Interviewing With AMR - Suggestions?

emtdude

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Greetings all, first time poster, and brand new EMT-B. :)

I am seeking a job with a private company that has primary 911 responder service. I live the the San Francisco Bay Area, and many of the local counties contract their 911 EMS to private companies (ie non Fire Department). Mostly, that means American Medical Response.

I have applied with several AMR locations, and recently took the written pre-employment test with AMR in Alameda County. It was 80 didactic questions and 40 personality-integrity type questions. As I recently passed the National Registry, I think I did pretty good with the test.

The next steps are an interview, and if that goes ok there is a skills test. That ends the pre-employment, after which I assume I would get invited to an academy.

So, the big step is the interview. Any suggestions here? I've done literally hundreds of interviews, but nothing at all close to the EMS profession. What can I expect? More importantly, what do they WANT to hear? :D

Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated, especially with anyone who had done the AMR process.
 

VentMedic

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Don't get your hopesjup on being on a 911 truck for awhile in the SF Bay area. There is a long list awaiting one of those positions. Continue your education towards making Paramedic and you might have a better chance.
 

barbarawalters

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Dont discourage yourself, prepare yourself for the interview, if I would have listened to people like what ventmedic said I wouldnt be where I am today.

Always apply everywhere, nomatter what. I applied to AMR, and they told me to call back in April and every month after that for test availabilities. You got farther than me, so remember, your still in the game.

Go in there confident, but not cocky. Have multiple resumes ready to pass out. Make eye contact, and try not to use a lot of hand movements. If you need some more info on interviewing...http://hr.dop.wa.gov/jobtips/prepare.interview.htm
thats just one of many that can help you out....good luck
 

barbarawalters

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Also remember that AMR is not the only ambulance out there. Most EMT's start off working on other BLS rigs to gain some experience and prepare themselves for 911. King American I heard takes ALS calls now. Check out

NORCAL Ambulance
Royal Ambulance
Pro-Transport 1
WestMed

...remember, you have to start somewhere, if you cant get into AMR, you can apply at these places and still get the EMT experience you need to continue on your education.
 

VentMedic

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Dont discourage yourself, prepare yourself for the interview, if I would have listened to people like what ventmedic said I wouldnt be where I am today.

Always apply everywhere, nomatter what. I applied to AMR, and they told me to call back in April and every month after that for test availabilities. You got farther than me, so remember, your still in the game.

Go in there confident, but not cocky. Have multiple resumes ready to pass out. Make eye contact, and try not to use a lot of hand movements. If you need some more info on interviewing...http://hr.dop.wa.gov/jobtips/prepare.interview.htm
thats just one of many that can help you out....good luck

So where are you? You just stated you haven't gotten on with AMR.

Of course one could just stay a Basic and keep hoping to get somewhere in the Bay Area or any competitive market. Or, one could move forward in their education and watch other opportunities open up.
 

barbarawalters

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ventmedic, I already have a job. Im working for on a BLS bus for a private ambulance company I choose not to disclose.

Plus, I dont think you should jump from EMT-B to EMT-P. You should work as an EMT for a while before you go as a medic, at least thats what 90% of medics that I know told me.
 

barbarawalters

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Just because I didnt get into AMR doesnt mean there hasnt been other jobs that were supposedly on a hiring freeze, but yet I got in...dont take one thing I said and assume its my whole career..
 

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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This thread has been cleaned up. Lets please stay on topic.
 

Aidey

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AMR uses a canned interview from what I understand. The company produces a form and everyone interviewed gets asked the same questions, no matter what location. I was told the questions tend to be "AMR values xxx quality in it's employees. Give an example of a time you showed xxx quality".
 

amberdt03

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Greetings all, first time poster, and brand new EMT-B. :)

I am seeking a job with a private company that has primary 911 responder service. I live the the San Francisco Bay Area, and many of the local counties contract their 911 EMS to private companies (ie non Fire Department). Mostly, that means American Medical Response.

