Thank you for creating such a helpful post! I was just hired on as a FEMA reservist for Disaster Survivor Assistance Specialist and I have my orientation later this month. I know that deployments are part of the job, and I'm up for the challenge. But, I want to make sure that my time away from home is worth it- meaning I'd like to work as much as possible while I'm away. When you're offered a deployment is there any way to know how many hours a day you might work? Or, are there any questions you ask prior to accepting a deployment? Lastly, I currently have another job as a freelancer. Is there usually reliable internet when you're deployed, or would I be totally screwed if I had to try to finish up a freelance assignment while I'm on deployment?
Welcome to the party my friend! Those are excellent questions and I remember wondering them myself. I can give you a pretty good answer considering that I was a DSAS myself for a couple of years.
For me, deployments can best be summed up as follows: you know squat. Nada. Zilch. You don’t even know where you’re being sent when you get deployed. Almost every deployment starts in Dallas, Texas where you in process and get your equipment for a day or two, then get your onward orders. Dallas is always listed as the deployed destination when you get it at home. That tells you how little you actually know from the get go. I mean, we don’t know whether to pack a tank-top or thermal underwear, so most of us pack BOTH. It’s the most suspicious luggage the TSA agent will check all day.
Now for the million dollar question: how much do you work? Well, again, that depends. If you want to work a lot, then this is the job for you. 40 hours a week is a given. Virtually guaranteed the whole time you are out. If there’s less than 40 hours of work, they start sending people home, and likely far before that. As for what can be above that… it can be a lot. DSA is one of the first boots on the ground, and there’s always lots of work to do at first, but it can vary based on the mission.
I can’t offer you a guarantee, but I CAN offer you personal experience and anecdotal evidence. For a wildfire in Oregon, I worked 13-14 hour days, including the commute, for 7 days a week, for a month. Then got sent home. For the COVID vaccination mission, I worked a much more varied schedule. Some weeks we worked 40 hours, others we worked all 7 days for 10-12 hours a day. That mission lasted two months.
As you can see, it depends. It varies based on the needs of the mission. But when you get close to 40 hours a week, that’s something to fear rather than celebrate. It means the loss of glorious overtime, and even the potential for the unspeakable thing: demobilization. In DSA and IA, we run from that word, and whisper it with bated breath.
As for your work as a freelancer, congratulations! You’re living every reservist’s dream! Some version of flexible, mobile work you can do when not deployed pairs very well with this career. I know of many people who have successfully worked in DSA while keeping another job elsewhere, though it always surprises me that they can do it. This is because you CANNOT do it while on duty. Both because it’s not permitted, and more importantly because it would literally be impossible. In DSA, we are always on our feet, working directly with survivors, often going door to door. You won’t have time. So the question becomes much simpler at that point. Is your freelance work flexible enough to allow you to work when it’s closer to 40 hours a week, but skip when you’re exhausted at the end of a 14 hour day, and you have only a few hours to rest before you have to do it over again?
Only you can answer that question, but with the assumptions that it is ALWAYS at least 40 hours a week when deployed (and likely much more), and it is ALWAYS going to be impossible for you to do outside work during FEMA hours, I’m sure you can come up with an answer.
If you have any other excellent questions then feel free to let me know! Either way, welcome to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, and stay FEMA Flexible! :)
Edit: As for internet, that also depends. I’ve always had good internet in good hotels, but most people with a few years experience in FEMA have horror stories about Puerto Rico. Staying in tents or on hospital ships. Internet was the least of their problems.
You also asked about any questions before accepting a deployment. While you do technically have a contact you can call, they often know almost nothing more than you, and that can take up valuable time. Most requests are time sensitive or first come first served. It’s better to take it ASAP, then call with any questions about logistics if you have them.
Thank you u/Dr-Fema for such a detailed reply. I have to admit that not knowing where I'm going to deploy to does make me a bit nervous (I'm usually a planner), but if this COVID world has taught me anything it's that sometimes you just have to go with the flow! I'll stay FEMA flexible!
