). If it is not possible to ask off to the side, I will still speak up, but I will make sure to be calm and polite.

If they insist I must do it, I will really consider my options. For example, is it outside of my scope of practice? If so, I will politely refuse.


----------



## Aprz (Jan 3, 2015)

*8) You are told to do something outside of your scope of practice. What do you do?* They might rephrase this as a scenario. Example.

_"You are an EMT on an ALS ambulance. You and your partner are first on scene at the residents of an 89-years-old male who is in cardiac arrest. It was a witness arrest and the patient has been down for approximately 10 minutes. You start doing chest compressions while paramedic partner applied the ECG and started a line on the patient. The patient is asystole on the monitor. After 2 minutes of compressions, your paramedic partner hands you a epinephrine preload asking you to push epinephrine in another minute from now. What do you do?"_

Sometimes companies will purposely pick something that is questionable that you might be able to do, but maybe not.

_"You are an ER tech at a trauma center. A cardiac arrest patient is brought in by ambulance. The patient is in ventricular fibrillation. The charge nurse asks you turn the therapy knob of the Philip's monitor to 150J, to charge, but tells you not to shock the patient. What do you do?"_

For these situations that might be questionable, it might be all right to try to figure out eg look at your protocol quickly if you have it in the ambulance, call a supervisor and ask, call for medical direction, or to do the safer option and just say "I am not comfortable doing it," especially if you haven't been trained to do it.

*NOTE* You might be given difficult scenarios where you aren't sure what to do (they expect you not to know what what to do). They might be looking for you to answer how you might try to find the correct answer rather than actually having an answer for the scenario itself.

Examples. You might have a scenario where you want to transport a patient that looks like he is about to die or he might have mental issues, but the patient is refusing transport.

*9) Tell us what you know about us.* They might be asking about the entire company nation wide or about their specific location.

Do your homework. Here is some information I know about the company.

NATION WIDE INFO

Based off their website, you can see that their slogan is "People taking care of people... Together we can do anything!"

Check out their mission & values.

They actually list on their Facebook more specific core values, which their corporate refers to as their vital signs.

Team Work

Quality
Integrity
Responsiveness
They'll say "Don't forget your vital signs" referring to those four core values.

https://www.facebook.com/RuralMetroCorp/posts/675927582492752

Responsiveness is the only one that might not initially make sense. What it means is to not sit on a specific issue. For example, if there is a problem, try immediately to resolve it. If somebody e-mails you, e-mail them back.

If you have ever received an e-mail from anybody from Rural/Metro, they'll usually have in their signature the company logo, slogan, the core values, a picture of CAAS, or they might also have care^3: patient care, employee care, and business care. I guess each point of the triangle in their logo is suppose to represent a point of care, or care cube^3 ("care cube").

If you didn't get it from the slogan or care^3, they really care about "care" and team work "together". If possible, try to use these words in your interview.

SAN DIEGO

Rural/Metro I guess is subcontracted by the fire department to do 911 ambulance transports, which is why the ambulance is red and their employee's wear San Diego Fire Department uniforms. They also do non emergency interfacility transports (IFT). I do not know which hospital and event standby contracts they have.

They mostly drive type III (the box shaped ambulances), but do have some type II (the van ambulance) ambulances.

I believe you have to do a minimum of 6 months of IFT before you can start the process of working on their 911 units. After that, you have to take a class, which I usually hear it as a "bridge course" and they'll refer to the EMT as a "bridge EMT". I believe this course is just on how to assist a paramedic (apply EKG, do a 12-lead, setup equipment like intubation or CPAP, etc.). It might give the EMT a slightly expanded scope of practice such as using pulse oximetry if the call turns out to be BLS.

*10) Why do you want to work for us? Why do you want to be an EMT?*

*11) Where do you see yourself in the future? Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?*

*12) Tell us a time that you were put a in a stressful or unexpected situation.*

*13) Tell us a time that you were put in an unsafe environment.*

*14) Tell us a time that you went above and beyond.*

*15) Tell us which qualities or characteristics an EMT should have? What are an EMT's priority?* Have multiple ready.

