Trade good job for EMT job?

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jimhalpert625

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Hi all,

I'm a university student in the Sacramento area. I have a job at one of the science centers that I enjoy, pays $11/hr, is literally across the street from where I live, and also allows me to get homework done while I work. My co workers and my boss are great. That being said, it's neither rewarding nor exciting, I sit behind a desk all day. I just got all my EMT certifications together and am beginning to apply to jobs. As expected, most of them pay terribly, with some even below what I'm making now. I took the EMT class not only because I wanted the skills but because I wanted to explore a career field where I'm directly helping people and not sitting behind a desk. I've been talking to a few EMT friends and reading this forum and it seems like the majority of the work (IFT Runs) involves taking elderly folks to their doctor's appointments.

Say hypothetically I'm offered a part time job at an ambulance that pays $10/hr (which I believe is the going rate for EMTs in the Sacramento area with the exception of AMR). My question is this: is the job fulfilling? If I'm actually using my skills and treating the injured, I'll take the pay cut, long commutes, and lost free time in a heartbeat. However if the typical IFT runs are monotonous and involve none of this, the decision gets harder. What have your experiences been at your company and have you faced a similar decision? Also, I'm fairly new to this, so please correct me if any of my figures or assessments are wrong.
 
jimhalpert625 said:
Hi all,

I'm a university student in the Sacramento area. I have a job at one of the science centers that I enjoy, pays $11/hr, is literally across the street from where I live, and also allows me to get homework done while I work. My co workers and my boss are great. That being said, it's neither rewarding nor exciting, I sit behind a desk all day. I just got all my EMT certifications together and am beginning to apply to jobs. As expected, most of them pay terribly, with some even below what I'm making now. I took the EMT class not only because I wanted the skills but because I wanted to explore a career field where I'm directly helping people and not sitting behind a desk. I've been talking to a few EMT friends and reading this forum and it seems like the majority of the work (IFT Runs) involves taking elderly folks to their doctor's appointments.

Say hypothetically I'm offered a part time job at an ambulance that pays $10/hr (which I believe is the going rate for EMTs in the Sacramento area with the exception of AMR). My question is this: is the job fulfilling? If I'm actually using my skills and treating the injured, I'll take the pay cut, long commutes, and lost free time in a heartbeat. However if the typical IFT runs are monotonous and involve none of this, the decision gets harder. What have your experiences been at your company and have you faced a similar decision? Also, I'm fairly new to this, so please correct me if any of my figures or assessments are wrong.
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My advice is simple. Stay where you are. Get done with your schooling and then look for work as an EMT. Why do I say this? It's actually simple. Most of your EMT work would be boring IFTs and not much more than that. You also won't have much time to study, so you'll have to carve that much more time out of your day(s) to study, where you now have the ability to study at work while getting paid to be available to work.

I'm currently in a non-medical job that, while I don't despise it or anything, is just not what I want to do. The schedule works well with my own school schedule, I can study while at work, and manage to have a life. I'm in school full-time and I work full-time. If it wasn't for this job, I'd have a very difficult time going to school.

Do what you have to do in order to get through school. After that, do what you want!
 
Akulahawk said:
My advice is simple. Stay where you are. Get done with your schooling and then look for work as an EMT. Why do I say this? It's actually simple. Most of your EMT work would be boring IFTs and not much more than that. You also won't have much time to study, so you'll have to carve that much more time out of your day(s) to study, where you now have the ability to study at work while getting paid to be available to work.

I'm currently in a non-medical job that, while I don't despise it or anything, is just not what I want to do. The schedule works well with my own school schedule, I can study while at work, and manage to have a life. I'm in school full-time and I work full-time. If it wasn't for this job, I'd have a very difficult time going to school.

Do what you have to do in order to get through school. After that, do what you want!
Click to expand...

