I have a FEMA site inspector interview this week 😬

Hello!

I just accepted a tentative offer as a local hire VAL. I’ve been a private sector consultant since 2022, and this will be my first federal role but I have a pretty diverse range of experience due to my work in consulting. My question is surrounding FEMA hiring pathways.

As a LH my initial commitment is 120 days. My question is surrounding what I can do with that span of time to obtain more long term employment with the agency. For instance, does this make me eligible to apply for internal positions? Is there any advice on what I should be doing once my foot is in the door to help me obtain a better or more long term position? Thanks in advance!

Hi all, a long time reader but never much of a poster. Needing any sort of help or outreach on where to start…

I have a degree in EM with 7+ years experience in the field. I worked in the healthcare industry as a director of EM. A couple promotions later it relocated to Colorado from Texas. After a 3 year stint, I had enough… I was wearing far too many hats with budgetary restraints blah blah blah. I decided to make a career change, my family was growing and it was time to find a home to settle down. I relocated back to Texas and began a sales job, 4-5 years later I’m still struggling to get back into the EM/Safety Field. I’ve looked at different avenues, including cybersecurity which I feel is a high demand market. Where would I start? What are recommendations to get my foot in the door? Can this be self taught? Would this expand my chances to get back into the field?

Hey everyone! Long time lurker in this sub. I am a Master's student graduating in the Spring and I got an email to schedule an interview for the Reservist Environmental Compliance Specialist position after getting my resume sent to the program manager by another FEMA worker. My background is primarily in Historic Preservation but I do a lot of work on environmental resiliency in relation to buildings/structures.

I have been doing research in the position and know the general idea of it. I have a couple of questions:

• Is this a position in which is sustainable for living costs? I am planning on moving to Boston with my partner in the Spring for background.

• For this role, how often should I expect to be deployed?

• In addition, what are the type of interview question they ask for this role?

• My last question, is what are the chances I can move up the ladder with this role?

Thanks everyone!

FEMA? Red Cross or what?

Hi all! Regular person with a bachelors degree and a dream to work at fema. I’ve never had a federal job or military or anything interesting like that. Always worked in the private sector.

Any tips? Any kind person want to tell me not to waste my time? lol Any and all feedback as to if it is even possible for me to get a job at FEMA- from what I gather people who have had federal jobs usually have the qualifications and experience to get the jobs that I would apply for making me sorely at the bottom of the pile.

Thanks to all who will read and respond

I recently got hired for EHP Core and I received my start date (thankfully before the new administration starts), but I'm a little confused about what the EOD means. My office is not at region headquarters, but I was told training will be at region headquarters. Does that mean I start on EOD at region headquarters or will by first day be at my office? Also, all I have been told about my office location is the city it's in. When do I find out where I work? Things are about as clear as mud lol

I onboard on the 15th in Dallas. I had a few questions:

Do they pay for your transportation to the airport? Like if I took a shuttle or uber.

And do they give you a per diem for food the days you travel? Or do you get reimbursed?

Thanks in advance!

We’re thrilled to see so many new faces here! Welcome to the community!

Just over a year ago, I stepped into the role of moderator and brought on u/WatchTheBoom to help run this subreddit. At the time, things were stagnant: moderators had been inactive for over six months, and the subreddit was overrun with spam about medical equipment for EMS. It felt like an uphill battle, but today, I’m proud to say we’ve come a long way together.

In just one year, we’ve nearly doubled our membership, fostering a vibrant and active community with daily posts and meaningful discussions. Our focus on connecting people to the field of Emergency Management has resonated widely. Employees from FEMA, state agencies, AmeriCorps, and many international Emergency Managers have noted Reddit as a valuable resource for information, job opportunities, and current events in our field.

To put things into perspective: the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) has about 6,000 members, and our subreddit has now grown to surpass that—making us one of the largest communities of emergency management-focused groups in the world. That’s something to be incredibly proud of, and it’s all thanks to you.

As we look to the future, we want to keep building on this momentum. Your input is important! What can we do to make this community even better? Are there specific topics, resources, or initiatives you’d like to see? Mega threads? announcements or etc?

Drop your feedback in the comments or message us directly. Thank you for being a part of this journey. let’s continue to grow and shape the future of Emergency Management together!

Hello! I am looking for more information for the Logistics Cadre and the Logistics Specialist position. I will be heading to Dallas on Dec 8 for orientation and onboarding then I will be deployed somewhere after that. There is hardly any information on the logistics cadre out there! Hopefully this thread will answer my questions and questions that other people may have. How is training structured? Where could I be deployed? What should I wear for work? And any other information you’d like to provide.

Thanks in advance!

Here is the status of your application for Local Hire (Site Inspector Specialist), Announcement FEMA-25-EMB-828212-LH with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Eligible for the following position or positions:

IH-0301-00; We reviewed your application and found you eligible for this series/grade combination.

I am onboarding in Dallas later this month. What should I expect? Is it Monday-Saturday? 12 hours a day?

