Emergency Management as a Career

Arizona State University constructed an infograph on the career field of emergency management. Like all products like this, it doesn't have detailed information and nuances about the profession, but the basic information is good and I hear from many people considering the field. Remember, there can be many situational differences in pay from state to state or locality to locality. 

Back when I transitioned into the profession from the military, about the only way you could build an informational profile like the one provided here was to do individual informational interviews. See my additional remarks following the graphic.

ASU Online with this graphic.



 

A few remarks:

• I have no idea whatever happened to "preparedness" as a functional area of emergency management. This is the planning, training and exercise phase of pre-disaster work.
• Besides "director-level" positions, your most likely way into the profession is to first be an emergency management coordinator.
• I think the growth potential is beyond 6 percent if we keep up with the number of disasters we've seen in 2017.
• FEMA should be a major employee growth area — if they are authorized an increase in their end strength.
• There is nothing like volunteering with an organization to:
  • Become a known personality
  • Gain experience
  • Show what you can do — and you fit in to the organization