My one last question is about food and packing. I saw a packing list on FEMA's website and it said to pack 3 MREs. When you're working 14 hours a day does FEMA feed you, or do you use your per diem to buy/pack your own meals?
Excellent question! When physically deployed, you recieve a per diem of at minimum $55 per day, which you are responsible for using to feed yourself. The agency does not provide meals for you. I always try to pick a hotel that has a kitchen and then run to Sams or Costco to get a massive stock of groceries that I can use for the next month. In fact, with this method, I'm usually able to pocket $45 or more worth of per diem a day. Food is not difficult, even if you just want to grab something on the way home every day. I might bring a few snacks with me for the first few hours or days, but I never pack MREs or anything like that. If there's people where you're going, then there's going to be some kind of food source there too.
And I get what you mean about needing to plan. The combination of the FEMA Flexible concept and the pandemic has made me a far more chill person than I used to be. In fact, in addition to the "be FEMA Flexible" slogan you'll hear, I've started to try and populize the phrase "just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo throughout the agency. I just find it so much more cute and motivating. Anyway, just keep swimming my friend!
Hi! I'm actually interested in being a reservist for Public Assistance or DEC. I graduated from FEMA corps back in 2017. I'm curious to know if these Cadres all have different email addresses instead of using the fema-careers one? I know that EHP has one.
Hello my friend! Always great to meet a former FEMA Corps member! I respect the crap out of you all, and you're my favorite group of people to work with.
So you may recall that FEMA used to hire primarily through those email addresses that you mentioned, but now, everything for the bigger cadres is run through USAJobs. That is frustrating if there aren't any announcements for jobs you want, but at least there is transparency and a process rather than the pain of waiting for a reply to the email address that never ends up coming.
And you can trust me on that. I spent all of last year sending email after email to EVERYONE I could find in PA, every email address, every phone number, every resume dump, from 2017 forward. None of it worked. No response, or the email was returned as undeliverable. Then, there was a USAJobs announcement for a PA PDMG in December 2020 that I was hired off of in mid-January. It's all about vigilance and patience. Check every day, multiple times a day, and have all your documents ready to tailor to the specific job announcement. Then apply to it when you seen it on USAJobs. Sometimes, these job announcements are only for 24 hours, or until midnight, so it's about being ready when the time comes.
Here's the [link](https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?a=HSCB&s=startdate&p=1) to a custom USAJobs search I put together. It lists every FEMA job open at a given time, with the most recent at the top. Anything listed as IM is Reservist, IC is Regional CORE, IT is IM-CORE or N-IMAT, GS is Permanent Full Time (PFT), and WG is Wage Grade, usually blue-collar based at Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (WMEOC).
Like I said, what this comes down to is patience and timing. Bookmark the link and check it often. Then apply for things as they come open. FEMA is not nearly as secret as it used to be, so there are lots more people applying for limited positions than there used to be. 2017 and 2018 were the golden years where you could send a quick email to the PA hiring inbox and then get hired within a week or two. Unfortunately, it's not really like that anymore.
Let me know if you have anymore questions, and welcome back to the mad house that is FEMA my friend!
Don't get discouraged! It's still very much worth the wait, and FEMA Corps are considered GOLD in FEMA. When the announcement you want is posted, you'll be a shoe in!
And just out of curiosity, why didn't you use the expedited hiring process you all get access to at the end of FEMA Corps? It would have been much easier for you back then, right? I'm just fascinated by FEMA Corps because I was one year too old to apply when I found out about it.
Thanks for the encouragement! I didn't use the expedited hiring process because I was more focused on going to college and getting my degree. I didn't really have a clue what I wanted to do with my life at the time. The only thing I knew was to get some type of degree lol.
Also, being from the South and an introvert living with 5-6 other individuals all from the northeast was definitely fascinating to say the least lol.
I'm the exact same way, an introverted Southerner, and I can certainly understand. Well congrats on prioritizing a degree then! I think that was definitely the right call!
