The Sumner County Emergency Communications Center is looking for career employees who are interested in advancing in the Emergency Communications Field.

Some people may use the words job and career interchangeably as if they were the same thing. Are they the same? What is the difference between a “job” and a “career”? Are the two words just a different way of saying the same thing? These two words are not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination. There are numerous differences between a career and job, but the essential difference between the two is level of engagement.

One of my favorite truths that I tell people when teaching an instructor level class is “You and your student only get out of it, what you put into it.” Meaning that if you don’t actively engage in the training, you will get less out of it.

To bring it further into context, think about it like this. When you were sixteen you got a “job” as a cashier/bagger at the local supermarket. When you turned eighteen you went off to college and paid your way through by waiting tables at the campus diner and working part time as a tutor. At these positions, you did “okay” as an associate. You came in on time every day, met the “minimum expectations”, and didn’t do a “bad job” – but you didn’t do a great job either. That is a “job”. Is that what you are doing now?

Do you consider what you do now as a Telecommunicator a job or career? Are you happy with your current positions? Do you enjoy what you do? Do you have a passion for what you do? Where do you see yourself in five years? How have you contributed to the advancement of Emergency Communications or your dispatch center?

The key difference between a job and a career is engagement. When you’re involved in an occupation you love, you’re engaged and challenged on a daily basis. When you love your job, and consequently look at it as long-term endeavor, it becomes your career.

Does Emergency Communications challenge you? If not, what have you done to change that? Do you think that your agency is holding you back? If so, what have you done to alter that? What additional training have you sought on your own (free or otherwise)? How interested are you in maintaining your current certifications? How have you shared your knowledge with others either at your current center or other centers? What contributions have you made to your current center?

Working for the Sumner County Emergency Communications Center, rest assured, that you will have plenty of opportunity to make Emergency Communications a career. There is a tremendous amount of room for advancement either at the Sumner County Emergency Communications Center or with other ECC’s. To position yourself for advancement, you must become engaged and become a part of your profession. Don’t only do what is told you by your supervisor, seek ways to improve the center. Don’t do the minimums, excel at everything that you do.