Lastly, I have to say that I’m amazed at how little the Piggs here have respect for jobs that are pretty thankless that no one really wants to do but just want to complain about how much they make.
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“No one really wants to do”? If they’re such thankless and horrible jobs then why, even in good economic times, are there so many applicants for each position? These are among the most competitive jobs out there. Enquiring minds want to know…[/quote]
Wrong, dave.
During the bubble years, fire and police departments had a very difficult time finding qualified recruits.
“As Los Angeles tries to add 1,000 officers in five years to the smallest big-city police department in the nation, it has found there haven’t been enough David Gameros to go around.
The LAPD and police departments around the country are engaged in an intense competition over an increasingly limited pool of suitable people interested in becoming cops.
Several factors have combined to leave police departments hard-pressed to fill their ranks. They include mass retirements by the baby boomer generation, a strong economy providing better-paying jobs in the private sector and a military that is bulked up and repeatedly extending the service commitments of soldiers who might otherwise become police officers, according to Jason Abend, executive director of the National Law Enforcement Recruiters Assn.”
Like jp said, people have to pass rigorous physical, mental, and emotional/psychological tests, as well as pass the background checks. In addition to all this, many departments cannot afford to train basic recruits, so the *qualified* applicants will have had to pass fire/police academy (on their own dime and time) as well as paramedic school (an extra year’s worth of paramedic training), and departments look for people with some kind of military, paramedic, police, or firefighting experience, so volunteering (again, on your own dime and time) or working for low wages as a student firefighter, junior police officer, or private EMT/paramedic are also highly recommended.
The only people who think these are easy jobs are the ones who have never done them. Sorry, but the whining needs to stop. If anyone thinks it’s so easy, give up the realtor/flipper jobs during the bubbles and apply. Let’s hear you talk about how easy and overcompensated it is after you’ve actually had some experience with it.