Thanks for your question, and please let me know if I can help in any other way!
Reservist question:
I’m considering applying for a reservist position in a region different than the one I currently live in. If I ended up getting hired for that position would I need to move to that region or would they just fly me to where I’m serving?
All reservist positions are nationwide, and you can live anywhere you want within U.S. borders. They just fly you out from your local airport. However, because of this, no reservist positions are listed with a specific location. If you are applying for a job that lists a specific location, then it is likely going to be a Local Hire or CORE position, at which point you WOULD have to relocate to the listed location. Send me the announcement your interested in and I'll take a look at it to give you some more details if you'd like!
Hi u/Dr-Fema I'm back with more questions... I completed my onboarding earlier this month and I've already gotten a deployment request. Eek! Yay! Eek! (I'm both excited and scared!) Do you have a packing list that you can share with me? I have no idea what to pack for a one-way trip to Texas. Thanks in advance for all your great advice, and I hope we get the chance to cross paths out in the field one day.
No way! That's awesome, I'm so happy for you! Are you being deployed to the PMC in Grapevine, TX? If so, then your actual deployment location will be elsewhere, and you'll find out where when you've processed through. It's not too cold throughout much of the country right now, so you shouldn't have to worry about that, and you could always buy a jacket or gloves when you get to the disaster. So pack warm weather, summer clothes. Also, pack a bag of snacks if you can. I don't know of any disasters right now that wouldn't have food accessible upon landing, but knowing you have something to eat and a water bottle just makes you calm.
Then, you'll want some entertainment. A book, or a tablet, laptop, or something like that. You likely won't have much time to relax, but it's still nice to have.
Depending on your disaster, you may be issued a laptop or equipment while at the PMC. Plan accordingly. FEMA pays for two carry ons, and if they give you a laptop, it will come in a big case that you will have to carry on with you, so plan for that.
Other than that, there isn't much else to say. Remember that you'll be getting $55 a day minimum in per diem once you leave home, so you can buy anything you need once you get there. I like to buy an instant pot once I land if I don't get a hotel with a kitchen. Makes it easier to eat and save some money.
National Travel is your friend, but do some research on hotels with kitchens before you call, then request it from them. Sometimes they miss them or just put you in a random hotel. Most of their agents are fantastic though. They'll take great care of you.
Take time for yourself, listen to some good music on the flight, and enjoy the adventure. Stay FEMA Flexible, remember to breath, and try not to feel rushed. A lot is about to happen to you, and you're going to feel overwhelmed. That's okay. As Dory says in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming."
Above all, remember how fortunate you are. There are many people who are stuck at home, either waiting for a deployment, or working virtually. I'm working a disaster virtually right now, and I want to be where you will be, right in the thick of it. However, even we are leaps and bounds more fortunate than the people you will be there to help. Don't flaunt how happy you are to be there, especially in front of survivors.
This will be your very first deployment. You will not have another one. Enjoy it. Savor it.
Don't blink.
Hey Dr. FEMA,
Hello, what skills you do see as essential or useful as a FEMA Public Assistance Reservist? Furthermore, do you need a degree in Engineering or Construction to work as a Public Assistance Reservist? Thank you for your help!
Hello my friend! Sorry for the late response, I was away from all electronics over the weekend.
When it comes to PA, there are two main jobs people tend to do: Site Inspector and Program Delivery Manager. As a SI, you would preferably have some sort of construction experience, specifically in public works. However, this is a best case scenario. There are many SIs working right now that don’t have any experience like that. They just tend to be worse at their jobs than their hard-hat wearing colleagues (speaking as the person they give reports to).
As for PDMGs, we are more like project managers than engineers or construction workers. There’s a common joke that the first time a PDMG hears the word “culvert” is when the applicant tells them theirs has been damaged. I didn’t have any experience in these things at all when I started, and I’m still learning terms several months later. Public Assistance is a grant program, not a code of engineering. The job of a PDMG is to guide cities and counties through that grant program. Then engineers and costing specialists actually writing the scope of work and supervise the rebuilding. It’s my job to make sure that the whole thing gets done while meeting regulatory deadlines, watching for process pitfalls, and answering the applicants’ questions about the process.
