Increasing my chances (Boston EMS)

[medichopeful]

Hi all,

I am hoping to go into the paramedicine field sometime down the road. I will be going off to college next year, where I am thinking of doing a nursing program.

What other things could I do to increase my chances of being hired? I know volunteering will look good on a resume (I have done plenty of that already, and will continue to do more), but is there anything else I could be doing?

Is there anybody on here from Boston EMS? If so, could you give me some suggestions on things that would make me a more attractive candidate for them?

Thanks,
medichopeful

 

[KEVD18]

heres how it breaks down in the city:

written > practical > oral board > physical/drug test. you have to do really well in each step to advance. they have roughly twice as many applicant as they have positions, sometimes more.

after all that, you have your delightful 6 month academy, at any time in which you can be bounced. i know a guy who was dismissed two weeks before he got pinned. tlak about being close enough to taste it.

dont forget, city residency required within 6 months of date of hirs(day one of the academy). so you have to be a resident before your even guaranteed a job.

tips to increase your chances? know your material cold and do well in your recruitment. dont do drugs. impress the board. other than that, there isnt much you can do. medics seem to do better getting on than basics, even though they are hired as basics.

its a tough job to get. be prepared for some people in the mass ems community to be pissed off that you intend to use arguably the most coveted job in the state as a stepping stone("I will be going off to college next year, where I am thinking of doing a nursing program."). its a career department, not a hit and run private. sure, there are people that move on to bigger and better things. but i wouldnt recommend advertising that as your paln. especially if you get in to the academy. i know a few guys who have been through recruitment(to varying points) multiple times and haven't gotten on. granted they aren't the best candidates, but there are people that would be mighty angry that someone pulled a hit and run with their dream job.

on that note, it wouldn't wise to mention your plans to anybody from the department. that would not be good for you. they aren't going to invest all the time and money(i cant remember what the tab for recruit training is per head. for some reason 30k jumps to mind) training you for you to run off in a year or three.

 

[medichopeful]

Oops

heres how it breaks down in the city:

written > practical > oral board > physical/drug test. you have to do really well in each step to advance. they have roughly twice as many applicant as they have positions, sometimes more.

after all that, you have your delightful 6 month academy, at any time in which you can be bounced. i know a guy who was dismissed two weeks before he got pinned. tlak about being close enough to taste it.

dont forget, city residency required within 6 months of date of hirs(day one of the academy). so you have to be a resident before your even guaranteed a job.

tips to increase your chances? know your material cold and do well in your recruitment. dont do drugs. impress the board. other than that, there isnt much you can do. medics seem to do better getting on than basics, even though they are hired as basics.

its a tough job to get. be prepared for some people in the mass ems community to be pissed off that you intend to use arguably the most coveted job in the state as a stepping stone("I will be going off to college next year, where I am thinking of doing a nursing program."). its a career department, not a hit and run private. sure, there are people that move on to bigger and better things. but i wouldnt recommend advertising that as your paln. especially if you get in to the academy. i know a few guys who have been through recruitment(to varying points) multiple times and haven't gotten on. granted they aren't the best candidates, but there are people that would be mighty angry that someone pulled a hit and run with their dream job.

on that note, it wouldn't wise to mention your plans to anybody from the department. that would not be good for you. they aren't going to invest all the time and money(i cant remember what the tab for recruit training is per head. for some reason 30k jumps to mind) training you for you to run off in a year or three.

Thanks for the response KEVD18. I have pretty good inter-personal skills, so the interview won't be too hard for me (not saying I shouldn't worry about it at all, just saying that it won't be impossible for me). I also have pretty good decision making skills, so testing should be doable too if I study and prepare well.

I realize now that my post was a little bit unclear, which was obviously my fault

You read my post as "I am planning to use Boston EMS as a stepping stone to nursing". I can see why you would see this. It wasn't really that clear. In fact, it is the complete opposite. I am hoping to use nursing as a stepping stone to Boston EMS. I would like to make a career out of EMS. I was under the impression that a nursing degree would look good. Is this wrong? If it is, please let me know.

I don't do any drugs, so that shouldn't be a problem at all.

(I hope nothing in this post sounded rude. I certainly don't mean for it too.)

Thanks for taking the time to reply,
medichopeful

 

[KEVD18]

i wouldnt reccomend going to nursing school to pad your resume for boston ems. it will do you very little good. medflight yes, h+h no.

go to medic school instead.

