I spend a great deal of my day spending time with young students talking about career choices and I am pleased to say that there are many who are looking at careers in public services. Whether they are looking at a career in the police, the fire service or even in healthcare, I often speak to the kids about the soft skills that are required for all of these career choices. In fact someone that I often use an example of displaying these skills is my good friend Dr. Ryan Shephard, a model professional who is one of the most widely respected doctors in these parts. If you are considering a career in public service, here are the skills which he has that you should also look to display.
Empathy
Dr. Shephard oozes empathy and he treats everyone that comes into his practice in the exact same way. Having known him for as long as I have it is no surprise that he is like this and he has always looked to understand and help people. In fat recently a man was arrested for damage to the doctor’s surgery and Dr. Shephard, aware of this, was the first to speak out in defense of the man, because he had some mental health issues. Empathy is key in all public service positions.
Helping The Community
Being community spirited is going to be vital in any public service job that you take on and so it is important that you, like Dr. Shephard, are very much in tune with your local community. Dr. Shephard is not only the local doctor, he also takes on other responsibilities in the community such as being on the school board and running small programs to educate about health benefits.
Communication
Something which I have always been impressed about when it comes to Dr. Shephard is his ability to communicate well with just about anyone. Beyond the doctor’s practice I have seen him engaging with young people discussing the dangers of drugs, I have seen him work with the elderly to encourage them to look after their health and of course within the surgery he speaks about health issues in a way that is very easy to understand.
Dedication
The number one attribute which you will need in order to be good at this job, even if you do possess the other skills on this list, is dedication. Without the drive, passion and commitment to what you are doing, you will never be as successful as you want to be and you may end up loathing your job. A fireman needs to be committed to their job to walk into a burning building, a police officer must be committed to walk into an abusive situation and doctors like Ryan Shephard must also be committed in order to do the utmost in caring for the residents of a community.