As for degrees, there’s really no hard and fast rule. My degree is in accounting and I don’t have a masters. I’d never worked in engineering or anything remotely like that before. Many PDMGs don’t have a bachelor’s, though that may be because of the massive hiring spree they went on back in 2018-19.
PA is a weird, mythical cadre that just plays by different rules than the rest. Sometimes things just don’t make any sense from the outside, and it can feel like there’s a veil of some kind between PA and the rest of FEMA. I understand how frustrating that can be, but the only way to get a job in PA is to persist in trying. Patience is the right of passage.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Gotcha,
Do you believe the training provided on public assistance through FEMA's website is useful or important (IS-1000 - IS-1027)? Would it be advantageous to know in the hiring process? Continued thanks for your help.
Absolutely! Any information you can glean about the PA program is helpful. I recommend taking those courses, as well as just generally Googling about PA until you have a good understanding. It's the largest grant program in the Department of Homeland Security, and we are SORELY understaffed. The less time it would take you to get up to speed, the better. Also, just generally, when working for FEMA, it's a good idea to have some kind of understanding about ICS, or the Incident Command System. It's the process by which all objectives are set and decisions are made. It helps in understanding why some of the weird things work the way they do.
Let me know if you have any questions about PA, or if you just want to test your knowledge! I'm still learning things too, so we can be study partners! :)
Thanks so much for this helpful post! I interviewed today for a Reservist Civil Rights Advisor. First question. The pay range is quite large, about $38-$50 per hour. Do they always offer the low end? Is there room to negotiate?
Second question. Is deployment always thirty days or longer? I would be keeping my state government job and it will be a harder sell if I am gone for longer than thirty days more than once a year. It sounds like we have no idea how long the deployment will last when we take it as well?
Third question. Do you know how often Civil Rights deploys?
Thanks so much!
Hello my friend! Congrats on the interview! I hope you get the job and join us soon! Now to answer your questions:
1. I have never myself, nor heard of anyone else, negotiated an offer. As far as I know, you can't negotiate it. Please TRY and report back to me, because I would *LOVE* to know if we can do that haha. I've always just been offered the low end of the pay rate and accepted that was what I'd be paid. However, for higher paid positions like that of a CRA, I imagine there could be different rules. Just let me know what you find out! You only ever get a specific pay rate offer when they offer you the job, so there's no harm whatsoever in asking your Hiring Manager if there's room for movement.
2. Deployment lasts as long as it lasts, but in the case of a CRA, I'd bet money that you'd be gone more that 30 days every single time you were deployed. Every CRA and Disability Rights Advisor I've ever met has been either ALONE at the disaster, or part of a two-person team. That means that they typically stay for *at least* three-six months, if not *years*. I'm surprised you haven't been told that at this point. Frankly, I would think it would be VERY hard to keep a full time job elsewhere if you were offered a CRA position. When I talk about 30-day deployments, I'm talking about jobs in the Individual Assistance and Disaster Survivor Assistance cadres, entry-level stuff. As a CRA, you are advising the disaster's leadership, and in that way, are *a part* of leadership. If you think about it logically, would it make much sense for them to rotate out Civil Rights Advisors they're used to working with on a regular basis? Also, as someone in that field, would you *want* leadership to constantly be getting new advisors, or god forbid, *not have one at all*? I'd bet on being out for quite a long time, and with the limited size of the cadre and the number of climate-related disasters we're going to face in the next five years, be receiving LOTS of deployments. FEMA makes it very clear in orientation that THIS is your primary job, and not something you can do on the side.
3. As for the third question, my answer would mostly be based on the circumstantial evidence I mentioned above. There really is no way to know for sure. Sometimes you don't get deployed for over a year. It's the curse of this life, but I can tell you from experience, the journey is worth the initial leap of faith.
