Six Signs You’re a Perfect Fit for a Career in Public Safety



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.
Interested? Here are some glaring signs that you’re a great fit for a public safety career.

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:
  1. Terrorism
  2. Crime
  3. 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:
  1. Improved conflict resolution
  2. Builds trust
  3. Better collaboration with colleagues and citizens
  4. Improved teamwork
  5. Ability to foster deeper connections with others
  6. Better leadership
  7. 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:
  1. Good observation
  2. Adaptability
  3. Staying calm under pressure
  4. Critical thinking
  5. Fast decision making
  6. 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:
  1. Police officer
  2. Federal agent
  3. Community officer
  4. Public safety officer
  5. Intelligence analyst
  6. Lifeguard
  7. Safety program manager
  8. Animal services officer
  9. Radio frequency engineer
  10. 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.