How about event stand by and ER Tech jobs? I hopefully will not be working as an EMT after I graduate, although it is nice to have that as a fall back. I'm also not a medical person if that matters, I eventually want to either be an FBI or ATF Special Agent. I'm just attracted to the public service aspect of the job. If I want to do it, this is my one shot.
 
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Well knowing that...I'd stay where you are.
 
jimhalpert625 said:
Hi all,

I'm a university student in the Sacramento area. I have a job at one of the science centers that I enjoy, pays $11/hr, is literally across the street from where I live, and also allows me to get homework done while I work. My co workers and my boss are great. That being said, it's neither rewarding nor exciting, I sit behind a desk all day. I just got all my EMT certifications together and am beginning to apply to jobs. As expected, most of them pay terribly, with some even below what I'm making now. I took the EMT class not only because I wanted the skills but because I wanted to explore a career field where I'm directly helping people and not sitting behind a desk. I've been talking to a few EMT friends and reading this forum and it seems like the majority of the work (IFT Runs) involves taking elderly folks to their doctor's appointments.

Say hypothetically I'm offered a part time job at an ambulance that pays $10/hr (which I believe is the going rate for EMTs in the Sacramento area with the exception of AMR). My question is this: is the job fulfilling? If I'm actually using my skills and treating the injured, I'll take the pay cut, long commutes, and lost free time in a heartbeat. However if the typical IFT runs are monotonous and involve none of this, the decision gets harder. What have your experiences been at your company and have you faced a similar decision? Also, I'm fairly new to this, so please correct me if any of my figures or assessments are wrong.
Click to expand...

I had my own business going doing computer repair for about 4 years. I started EMT school earlier this year and shut down my shop to persue a career in EMS and while I miss my own hours and the freedom, I LOVE my job in EMS and wouldn't trade the lower pay and longer hours for anything in the world. You never know what you're going to see.
 
being an EMT will help you as a cop, even if you don't work as one it's a good thing to have if you want to go into that field
 
CodyColby said:
I had my own business going doing computer repair for about 4 years. I started EMT school earlier this year and shut down my shop to persue a career in EMS and while I miss my own hours and the freedom, I LOVE my job in EMS and wouldn't trade the lower pay and longer hours for anything in the world. You never know what you're going to see.
Click to expand...

Who do you work for?
 
jimhalpert625 said:
How about event stand by and ER Tech jobs? I hopefully will not be working as an EMT after I graduate, although it is nice to have that as a fall back. I'm also not a medical person if that matters, I eventually want to either be an FBI or ATF Special Agent. I'm just attracted to the public service aspect of the job. If I want to do it, this is my one shot.
Click to expand...
You'll have a better time getting a job with the FBI or ATF if you acquire a knowledge-base that they need. You'll also want an excellent GPA. You may need to continue your schooling into a Master's Program. I have no problem/issue with you working stand-by's or as an ER Tech, but that should very much be a part-time thing because you need to focus on getting through school and if you have an employer that's OK with you studying while working, you've found the holy grail of student jobs. I think they'll be more impressed with you keeping a job while going to school and maintaining a high GPA than they'd be of someone who had a good job/school setup and became an EMT and worked in that capacity, staying in school and maybe maintaining an OK GPA because you have little effective study time. They can teach you EMT stuff if you need it there.

Focus on the end goal and dedicate most of your work to that. You can do your refresher CE along the way and maintain your EMT certificate. When you graduate, that would then be a good time to look at changing jobs to EMT for a while. Just remember that EMT work in the Sacramento area is very much a driver/IFT job. Very, very boring most of the time. Even if you get to work with a Paramedic, you're still not going to tech most calls.
 
Meh

I did my medic internship in W. Sac with AMR before moving up to Redding. I would not pick up a job as an IFT EMT for less money without a specific goal of wanting to go to Paramedic school and further a career in EMS. If you're looking to finish college up and get the degree so you can apply to be a Fed, don't waste your time with EMS.
 
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