I have applied with several AMR locations, and recently took the written pre-employment test with AMR in Alameda County. It was 80 didactic questions and 40 personality-integrity type questions. As I recently passed the National Registry, I think I did pretty good with the test.

The next steps are an interview, and if that goes ok there is a skills test. That ends the pre-employment, after which I assume I would get invited to an academy.

So, the big step is the interview. Any suggestions here? I've done literally hundreds of interviews, but nothing at all close to the EMS profession. What can I expect? More importantly, what do they WANT to hear? :D

Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated, especially with anyone who had done the AMR process.



hey. well first off welcome to the site. i currently work for AMR-Dallas and I don't know that its going to be the same process but more than likely it is. aidey is pretty much dead on with the whole interview type questions.

"AMR values xxx quality in it's employees. Give an example of a time you showed xxx quality".

thats the type of questions that they asked me. good luck with everything and what ventmedic and aj are saying about furthering your education is true, but do it at your pace and not theirs.
 

Noctis Lucis Caelum

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Greetings all, first time poster, and brand new EMT-B. :)

I am seeking a job with a private company that has primary 911 responder service. I live the the San Francisco Bay Area, and many of the local counties contract their 911 EMS to private companies (ie non Fire Department). Mostly, that means American Medical Response.

I have applied with several AMR locations, and recently took the written pre-employment test with AMR in Alameda County. It was 80 didactic questions and 40 personality-integrity type questions. As I recently passed the National Registry, I think I did pretty good with the test.

The next steps are an interview, and if that goes ok there is a skills test. That ends the pre-employment, after which I assume I would get invited to an academy.

So, the big step is the interview. Any suggestions here? I've done literally hundreds of interviews, but nothing at all close to the EMS profession. What can I expect? More importantly, what do they WANT to hear? :D

Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated, especially with anyone who had done the AMR process.

Unlike you, I applied for AMR but never got any interview or skill test.
I'm still trying to find a job and its been dead on hard. I recently finished EMT school december and started applying early january and still no luck with any jobs. So whatever you've been doing that AMR contacted you, i'll say your doing good.

I've tried Royal Ambulance but didn't get in.
Still waiting on Protransport and got an interview with Norcal April 16th.
Never heard anything from Westmed.

I wish you luck with AMR though.
 

Sapphyre

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Just to let those of ya'll, that are stating they haven't heard anything from AMR, and are a bit... concerned(?), they are officially on a hiring freeze for EMTs, in California. You will find some divisions that will take your application, and even take you all the way through the process, and then hold for consideration should an opening occur. And, openings do occasionally occur.
 

Sasha

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Dont discourage yourself, prepare yourself for the interview, if I would have listened to people like what ventmedic said I wouldnt be where I am today.

Vent is one of the smartest people on this board, so if you listen to anyone, I'd listen to her.

Plus, I dont think you should jump from EMT-B to EMT-P. You should work as an EMT for a while before you go as a medic, at least thats what 90% of medics that I know told me.

But you've never experienced it for yourself. A lot of medics refuse to acknowledge they would have preferred to do things different so they insist that everyone should have done things their way. Exactly what do you plan to learn as an EMT that you can't pick up during medic school? Bad street rules you will have to unlearn?

Any suggestions here?

Be calm, don't fidget, don't stutter. Dress nice! Hair clean and nice, no strong smelling anything. And don't lie!
 
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emtdude

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AMR uses a canned interview from what I understand. The company produces a form and everyone interviewed gets asked the same questions, no matter what location. I was told the questions tend to be "AMR values xxx quality in it's employees. Give an example of a time you showed xxx quality".

Would you, or anyone who had interviewed with AMR, give me a couple examples of "xxx"? :)
 
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emtdude

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Many thanks to all who replied. I apologize if this topic has been addressed before here, maybe even beaten to death. But as we have seen, each situation is a bit different.

BarbaraWalters - thanks for the encouragement. I am not stuck on doing a 911 service, but that's my preference atm. I'll give this a shot, and if nothing pans out will happily try for transfer services.

