Starting To Really Hate My Job

[nanookadenord]

I have been with this private EMS company for over two years. In that two years I have seen EMT after EMT come and go. So ,I am at the top of the seniority list with a guy who started the same day as me. He however is a supervisor and seniority doesn't apply to him anymore.

A few weeks ago they put out an email asking us to bid for shifts. I was outbid for the shift I was on and put back on a different shift. That was the fourth time my schedule has changed in my over two years there.

Earlier this week I was told that I will now be working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, thirteen hours each shift. It is what I asked for when asked what I wanted to work. Today, I get a phone call asking what days I absolutely cannot work I told him Saturday and Sunday. He asked if I had to choose one of those days to work which would I choose, I said neither as I cannot work those days. I get my 4 year old son on the weekends and I am not going to lose a day with him. So he asked what days I can work, I have him Monday through Friday and I would want three consecutive days.

He told me that he will try to get me those, but ultimately he will need to put me where they need me.

I guess I will have a choice to make, let them change my schedule again and then in the months have it changed again and another three have it changed again or I can just cut ties with them and find a job that is more consistent.

My ex - wife is getting more and more angry with my shift changes because they effect more than me. They affect her and my children too.

My problem is that I don't have very many skills. I don't have a degree. I know how to be an EMT and I know warehousing. The problem with warehousing is that as I get older, my asthma is getting more sensitive and warehouses are very dusty. I don't want to work in a hospital either. I like being out in an ambulance on the road with no one looking over my shoulder and micromanaging me. I like having just one other person to rely on and not many people. I can get another EMT job with another private company, but it will be more of the same.

I feel stuck and not sure what to do.

 

[thecolorsblend]

I have been with this private EMS company for over two years. In that two years I have seen EMT after EMT come and go. So ,I am at the top of the seniority list with a guy who started the same day as me. He however is a supervisor and seniority doesn't apply to him anymore.

A few weeks ago they put out an email asking us to bid for shifts. I was outbid for the shift I was on and put back on a different shift. That was the fourth time my schedule has changed in my over two years there.

Earlier this week I was told that I will now be working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, thirteen hours each shift. It is what I asked for when asked what I wanted to work. Today, I get a phone call asking what days I absolutely cannot work I told him Saturday and Sunday. He asked if I had to choose one of those days to work which would I choose, I said neither as I cannot work those days. I get my 4 year old son on the weekends and I am not going to lose a day with him. So he asked what days I can work, I have him Monday through Friday and I would want three consecutive days.

He told me that he will try to get me those, but ultimately he will need to put me where they need me.

I guess I will have a choice to make, let them change my schedule again and then in the months have it changed again and another three have it changed again or I can just cut ties with them and find a job that is more consistent.

My ex - wife is getting more and more angry with my shift changes because they effect more than me. They affect her and my children too.

My problem is that I don't have very many skills. I don't have a degree. I know how to be an EMT and I know warehousing. The problem with warehousing is that as I get older, my asthma is getting more sensitive and warehouses are very dusty. I don't want to work in a hospital either. I like being out in an ambulance on the road with no one looking over my shoulder and micromanaging me. I like having just one other person to rely on and not many people. I can get another EMT job with another private company, but it will be more of the same.

I feel stuck and not sure what to do.

I'm not an EMT but I have a passing familiarity with that world. Somewhat.

Around here at least, high turnover in that field is pretty normal. The people I know in that field say that when they lose a job, no sweat. They can often find another one the same day. No idea how things work in your area but around here there are plenty of options to choose from. It may be time for you to look for something with more regular hours.

Again, I'm not involved in the medical field at all. But I've worked jobs where shifts are bid out. It happened twice in the three or four years I was there. I got stuck with a lousy shift the first time around. But by the second time, my seniority allowed me my pick of nearly any shift I wanted. So I chose four 10's with Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday off. A plum shift by any standard.