As posted above, has anybody here used the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program?

If so, how well did it work out for you?

https://studentaid.gov/pslf

Interested in EM.

Currently in school for Mechanical Engineering but discovering it’s not my thing. Thinking about changing my major and interested in EM.

Not opposed to working for the government again, but curious what kind of other opportunities are out there.

Worked as a mechanic in the military, and have no prior EM experience.

28m I have a diploma in fire engineering technology, paramedic school and currently working on my bachelors in public justice and safety.

I spent five years fighting wild land fire all over Canada as well as volunteer firefighting and I’m currently working as a firefighter in Brampton Ontario for the last 6 years.

I am intrigued by disaster management, I love my job but I want to be involved at a higher level.

Can you share your experience in the field and what a “normal” day would be like?

Thanks

I know that the topic of higher education in emergency management comes up from time to time. I noticed that Hennepin Technical College has an Emergency Management AAS, as well as a Professional Emergency Manager diploma and an Emergency Management Principles certificate. These are offered at the Eden Prairie Minnesota campus.

The AAS is 60 credits. The diploma is 41 credits. The certificate is 16 credits.

It is not on the FEMA Higher Education College List, but I did send FEMA an email, so perhaps they will review and consider adding it to the list.

https://hennepintech.edu/_documents/academic-programs/emergency-management-aas.pdf?ss360SearchTerm=Emergency%20Management

https://hennepintech.edu/_documents/academic-programs/professional-emergency-manager-diploma.pdf?ss360SearchTerm=Emergency%20Management

https://hennepintech.edu/_documents/academic-programs/emergency-management-principles-certificate.pdf?ss360SearchTerm=Emergency%20MAnagement%20Certificate

https://hennepintech.edu/future-students/transfer/credit-work-life-experience.html

https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/collegelist

This will be helpful to places that suffer disasters and lose terrestrial towers.

It sounds like T-Mobile for Business will be the first to get this.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/spacex-gets-fcc-approval-to-start-using-starlink-for-t-mobile-cell-service

https://www.t-mobile.com/business/industry-solutions/connected-vehicle-network/direct-to-cell-communications-in-remote-areas

I am an EM with a 6 years under the belt. Are there any opportunities doing consulting work?

This flashed across my screen and now I can’t find the reference. Anyone have the details? I think it’s on or around Dec 10 in Grapevine, TX.

Does anybody know if Apple iPhone SOS via satellite on iPhones are routed directly to local PSAPs or is there some sort of intermediary involved?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/101573

Good day to everyone, and please forgive the ignorance of my post. I'm doing a 2d flooding simulation short video of a village for a Disaster Management class, and I'm in need of advice concerning how to do so using SketchUp and Canva (it's the free versions, though, since I cannot afford to pay at this time).

I'm a complete newbie to both programs and I'm terribly oversaturated by the many YouTube videos without a proper guide.

Advice and alternative suggestions for other programs with easier learning curves are welcome.

Thanks so much in advance, all

My husband and I moved to DC this year (grad school and career move for me) and he has had a difficult time getting interviews in the international development and emergency management sectors. He currently contracts part-time with a humanitarian organization doing corporate relations; he had to give up his full-time position there when we made the move. He has a BA and an MBA, was a volunteer firefighter for seven years, and seven years of post-grad work experience that isn’t disaster management response. He wants to work for FEMA or USAID and do more physical response work, but would also enjoy an office/analyst role.

I understand federal government jobs are highly competitive, but is there a skillset or certifications he needs to obtain to become more qualified? Are there any nonprofits or professional development opportunities in the DC area that he can connect with?

Thanks in advance! It’s been a challenging time for us. Unemployment is exhausting and the job search in DC has been a much more difficult time than we expected.

Title says it all. Absolutely nothing about those certs seems to provide any real benefit to me or anyone else. It doesn’t prove you know or are capable of anything, and I say that from first hand experience dealing with people who have them and are completely incompetent. I cant be alone in thinking this

Edit: I am already Assistant EMC in my office and haven’t/don’t need it to this point. So I’m just not seeing the reasoning at this time. Plus i have my EM degree

For those who got your CEM, what were some courses/training you used for the General Management experience? I need twenty more GM hours.

I applied for an emergency floodplain specialist position about a month ago, and got a call today saying they want to do a telephone interview. I just graduated high school, I have no emergency management experience but a handful of IS courses I have completed. I live in a city that was heavily affected by Helene so I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it. What are they going to ask? How do I go about these questions? Emergency Management is something i’ve been wanting to do for a while & would appreciate the help.

I’m about to head off to Dallas for on boarding, and I saw somewhere else here on Reddit that the position they want to hire me for what requires people to type very fast. I’m disabled and I cannot type very fast. I have used talk to type programs for decades. Does anyone know how many words per minute I’d be expected to type? As part of the on boarding is there a typing test?

I am with the U.S. Coast Guard wondering if SITL translates to anything on the outside. And maybe how I can build my resume to start applying.