Hint: If the company asks this one, think about the company's slogan and values. "People taking care of people... Together we can do anything!" The whole "care" thing. Also "together" thing. Maybe somebody that is compassionate and is a team player?
_________________________

I have interviewed with several ambulance companies multiple times. I have rarely been asked clinical questions, however, they still occasionally throw some in. I have been ask questions such as "What is the normal blood sugar range?" and asked "What comes first (in the NREMT patient assessment), this or that?" I cannot help you there. You went to EMT school for a reason and you are now a certified EMT I hope. Although clinical questions are rare, be prepared to answer them. Study. I would say that companies usually have a skill test, protocol test, or test on your clinical knowledge, which is usually when they "test" you on those things rather than in the interview. However, I don't believe Rural/Metro San Diego has any sort of test. Just an interview.

Good luck.


----------



## Aprz (Jan 3, 2015)

I posted multiple times in here because it didn't allow me to put more than 10,000 characters in a single post.

One more thing... Don't feel bad if you didn't get the job. Don't be discouraged. Interviews are hard. I don't feel like a lot of interview questions make it easy for you to distinguish yourself from other candidates, especially the common questions. I say common questions get common answers. Maybe that's why it was hard for me?

It took me slightly over a year to get my first EMT job. I made some mistakes like trying to be picky at first. When I got more aggressive by applying everywhere and further away from where I live, it still took awhile to get me a job. I then worked in non emergency IFT as an EMT for over three years and went to paramedic school prior to finally getting a 911 job as an EMT. I can't even tell you how many times I have applied for a 911 job. I know for one company alone (out of many), I applied 9 times! I know their HR person by name and have their phone number saved on my cell phone. I sent them an e-mail twice and tried following up by phone call after every application I sent. The HR person finally offered to interview me for their non emergency division, which I declined because I already worked at another company's non emergeny division for awhile and thought that company was going to transfer me to their 911 division eventually, which they didn't. I have tried different strategies like sending an e-mailing or calling HR when I applied or after I interview. I have tried just doing a simple apply, interview, and wait strategy before (don't pester HR). I believe I have interviewed 6 times for a 911 position in the past 3 years, and I finally got it. Some of my interviews have gone very well and others have not. I felt like for my current job, I did not interview well. What I feel distinguished myself from others was: I did really well on their written test, I had a ton of EMT experience compared to the other candidates I talked with, I think I was the only one that was almost a paramedic, and the biggest thing that helped was probably knowing somebody that worked at the company. I 100% believe they vouched for me somehow and that is how I got the job.

There are people who get the job fresh out of EMT school. Some people get it within a year. Some people like myself try to get it for YEARS before they get it. If you give up, you won't get it. Just keep on trying and learn from your mistakes. Have an open mind and try to stay optimistic.


----------



## PotatoMedic (Jan 3, 2015)

OK so I did not read it... But we might want to pin it...


----------



## static78 (Jan 3, 2015)

WOW that's a lot of great information thank you so much I agree with FireWA1 they should pin it.


----------



## Smitty213 (Jan 4, 2015)

As I may or may not have had experience with the hiring process of this particular EMS institution, I support all the things previously said by Aprz.


----------



## FoleyArtist (Apr 2, 2015)

any R/M sd medics on here? was curious what the shifts are like and what to expect as a new employee. i'm thinking of transferring internally down there and am willing to commute to work if they are 24s. or if the work schedule is feasible to commute long distance


----------



## wirk242 (Apr 7, 2015)

ProbieMedic said:


> any R/M sd medics on here? was curious what the shifts are like and what to expect as a new employee. i'm thinking of transferring internally down there and am willing to commute to work if they are 24s. or if the work schedule is feasible to commute long distance


They use a shift bid system based on seniority.. most shifts are 12s with few 24hour shifts.  24 hour shifts are more coveted so you will probably be stuck with 2nd half nights on a busy unit you build up seniority. 
Will you keep your pay? SD RM medics are not paid well.


----------



## SandpitMedic (Apr 7, 2015)

I read Aprz posts. This is probably the best thread on interviewing I've ever read. 
Pin it.


----------