Thanks for stopping in, and let me know if you have any other questions!
Circling back to this I ended up getting an offer for Reservist in Disability Integration and was offered base $29.15. I countered with $34 something and they came back with 30.95. I accepted it! I wrote three reasons why I thought I deserved more pay based on OPM Superior Qualifications guidelines. HR responded within 2 days with the counter. Hope this helps others! It never hurts to ask. 🙂
That's awesome! Yeah, I saw your post in r/EmergencyManagement about it haha. Very helpful information. Congrats, and I hope you get a chance to get out there soon!
Hello,
I am set to onboard in the next few weeks and I am wondering if you may have any information on the Supply Management specialist position? How often they are deployed/the importance of the position in the logistics cadre? What I can expect from this position? Etc.
Hello my friend! Sorry for the delay in responding.
I actually just shared all the information I know about this position with someone else, so I'll link my response to you [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/EmergencyManagers/comments/msg7nf/comment/hk5yitk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks for the info! They know I have a full time job and said others in the program also do, so perhaps you have encountered the CORE staff and not Reservists? I do agree with you that having someone who can stay indefinitely makes way more sense, that's why I went into my interview unsure what it was all about.
I was interviewed by two CORE staff and one PFT staff. It was a very technical interview and I think I did pretty well. I didn't want to ask a lot of questions about deployment in case they thought I didn't want to, but we did discuss how covid has created some all virtual deployments. I actually prefer to go into the field because I'm stir crazy.
I think I only have a chance because they hire many positions because I am on the lower rung of the experience level most likely. I'll just have to wait and see. Even if I get an offer, It'll involve me negotiating time with my current employer and FEMA and that may not work out.
I'm confused about the difference between being a FEMA reservist & working as a reservist contractor. I'm very concerned about how much time I've already spent doing all these unpaid training Vanguard inspection Services certificate courses so I can become a FEMA contractor disaster home inspector. It seems strange that they can treat their contractors as employees, yet offer no benefits & pay no taxes. I found this here on Reddit whilst trying to see if there's another option. I don't see how to get that kind of job without going through a contracted company. I also see another company called WSP USA that used to be called PB. Can anyone please help me navigate a direct FEMA reservist route. I end up rerouted to a contract company when looking at the inspector services cadre. I'm feeling lost & am worried about wasting more time jumping through all these Vanguard hoops if they can't be useful elsewhere. Starting to worry about all my info I've shared thus far w/ Vanguard & am hoping someone has some insight on these contracting companies & if there's a direct FEMA hire route, why they'd be intercepting per-say. I really appreciate any help/info anyone can offer on the subject.
Hello my friend! I can certainly try to clear some of that up for you.
As you seem to already know, there is a difference between being a FEMA Reservist and a FEMA-contracted housing inspector. A FEMA Reservist is a W-2 employee of the US federal government. A housing inspector is NOT a FEMA Reservist. Instead, they work for a private contractor like Vanguard or WSP as a 1099 independent subcontractor.
Essentially, Reservists are federal employees, and housing inspectors are private sector contractors.
That means that you as a contractor have to pay your own taxes, aren’t provided benefits, and don’t actually “work” for either the contractor or FEMA. As a FEMA Reservist, we have taxes taken out, and we are provided the benefits I talk about above as employees of the federal government.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, we can talk about the difference in jobs. FEMA Reservists don’t do housing inspections. Full stop. That’s why FEMA contracts out that work to private contractors like Vanguard and WSP. Instead, we do literally DOZENS of other types of work. From helping people in shelters to inspecting public infrastructure.
And that’s where I would send you. With your skill set, I’d say you could likely qualify as a Public Assistance Site Inspector, which is one of the dozens of jobs that is considered a FEMA Reservist.