VentMedic - thanks for keeping it real. At this moment I am not interested in proceeding into Medic school... although I am keeping an open mind here - after a year or two as an EMT, I will reevaluate.

I am not sure of your location. It is true that the Bay Area, like many areas, is highly competitive for EMT jobs. But with a large service like AMR in Alameda, they also have a significant turnover, especially with EMT positions. The usual reasons - guys/girls getting accepted into the fire service, job burnout, low pay etc.

There are also a lot out there that are putting in their year or two to get into a Paramedic school. My closest community college has a program that requires actual EMT experience before accepting a student. One of the instructors also taught my EMT class and explained. He said they have found a lot of Paramedic students failing when it came to the ambulance ride along portion. The students had no real-life experience on the basics, and some could barely operate a BVM or strap a patient to a back board. Apparently doing in the classroom is a bit different than doing it critical situations. ;) The Paramedics evaluating them of course gave them thumbs down.

I will leave the pros/cons of this to those who have actually been there. :). As I said, I don't have intentions in that direction anyway. I just want to get on a rig. :)
 

Sasha

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The students had no real-life experience on the basics, and some could barely operate a BVM or strap a patient to a back board. Apparently doing in the classroom is a bit different than doing it critical situations.

That is what your EMT clinicals are for, not to mention lab practice in class. Use a BVM, strap classmates to a backboard, etc. (And a BVM, my dear, is not rocket surgery, perhaps if they could not get a grasp on such a skill then they need to retake EMT.) While there may be a bit more stress involved, the skills are the same in and out of the classroom.

The reality of it is many EMTs just drive, or go into IFT work. While I loved doing IFT and found it an amazing learning experience, many treat it as an easy pay check to sit with stable patients for around 15 minutes. It's rare to use a backboard or BVM in IFT. Some lucky few get into 911 work where they learn bad habits by eager medics who like to show off how smart they are. These are also people who believe in something called "street smarts" which is BS.
 

JROD

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Congrats on the interview, hopefully you knock it out and get invited back for the skills. I also live in ALCO and my buddy works as an EMT for AMR here and I know that they just administered a test. Sounds like a lot of EMTs applied so best of luck to you. From what I hear, there aren't very many scenario questions but they do ask alot of personality questions and ask you to relate certain values to your personal life. The process is not necessarily to see how much you know, but more to see how you will fit in with the company and its employees.

I know everyone has there own way of doing things, but I personally wouldn't recommend jumping straight from EMT to paramedic school. No matter what people say, working in the field is MUCH different than practicing in class, whether you're on a BLS rig or ALS rig or whatever. Some people can handle the jump straight in to paramedic school but I was never one of those people. The first day of my class, my skills instructor said that if you're not a good EMT then you will be a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty medic. To be a good EMT, you have to know what the job consists of and how to properly apply that knowledge in real life situations. I'm not trying to bash anyone who may have jumped straight in to medic school, just sharing my own experience on the subject.
 

amberdt03

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Would you, or anyone who had interviewed with AMR, give me a couple examples of "xxx"? :)

honesty and compassion are just a couple i can remember. they might also ask you for an example of a time you went "above and beyond"
 

AJ Hidell

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The first day of my class, my skills instructor said that if you're not a good EMT then you will be a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty medic.
This is the problem that will forever plague EMS until we replace all these "instructors" with real educators, who have an educated clue about the concepts of adult education.

Your skills instructor was wrong. What he should have said was that if you are a bad EMT, you will probably be a bad medic. And the only way to become a bad EMT is through bad experience, which is what most EMT experience is. That's why it is better to have no EMT experience before medic school. It's easy to make a great medic out of a blank slate. It's darn hard to make a decent medic out of a bad EMT.

Think of it this way: do you think you would have better luck successfully raising your own newborn child, or someone else's 13 year old? Nuff said. Starting from scratch is always the best way to go.
 
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