 

[John E]

I'm confused...

how does getting a job with Boston EMS and THEN going to nursing school help you get a job with Boston EMS? How does any of that fit into becoming a Paramedic? Are you thinking of going to nursing school and then becoming a paramedic? Seems like a regression in schooling to me. How does going to nursing school help you become a paramedic?

I'm only asking cause you're screen name is "medichopeful" and I assume that you at some time hope to become a paramedic.

Are there nurses working for Boston EMS?

If you want to be a nurse, go to nursing school, if you want to be a paramedic, go to paramedic school, if you want to work as an EMT, go to EMT school.

And whatever you do, if your long range plans include leaving a sought after job to go and do something else, take Kev's advice and don't talk about it, or do the right thing and don't even apply for a job that you know you'll be leaving. If Boston really spends that kind of money to train people, I wouldn't be surprised to find that they have you sign a contract agreeing to reimburse the city if you leave sooner then you agree to. I know if I ran the program that's what I'd do.

John E.

 

[medichopeful]

Some more confusion

how does getting a job with Boston EMS and THEN going to nursing school help you get a job with Boston EMS? How does any of that fit into becoming a Paramedic? Are you thinking of going to nursing school and then becoming a paramedic? Seems like a regression in schooling to me. How does going to nursing school help you become a paramedic?

I'm only asking cause you're screen name is "medichopeful" and I assume that you at some time hope to become a paramedic.

Are there nurses working for Boston EMS?

If you want to be a nurse, go to nursing school, if you want to be a paramedic, go to paramedic school, if you want to work as an EMT, go to EMT school.

And whatever you do, if your long range plans include leaving a sought after job to go and do something else, take Kev's advice and don't talk about it, or do the right thing and don't even apply for a job that you know you'll be leaving. If Boston really spends that kind of money to train people, I wouldn't be surprised to find that they have you sign a contract agreeing to reimburse the city if you leave sooner then you agree to. I know if I ran the program that's what I'd do.

John E.

There has been a little bit of confusion during this thread. I will try to explain everything a little bit better.

I was under the impression that going to nursing school would help me get a job with Boston EMS, as I know it is competitive (anything can help). My goal is to work for Boston as a career. I am not going to become a nurse and THEN become a paramedic. That would not make any sense, like you said. I realize that my original post was a bit confusing, which I apologize for. Now that I see that a nursing major does not make sense, I will not pursue it (as I do not want to be a nurse). I do want to go to college, though, before going to paramedic school, just for the education and for a little more life experience.

So, in a nutshell, here is what I originally MEANT to say:
I want to become an EMT (then a paramedic) with the city of Boston. In order to achieve that goal, I am going to go to college, because a degree looks very good during an interview/on a resume. I am also going to work as an EMT for a private company to gain some experience in the field. Does anybody have anything else I could do to make myself a more attractive candidate?

Basically, I am working my way up to Boston. The nursing major was just some confusion on my part. I would like to attend college, and this seemed like a relevant degree. But, after input from you guys (which is very much appreciated), that doesn't make any sense.

I also realize that the way I wrote my original post made it sound like I was going to "drop" Boston EMS after all of the training after only a few years. It could not be farther from the truth. I never had that intention, as that would be a horrible way to conduct myself. That would not be fair to many people, especially those who would be trying to get onto Boston for the long run.

John, thanks for the response. I do appreciate the time you took to write it, and I apologize for the confusion.

medichopeful

P.S.: Sorry for the long response. I just wanted to clear everything up. I hope this helps. If not, please ask and I will try to clear it up.

 

[Ridryder911]

I would inform anyone that is applying to an EMS not to inform them that their plans are to leave them i.e. nursing, firefighting (of course unless its through a FD). Employers are not wanting to place money and time into someone that have already plans in place to leave.

Good luck,

R/r 911

 

[Sparky79]

If your ultimate goal is to be a paramedic, but you want to get a degree also there are paramedic programs where you can get an associates degree.

Essentially they are the paramedic curriculum, but some regular college classes also.