To apply to that, or any other Reservist job, you’d want to go to USAJobs.com. Search FEMA and look for jobs marked “Intermittent.” Then just apply through the site. You’ll have to wait for the job to be posted, but they do it every few months, so just keep checking.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask more! 👍🏼
I cannot believe I missed your reply until now. I'm beyond impressed with your super helpful, detailed response! Finally, I understand. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Hello, Dr-Fema. Thank you for this post. I have found more relevant information pertaining to FEMA here than anywhere else on the internet. It is presented well and in a manner so as to be easily digested.
I made a profile in order to ask you a few questions regarding employment as a FEMA reservist. I hope you still check this post occasionally.
I am strongly considering a career as a FEMA reservist, specifically an Emergency Management Specialist (Response). It would be a dream job to travel to areas that need my help immediately after a disaster. To help on the front lines in times of crisis feels like something I was meant to do.
However, I am hesitant to leave my wife for extended periods of time. The job in question requires 76% travel according to the listing on [usajobs.gov](https://usajobs.gov)
My questions are simple.
\#1. In your experience, how often are EMS Response reservists deployed?
\#2. Would my wife be allowed to visit me/stay with me in the hotel for short periods of time? If I'm on a long deployment, am I allowed to have visitors stay with me?
\#3. Do you have any personal experience with juggling family and your job? Have you seen other reservists juggle family and work well?
I have a suspicion that the reservist occupation as a whole seems to be a young person's game. Perhaps it is best to not have a home-life or people back home waiting on you to demobilize.
\#4. In your opinion, would it be wise for a married man (with plans of starting a family) to join the reservists?
Thanks again for this post!
\-NOQUIT
On September 29th, president Biden signed the Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce (CREW) Act into law. This act amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act as well as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) to protect full-time employment of FEMA Reservists when they are deployed to disasters and emergencies on behalf of FEMA. It also protects them against penalization, discrimination, or loss of employee benefits as a result of their deployment to disasters, emergencies and critical trainings. Now as a reservist your job should be safe if you get deployed.
Hi! I recently received a TO as a reservist in the Logistics Cadre. Looking at the thread you’ve said LOG is around middle of the pack in deployments. Is that more like several short deployments or 1-2 long term deployments a year? I know you’ve said that you didn’t interact with LOG that much, is that because there aren’t that many deployed per site or do they tend to be separated from the rest of the cadres?
Hi u/pineapplesflamingos! Good to meet you. So, Pathways is associated with the Title 5 hiring process and the Permeant Full Time (PFT) class of employee, which I mentioned briefly here. I'll talk a bit more about that when I get a chance to update the post again. Most of the stuff I say here is regarding Stafford Act employees like Local Hires and Reservists. Your situation is different, and the Pathways program is not based in the Stafford Act. I would assume that your internship is either in DC or at one of the regional offices. PFTs *occasionally* go out into the field, but mostly they are based at the DC HQ or in one of the regional offices. They run things from afar, while intermittent employees do the groundwork. I don't have any experience as a PFT with FEMA, so I can't say much more than that with certainty.
In essence, you are likely going to be interning with FEMA's version of full-time, normal government office workers in DC or one of the regional HQs. FEMA Corps and reservists are the on the ground, dirty, grimy, 16-hour day types, so most FEMA questions on these kinds of subs are about them because it's so different. You might find more answers to your question on r/usajobs or another subreddit focused on normal Title 5 federal civilian employees, but let me know if you have anymore questions!
Local Hire question
Hello, I have some questions regarding the status of a temp local hire for FEMA.
I applied, was selected, and have been working as a support local hire for vaccine distribution for a week now.
I am in location where marijuana is legal locally and while I understand the federal legality of the matter, I must admit that I was a chronic user before accepting this position. I had applied to the position because it had no drug testing requirements; furthermore, during my on boarding training we weren’t informed about the rules and regulations we local hires are meant to follow besides the general safety rules regarding Health and Safety against COVID-19.
*(I am surprised that the background investigation let me through in the first place)*
I have already ceased my consumption of it after completing my onboarding out of precaution, but I have no indication when my body will decide to completely rid the chemicals from my body, probably in the next 5-6 weeks?
