As an EMS Administrator who has hired well over 200 EMT’s and Paramedics, I’d like to share a little unsolicited advice. Take it or leave it.
1. Submit a resume with any application. Make sure it is formal, spaced correctly and with no spelling errors. You’re being considered for a position of great responsibility and authority, if you can’t handle putting together a single document professionally, how can you be trusted with keys to drugs and to run calls?
2. If you get an interview, show up 15 minutes early, wear a suit or business formal attire. Bring high quality copies of all of your certs that you can give to the interviewer.(Copies on a flash drive is an added bonus) Bring a blank notepad and a pen that works so you can take notes.
3. During the interview, be honest. A good interviewer already knows a LOT about you. Before I ever interviewed someone, I Googled them, searched for them on social media and when I found their profile I looked in their history for signs of racism, violent behavior, badmouthing previous employers, drug abuse, excessive alcohol use or a party lifestyle, mistreatment of animals, political extremism, affiliations with inappropriate organizations and on a personal level, how you worded your posts such as grammar and spelling as well as how you responded to people you disagreed with. I also called all the references and if you worked anywhere else local, I made phone calls and found out about you. Also, the ability to be honest and candid about the not-so-good things means you have learned from the experience and are very mature. (Most of the time)
4. You should be interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. Ask questions, take notes. Some good questions to ask include
- What is the turnover like here?
- How often do employees here receive performance reviews?
- Does this agency participate in any research or testing of new equipment/procedures/medications?
- How easy is it to speak with the medical director?
- Is there opportunity for advancement? What is the time frame for a new hire to be considered for promotions?
- How does continuing education work here? Is it paid?
Take some time to decide if this is really the agency you want to work for. Save any questions about pay/compensation for the end of the interview. If you ask about that early, it tells the interviewer you’re more interested in pay than being a good match for the company and a high quality clinician.
5. Shake peoples hands, look them in the eyes. If you’re asked a question that you need to think about, go ahead and think about it. It’s ok for there to be silence for a minute while you think. It’s annoying when someone keeps saying “um...well....uh....um....” as an interviewer, I ask questions that are hard on purpose. I’m not necessarily looking for this awesome and brilliant answer, I’m watching to see how you handle not knowing the answer.
6. Under NO circumstances should you say a cuss word during the interview. You may curse like a sailor once your hired, but, during the interview you’re being evaluated for professionalism.
7. Take the initiative to offer specific examples. Say you’re asked, “tell me what it means to you to be a good caregiver” don’t come back with the programmed answer of “Well, um, I always look out for my patients best interest and make sure I do a good job.” Instead try something like “That’s a good question, let me tell you about this call I ran a couple years ago when...(insert great story about being a good caregiver here) that to me was a good example of being a good caregiver because (insert your explanation here).”
8. Never badmouth anyone, including a previous agency you worked for, even if it is widely known that they are terrible. It is so unprofessional. A good thing to say is, “that agency faces a lot of challenges, I will say however I really did like the way they stocked the ambulances” (or any other positive thing you can speak about)
9. Any agency that offers you a job on the spot during the interview should raise a red flag for you. It usually means they are desperate for employees which in turn means they most likely have a high turnover...there’s usually a reason for that and it’s usually not good.
10. Say thank you when the interview is over. It’s totally appropriate to ask when you will be notified if you are hired or not. If you want to really nail it, make sure you get the contact information from the interviewer during the interview. Send the interviewer a brief email thanking them for the opportunity to interview. Keep it simple and make sure your contact information is in the signature of the email.
