It's not required for applying for jobs, but it's highly advisable. It is required for driving an ambulance in California, and most jobs will not even look at your application if you don't have one at the time you applied.
A lot of EMT jobs in California are interfacility transports (IFT), transport a patient from one facility to another non-emergently, and it becomes very routine, and there is a high attrition rate/a lot of people quit. I recently got hired on with an IFT company, and I currently cannot get enough of it, but I've been trying to get job for about a year and a half.
The time it takes to get a job varies. I've heard of people getting EMT jobs in California as early as three months after they've graduated. Over a year or two is a common number I hear in California though; some people recert before they even get a job, or some let it expire. In my area, I notice a lot of EMT students never end up working as EMTs - ever.
A quick note on some of your post, you can still use your edit button for a short while after you've submitted a post. It's better to edit your posts than to make four consecutive posts on the same thread; forum etiquette. If you need to edit it so much to the point that edit button no longer works, or you decide to make changes after the edit button no longer works, it may be a sign that you need to think before you post. The same is true for when you give a radio report, writing a narative, or just reporting to a nurse or doctor.
MrBrown is also a well respected member here, and he has a lot of valuable information to contribute. If you're on his good side, you could learn a lot from him.
Another forum etiquette thing is to search Google and the forum itself before asking questions. When asking a question, demonstrate effort by explaining your rationale or showing your work. It's the same way in real life too, if you ask questions that have already been recently answer, or the answer is easily accessible without asking, people find it annoying to answer, and you're probably gonna get snapped at.