Look here

 

[KEVD18]

a college degree will look good on your app, but only to a point.

there are no nurses that work for h+h, at least in the field(i think there's a few kicking around the medical directors office etc but no cct truck or anything like that).

you want to get a degree that will make you look good to boston, here's the plan:

go to northeastern, get an as in paramedicine. then get your bs in public health/emergency management etc. thats a degree thats both relevant and appealing. its also going to do you well in terms of long term career prospects(division chief, deputy. hell you could be the chief of department someday)

that being said, nothing is a guarantee. you might get passed over for a basic with no field time because he's the superintendent's nephew(note: im not implying any sort of favoritism or collusion either past, present or future regarding boston. merely making a generalization regarding how civil service works.)

 

[boingo]

The nursing degree wouldn't hurt, but seeing as the job is for EMT's and Paramedics, it isn't necessary. If you want to work for BEMS as a medic, city residency would help, along with a paramedic education, otherwise take the exam. EMT's without any other education get hired, so I would go and apply. I believe there is an exam coming up next week. Seeing as the economy is in the toilet and the city is still hiring for now, I would seriously apply myself for this coming exam. It could be a long time before another hiring process occurs. Good luck.

 

[medichopeful]

I do not want to leave EMS after a brief period of time

Thank you for the replies Ridryder911, KEVD18, and Sparky79.

Sparky, I am going to take a look at that site right now. Ridryder, though it was not clear at all in my original post, my intention is to make EMS a career, not to use it as a brief stepping stone. Sorry about the confusion. KEVD, thanks for the information. I will look into that.

Once again, thanks everybody.
medichopeful

 

[medichopeful]

The nursing degree wouldn't hurt, but seeing as the job is for EMT's and Paramedics, it isn't necessary. If you want to work for BEMS as a medic, city residency would help, along with a paramedic education, otherwise take the exam. EMT's without any other education get hired, so I would go and apply. I believe there is an exam coming up next week. Seeing as the economy is in the toilet and the city is still hiring for now, I would seriously apply myself for this coming exam. It could be a long time before another hiring process occurs. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply boingo. For Boston, it is a requirement to be a resident.

Also, thanks for the information about the exam. I would take it, but at the moment I am only 19. My family would not be willing to move to Boston, and I am too young (in my opinion) to be living on my own. So, unfortunately, taking the test is not a realistic goal at this time. Hopefully, they will have another test in about 5 years. If not, I will work for a private company until can get on with Boston.

Once again, thanks,
medichopeful

 

[medichopeful]

And I hate to have to ask this (it is probably a stupid question), but what is "h+h"? :unsure:

 

[KEVD18]

And I hate to have to ask this (it is probably a stupid question), but what is "h+h"? :unsure:

back in the day, boston ems was run by the department of heath and hospitals

boingo, they're having another test? they just had one. they havent even done the physicals for that class yet.....

what, didnt they get enough applicants?

 

[medichopeful]

Thanks KEVD. You and everybody else have been a great help. Keep it coming!

(If, that is, anybody has anything else to say.)

I had looked at Northeastern before, but I looked at it again after you suggested it. I have requested some information, so we will see where that takes me.

medichopeful

 

[boingo]

back in the day, boston ems was run by the department of heath and hospitals

boingo, they're having another test? they just had one. they havent even done the physicals for that class yet.....

what, didnt they get enough applicants?

Not sure...They have a class doing their field internship now, another is supposed to start around the first of the year. I believe another test is scheduled for December 3-4th, maybe for a late spring class? I know they are looking for a class of 40.

 

[KEVD18]

Not sure...They have a class doing their field internship now, another is supposed to start around the first of the year. I believe another test is scheduled for December 3-4th, maybe for a late spring class? I know they are looking for a class of 40.

the last exam they had(early this month) was for the late january class(capt o said it would be at least the third week).

i cant imagine they would be starting the recruitment for the july academy now, since the last i spoke to anybody wearing a gold tin, they werent even sure they were going to be able to do another academy in 09 with the budget and what not. weird.

 

[boingo]

We have been approved the budget for the up coming class for sure, and the written exam next week leads me to believe we are cleared for that on too, the fiscal year ends in July. The current class is starting its 5th week in the field so they have another 4 to go, perhaps a little more.

 

[FF894]

go to northeastern, get an as in paramedicine.

Sorry, not to go off topic but I heard a vicious rumor that Northeastern is finishing their last medic class this year??

 

[medicdan]

Sorry, not to go off topic but I heard a vicious rumor that Northeastern is finishing their last medic class this year??

I have heard the same rumor in different forms for a few years. Last year they restructured and were supposedly off to a new start. Who knows. Give them a call.