My point is that what you've encountered is abnormal by any metric I know of. Between that and your need for weekends I'd say it might be time to start looking at what else is out there for you.

Good luck!

 

[Jonathan kerr]

I was working zero hour contracts when I found Lord Jesus Christ and started to follow his perfect teachings, he will make sure you have a wage of you go after his teaching like your life depends on it, but watch because satan has traps everywhere for anyone trying to follow his teachings!

 

[Messerve]

I was working zero hour contracts when I found Lord Jesus Christ and started to follow his perfect teachings, he will make sure you have a wage of you go after his teaching like your life depends on it, but watch because satan has traps everywhere for anyone trying to follow his teachings!

I agree that maybe Jesus is asking you to step out in faith and even go without a job for a short time as you look for something better. He promises to care for us and provide for us, but we don't always give Him the opportunity to show that.

 

[nanookadenord]

Going without a job is not an option. I have child support to pay and health insurance for the kids as well. Not to mention my other bills and to have a roof over my head. Not to mention explaining a job gap.

There will be no going without a job.

 

[anna ~ grace]

Going without a job is not an option. I have child support to pay and health insurance for the kids as well. Not to mention my other bills and to have a roof over my head. Not to mention explaining a job gap.

There will be no going without a job.

Start shopping. Once you get another job, put in your two weeks' notice.

 

[Lost4words]

Agree with Gracia

 

[maintenance man]

I feel stuck and not sure what to do.

Is it possible to get a job as an EMT instructor?

 

[mama2one]

remember reading your other thread re job:

Work Dilemma

that thread you mentioned you could go to other company


how about interview there and find out if they're willing to let you have a set schedule?
if they need people, maybe they'll work with you?

 

[nanookadenord]

Is it possible to get a job as an EMT instructor?

It is not. All the instructors here are Paramedics.

 

[nanookadenord]

remember reading your other thread re job:

Work Dilemma

that thread you mentioned you could go to other company


how about interview there and find out if they're willing to let you have a set schedule?
if they need people, maybe they'll work with you?

I have talked with them already and they only need people that can work weekends. They have enough people to work weekdays and are in need of weekend people.

 

[turkle]

My son was an EMT for many years and had some of the same difficulties. He finally decided that he had had enough and has worked in a hospital emergency room as a tech for the last couple of years. He likes it a lot better and the hours are much more consistent. The pay and benefits are better too. It's something you might want to look into.

You also might want to consider going back to school to become more specialized. My son has looked into respiratory therapy, orthopedics and a few other options. He also got certified in flobotomy. Most programs don't take that long to complete, and there are lots of jobs available. I recommend you look at all the options.

 

[nanookadenord]

My son was an EMT for many years and had some of the same difficulties. He finally decided that he had had enough and has worked in a hospital emergency room as a tech for the last couple of years. He likes it a lot better and the hours are much more consistent. The pay and benefits are better too. It's something you might want to look into.

You also might want to consider going back to school to become more specialized. My son has looked into respiratory therapy, orthopedics and a few other options. He also got certified in flobotomy. Most programs don't take that long to complete, and there are lots of jobs available. I recommend you look at all the options.

I have looked into going back to school for x-ray tech of respiratory therapist. The problem is that I would have to work over nights and that means staying up 36 hours or longer a couple times a week. The classes are everyday. I also run the risk of not getting to class on time because they will give me a late call 30 minutes before my shift ends that is a three hour transport.

I also wouldn't feel safe driving an ambulance or doing patient care having been awake for longer than 24 hours.

This is why I feel stuck. I want to go back to school, but my current job just isn't conducive to it. The classes start again in September and run till May.

 

[High Fidelity]

What about going in to training EMTs? Becoming a first aid trainer?

 

[nanookadenord]

What about going in to training EMTs? Becoming a first aid trainer?

I cannot train EMTs. I would have to be a Paramedic. Training first aid wouldn't pay me near enough to cover my responsibilities.

I have looked into all that before as well.

