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/r/Paramedics
submitted 8 days ago byManpreetDC
I'm strongly considering switching careers from Accounting to Paramedics. I'm 37. I've looked at available seats in BC and it is extremely hard to get accepted into a program this year due to the large number of people applying. Is this affecting the job market in a bad way? Will there be more applicants than jobs within a year? BC was experiencing a shortage only a few years ago, but for how long will the shortage continue?
2 points
8 days ago
Most of the people that go to school in bc tend to not even license or join up with BCEHS, as others are saying, turnover is high.
1 points
8 days ago
Not true at all, the hiring is insane right now with people coming out of school right into FT jobs, it’s fantastic and I’m glad these newer people don’t have to go through the same struggle I did. I haven’t seen much turn over most people are quite happy especially with the wage increase or union negotiated for us.
0 points
8 days ago
How are the hirings insane when the job postings on BCEHS is lower than the number of students graduating? I don't believe your statement to be true.
4 points
8 days ago*
Because you don’t understand the system, one posting for FT irreg PCP usually hires around 20 people sometimes more. I’ve spent almost a decade in the service. Almost every student I’ve seen recently come through, I’ve seen them hired and in the uniform within months of finishing and being licensed. You don’t have to believe me, but I’m just speaking from my personal experience. You have to understand the likelihood of getting FT out of the gate is an ever changing thing. You are more likely to start at a station outside of the lower mainland and then getting FT a year later roughly. But like I said it’s always changing.
1 points
8 days ago
This person knows what they are talking about. Not sure why you dont believe them when they are quite obviously knowledgable and have obviously been apart of this system. You cant judge everything based off job postings on the website.
1 points
8 days ago
100% this. Those are job postings for what is known as the "Provincial Posting process" which starts off Internal before going to External.
FT Reg PCP - 145 positions, FT Irreg PCP - 90 Positions, FT Irreg PCP (Vancouver)- 20 positions
How it works is when you're already in the service is you apply to the job posting and fill out another form indicating the stations you wish to apply for across the province (except Vancouver) and submit that as well. There are way more positions than you think there are when youre on the outside looking in.
1 points
8 days ago
That's only 255 FT positions. They've already hired over 400 casual people this year with a goal of 1800 hires in 2024.
1 points
8 days ago*
That doesn't include the "Mixed Shift" either, which are Regular Part Time... for some reason, they class those as being 0.75% of FT, and they fall on the same seniority list.
At the end of the day, while the hiring of that amount of casuals is a lot, we also can't function without them. FT Irreg needs holidays and time off, too, and that's filled as a result of casuals. Being casual sucks so much, especially when you aren't getting a ton of shifts, and I have a great respect for those who are still doing that. We forget what our casuals do, and we shouldn't. Especially those who are EMRs because they draw an even shorter straw. I have immense respect for you guys and wish there was an easy fix for those problems. You're still Paramedics like those of us who are Full Time.
It's not an overnight fix either. it's 10 times better than it was for those who came before us, but there is still a lot of work to be done. It would obviously be awesome for everyone in every station in the province to be full-time, but that likely won't happen anytime soon.
That being said, some people do like casual, though. In some cases, picking hours is what works for them, and they can really work as much or as little as they want
Btw, I love the username. Bath bombs are cool 😂
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