I went from paramedic to safety, risk, and workers’ comp when a lot of people told me it wouldn’t work. Now I help other people make their own move.
I spent years in EMS as a paramedic. During COVID the system was stretched thin. Short staffing like I had not seen before, and I was running on empty. I needed a change.
I wanted to be involved before the call came in. Plan for safety instead of showing up after someone got hurt. That’s what Environmental Health and Safety is: prevention, not just response.
When I applied, people told me it wouldn’t translate. “Paramedic is too specific.” “You don’t know state regulations.” “You don’t know OSHA.”
Then I met the Vice President of Safety and Risk Management I went to work for. She read between the lines of my resume and saw the skills my paramedic background brought to the job. I didn’t see them. She did. She taught me, and she’s still a mentor to me today.
I had no experience going into that role. Within two years, I had built their program from the ground up. For a national manufacturer, I started a workers’ comp program from nothing, cut open claims in half, and handled the company’s insurance claims. Later I ran OSHA, environmental, and explosives safety programs at a U.S. Army ammunition plant.
That’s what I do for my clients now. I read between the lines of your resume and find what you don’t see in yourself yet. Then I write it so a hiring manager sees it too.
Once I made my own move, friends started bringing me their resumes and passing my name along. Through the VFW Auxiliary, where I’m a lifetime member, I started hearing from veterans and service members trying to put military experience into civilian words. Different uniforms, same problem.
Not because they couldn’t do the job. Because their resume didn’t say it. The gap between qualified in real life and qualified on paper is a writing problem, and writing is something I can fix.
Landing my own role wasn’t luck. I took what I’d done and put it in the words the new field uses. It worked for me, then it worked for the next person, and the next. So I built it into a real process.
I work with you, not around you. Your real experience, in words that sound like you on your best day.
Every resume is written for the job you’re applying to. One resume sent to ten jobs usually gets filtered out of all ten.
If your resume is already strong, I’ll tell you. If a target isn’t realistic yet, I’ll tell you that too, and what it would take to get there.
That’s where I do my best work. I explain the actual why behind your experience so it reads as a qualification.
Founder & Career Translator
Paramedic turned safety, risk, and workers’ comp professional, in EMS since 2009. Along the way: explosives safety, insurance claims, environmental compliance, and teaching CPR to nearly 200 people. I work with people making moves that don’t fit a standard career ladder.
Based in Jackson, TN. Working with clients nationwide.
Next Rank Careers is part of The J-Collective, my small studio for people who are done waiting their turn or settling for the chapter they’re already in.
If you’ve been told you don’t qualify, or you’re not sure if you do, send me a note. That’s exactly the conversation I want to have.