 

[Andrew77]

I have been with this private EMS company for over two years. In that two years I have seen EMT after EMT come and go. So ,I am at the top of the seniority list with a guy who started the same day as me. He however is a supervisor and seniority doesn't apply to him anymore.

A few weeks ago they put out an email asking us to bid for shifts. I was outbid for the shift I was on and put back on a different shift. That was the fourth time my schedule has changed in my over two years there.

Earlier this week I was told that I will now be working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, thirteen hours each shift. It is what I asked for when asked what I wanted to work. Today, I get a phone call asking what days I absolutely cannot work I told him Saturday and Sunday. He asked if I had to choose one of those days to work which would I choose, I said neither as I cannot work those days. I get my 4 year old son on the weekends and I am not going to lose a day with him. So he asked what days I can work, I have him Monday through Friday and I would want three consecutive days.

He told me that he will try to get me those, but ultimately he will need to put me where they need me.

I guess I will have a choice to make, let them change my schedule again and then in the months have it changed again and another three have it changed again or I can just cut ties with them and find a job that is more consistent.

My ex - wife is getting more and more angry with my shift changes because they effect more than me. They affect her and my children too.

My problem is that I don't have very many skills. I don't have a degree. I know how to be an EMT and I know warehousing. The problem with warehousing is that as I get older, my asthma is getting more sensitive and warehouses are very dusty. I don't want to work in a hospital either. I like being out in an ambulance on the road with no one looking over my shoulder and micromanaging me. I like having just one other person to rely on and not many people. I can get another EMT job with another private company, but it will be more of the same.

I feel stuck and not sure what to do.

You did not say if you are re-married or not, or if you have other children.

I really don't care what your ex has to say about this, and you shouldn't either. Your ex, lost her right to speak into your life about what your scheduled should be, when they became an ex. The ex has no rights to your life.

If she wanted to continue to tell you how to live, then she should not have divorced. That's how this works.

Now if you want to reconcile the marriage, then start moving in that direction. But if that isn't an option, then you need to decide if you are going to be chained to the past, or moving towards the future.

And for your own sake, you need to understand this. You will be miserable for the rest of your life, if you continue to try and make someone who is NOT your wife, happy. I haven't been in your exact situation, but similar. You can't spend your life, trying to make people who are no longer part of your life, happy with your life.

Moving on.....

You need to make a decision, and then go for it. I don't know what your decision should be. If you like what you do, then this is what you have to put up with. This is part of the gig. The only one keeping you there, is you. This isn't communist China, and you are not assigned to a rice field, and you must stay there and work until you grow old and die.

You can do anything you want in this country. It's up to you, to straighten up that back bone, find a target to aim for, and start shooting. The person who never hits the bullseyes, is the guy that never shoots.

And if that isn't enough, people like you and me, should never say the words "I'm stuck". Pagans, can say "I'm stuck", because they are doing life all by themselves. We don't. We do life with the Lord of all creation.

Are you telling me, that G-d can not find you a new job? G-d can create entire galaxies, brought down the entire Soviet Union, and raised up the United States, but finding you a new job... now that he can't do?

I don't think so. You are not stuck. Now I get it, finding something can be difficult, and G-d isn't going to just have a CEO show up at your door, and offer you a full time job with a six-figure salary, and a company car. But, if you put in the effort, and move towards something, G-d will walk with you to a goal.

So you need to find something to do, aim for a target, and start shooting for it. I don't know what that target is. It might be to get trained in something new, and that means putting up with terrible shifts, until to achieve a goal. Maybe that is moving to a new city, and finding a place with more opportunities.

I don't know what you need to do. But you can either choose to flush your life down the drain, and waste away your years, in the name of an ex-wife and child you see once in awhile, or you can start moving on with your life.

Your son needs to see what a man does, and how a man lives. Right now you need to consider what example you are showing him.

Sitting around saying you are stuck, is not an example you want to give your son.

