Are you starting your career or looking to
change careers? Do you love working with
people? Maybe you’ve got a background in working with the public already, or
want a career that allows you a more diverse range of interactions with others
compared to a standard 9-5 office job.
If you care about the world and other people,
have good communication skills, and are a ‘people-person’, then a career in
public safety could be an ideal choice for you.
You Care About the Safety of Others
Are you a
naturally caring person? Do you always offer to help whenever you can?
You’re the
type of person who wouldn’t think twice about helping your neighbor out if
their house was burgled and you’ll stop your car on the side of the road to help
if you see somebody get into an accident. You wouldn’t hesitate to jump fully
clothed into a pool to help somebody if they were struggling in the water. The
bystander effect just doesn’t have an effect on you; you care about others and
if you have a chance to help, you’ll always take it.
In public
safety, this is a key quality to have. After all, your job is all about keeping
others safe. In this expansive field, you’ll be using your skills and qualities
to keep citizens safe from all kinds of threats, including:
- Terrorism
- Crime
- Natural disasters
You’re Highly Empathetic
Do you
possess empathy? If somebody is telling you what they are going through, are
you able to put yourself in their shoes and really imagine what it must be like
for them, even if you’ve never actually found yourself in a similar situation
personally?
Empathy is
a crucial quality to have if you’re working in public safety. After all, many
public safety careers involve working on the front line, as a first point of contact
for citizens in distress. You might be working as a police officer, federal
agent or other public safety professional.
Some benefits of havingempathy in
the workplace include:
- Improved
conflict resolution
- Builds trust
- Better collaboration with colleagues and citizens
- Improved teamwork
- Ability to foster deeper connections with others
- Better leadership
- Improved personal growth
You Enjoy Working with the Public
Whether
you’re a college student starting out or you’ve got a few years in a career
behind you already, if you’ve got a strong background of working successfully
with the public - and you love it - it’s a sure sign you’re a good fit for a
career in public safety.
Maybe
you’ve worked in one or more of the following fields:
●
Retail
work
●
Hospitality
●
Healthcare
●
Domiciliary
care
●
Security
●
Teaching
●
Law
enforcement
●
Transportation
Either way,
if you always tend to go for jobs that require you to deal with the public on a
daily basis because that’s what you enjoy, a career in public safety is a
natural step up the ladder. You’ll need to be good at - and like - working with
different people from all walks of life, every day.
If the idea
of an office job where you only get to see the same co-workers every day with
little chance to meet anyone new fills you with dread, public safety is
anything but.
You’re a People Person
Are you an
extrovert? Do you love meeting new people? Does the idea of talking to, getting
to know and helping people from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life
excite you?
In a public
safety career, you have to be ready to work with different people every single
day. There’s never going to be a week where you get up on a Monday morning and
know exactly who you’re going to see over the next five days. You could be
working with victims or crime, or the criminals themselves.
To do this
effectively, you need to be a people person. If you’re comfortable talking to
anybody and embrace the differences we all have as humans, a career in public
safety might be ideal for you.
You Love Unpredictability
Do you
thrive on the unknown? Does the idea of a job where you know exactly what
you’re going to be doing every day make you feel like falling asleep?
If you’re
easily bored and enjoy working in a career with a lot of stimulation, unpredictability
and changing situations to adapt to, public safety is the perfect fit. It’s
definitely true that no two days are the same. Depending on the career path you
choose, no two hours will be the same! Take law enforcement, for example -
every call to service you receive is going to be different, and you’ll need to
be ready for it.
To cope
with the unpredictable situations and demands of many public safety careers,
you’ll need to possess the following skills:
- Good
observation
- Adaptability
- Staying calm under pressure
- Critical thinking
- Fast decision making
- Communication
Want to
brush up these skills before you get started? online.wlu.ca for more information about public
safety training.
You Want to Make the World a Better Place
Does
hearing about bad things happening in the world upset you? When you read about
a terror attack or watch news about natural disasters, does it make your heart
heavy? Do you wish you could help the people affected by these terrible
occurrences, or even help to prevent them happening in the first place?
With a
career in public safety, you can do just that. If you're passionate about
making the world a better place, the public safety sector gives you the perfect
opportunity to use your skills and knowledge to do just that. Some public
safety career fields to consider include:
- Police
officer
- Federal agent
- Community officer
- Public safety officer
- Intelligence analyst
- Lifeguard
- Safety program manager
- Animal services officer
- Radio frequency engineer
- Airport police officer
The public
safety field is very diverse with many career opportunities that allow you to
be at the forefront of keeping citizens safe. If the above sounds a lot like
you, training in public safety could be your best career move.