 

[nanookadenord]

You did not say if you are re-married or not, or if you have other children.

I really don't care what your ex has to say about this, and you shouldn't either. Your ex, lost her right to speak into your life about what your scheduled should be, when they became an ex. The ex has no rights to your life.

If she wanted to continue to tell you how to live, then she should not have divorced. That's how this works.

Now if you want to reconcile the marriage, then start moving in that direction. But if that isn't an option, then you need to decide if you are going to be chained to the past, or moving towards the future.

And for your own sake, you need to understand this. You will be miserable for the rest of your life, if you continue to try and make someone who is NOT your wife, happy. I haven't been in your exact situation, but similar. You can't spend your life, trying to make people who are no longer part of your life, happy with your life.

Moving on.....

You need to make a decision, and then go for it. I don't know what your decision should be. If you like what you do, then this is what you have to put up with. This is part of the gig. The only one keeping you there, is you. This isn't communist China, and you are not assigned to a rice field, and you must stay there and work until you grow old and die.

You can do anything you want in this country. It's up to you, to straighten up that back bone, find a target to aim for, and start shooting. The person who never hits the bullseyes, is the guy that never shoots.

And if that isn't enough, people like you and me, should never say the words "I'm stuck". Pagans, can say "I'm stuck", because they are doing life all by themselves. We don't. We do life with the Lord of all creation.

Are you telling me, that G-d can not find you a new job? G-d can create entire galaxies, brought down the entire Soviet Union, and raised up the United States, but finding you a new job... now that he can't do?

I don't think so. You are not stuck. Now I get it, finding something can be difficult, and G-d isn't going to just have a CEO show up at your door, and offer you a full time job with a six-figure salary, and a company car. But, if you put in the effort, and move towards something, G-d will walk with you to a goal.

So you need to find something to do, aim for a target, and start shooting for it. I don't know what that target is. It might be to get trained in something new, and that means putting up with terrible shifts, until to achieve a goal. Maybe that is moving to a new city, and finding a place with more opportunities.

I don't know what you need to do. But you can either choose to flush your life down the drain, and waste away your years, in the name of an ex-wife and child you see once in awhile, or you can start moving on with your life.

Your son needs to see what a man does, and how a man lives. Right now you need to consider what example you are showing him.

Sitting around saying you are stuck, is not an example you want to give your son.

If only it were that black and white as you make it seem in regards to not pleasing the other party. Keeping her happy makes life easier for me and our children.

We are co-parenting, so that means we need to care about how it affects the other parent and how it affects the child or children. She can very easily take me back to court and tell them I am not holding up my end of the child care plan and that I have changed it five times up to this point because of my job. The judge could give her sole custody and then I will see my two kids less.

That is not an option as far as I am concerned.

 

[Andrew77]

If only it were that black and white as you make it seem in regards to not pleasing the other party. Keeping her happy makes life easier for me and our children.

We are co-parenting, so that means we need to care about how it affects the other parent and how it affects the child or children. She can very easily take me back to court and tell them I am not holding up my end of the child care plan and that I have changed it five times up to this point because of my job. The judge could give her sole custody and then I will see my two kids less.

That is not an option as far as I am concerned.

That's kind of why you don't divorce and try and co-parent.

But if that's the box you put yourself into, then I guess you really are stuck then.
I have no advice for a situation like that.

 

[nanookadenord]

That's kind of why you don't divorce and try and co-parent.

But if that's the box you put yourself into, then I guess you really are stuck then.
I have no advice for a situation like that.

As if I had a choice in the matter?

I didn't initiate the divorce. I am also in a state where it takes one person to file and complete a divorce.

As I said, life is not as black and white as you make it seem.

 

[lismore]

I feel stuck and not sure what to do.

Hello nook. In this country it's illegal for an employer to change a shift when Child support arrangements are involved. I'm not sure of employment law, or the lack thereof in your country. Why don't you take legal advice? God Bless