I want to inform my supervisor regarding the situation but I am absolutely terrified it’s going to end up turning against me with an immediate removal or there will be a drug test in the immediate future where all the alarms and bells will chime.
What can I do about this issue?
Thank you so much for your question! So my immediate reaction is to congratulate you for being willing to address this issue, rather than just putting your head in the sand and hoping it doesn't become a bigger problem. THAT would be the worst way to deal with this, so pat yourself on the back for not doing *that*.
Here's what it comes down to: DO NOT LIE. Do not purposely omit. If there is one thing that is always worse than whatever it is that an applicant has done in the past, it is lying about it on a federal form. Now I'm not sure what forms you signed as a local hire applicant, but if one of them was the SF-86, then there is a question on there about the use of federally illegal drugs in the past 7 years. If you checked no on that form, but have consumed federally illegal substances in that time frame, then you will face consequences. Not because of the cannabis use, but because of perjury on the form. I recommend that you thoroughly look through your hiring documents and ensure that you never answered no to that question. If you did, then you may need to consider resigning from your position and perhaps even retaining legal counsel. I don't mean to be dramatic, but you will have committed a federal offense, and while it is likely that it would never be found out, and not prosecuted even if it was, you would still be in legal jeopardy that you otherwise would not be in. Better to be safe than sorry.
If you never lied on any form, then I must implore you not to consume any federally illegal substances whilst employed by the federal government. Drug tests are extremely rare in FEMA, and most of us, likely including your supervisor, would be chill, understanding, and sympathetic to your situation. However, the moment anything gets written down on official record, or overheard by someone that wants to make it a bigger deal, that can change. Do not play games with the law or the standards of conduct for a federal employee.
As long as you have not committed perjury during the application process, and you do not continue to consume cannabis during your employment with FEMA, then I consider you in the clear. If either of those things change, things become far more serious, I am the LAST person you would need to be talking to. Otherwise, take a breath. You'll be fine. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your insight and advice. In regards to the paperwork, I only completed the SF-85 as part of the background investigation form. I will heed your advice as well as my own to abstain from misconduct, after all Integrity is a core value!
Hey Dr.,
I just got offered a fema position as a reservist. How long does it take to get background checks finished? Also what if you do not have a license? Could you utilize Uber or go with work buds? Sorry weird question
Hello my friend! That's excellent news! Congratulations! Background checks are typically not that bad in most FEMA reservist positions, but it honestly depends on your role. I wouldn't sweat it as much though. Most of us just have a standard, run-of-the-mill Public Trust background check, and that doesn't take long at all.
As for needing a license: no, that's not typically required. It may be necessary in order to accept some deployments, and it will obviously limit you from taking on certain day to day roles in the course of your work, but I've worked with several people who didn't have a license, mostly from NYC or other urban areas where they aren't as necessary for daily life.
Where FEMA deploys though, cars are almost always the only transportation around, and Uber is rarely available out in the sticks. You can certainly rely on coworkers to take you if needed, but there can also be rules about that. For instance, I actually drove a member of my team who didn't have a license to our work site everyday on the deployment before my current one, but the leadership made him ride in the back seat due to COVID-19 protection protocols. It was awkward at first, but then we started joking that I was his personal driver and it became fun.
Keep the questions coming my friend! I know you must have more! :)
Thank you, sorry I had to make a new Reddit since I’m so embarrassed haha.
I applied for the IA position, do they get deployed often? I also applied for DSA crew leader position and a IA lead. Not sure if crew leaders / lead get deployed more often etc, and if again not having a license would affect crew leader position
Oh and for public trust backgrounds do they call people? I’m really young with little experience. Position is “moderate” risk
No need to apologize lol. This is Reddit, so I get it. Haha.
Okay, so... IA deployment rates. This is a very popular topic because IA is the starting cadre for a lot of FEMA reservists. The last time I saw statistics, there were almost 3,000 people in the cadre. Most of them are something called an Applicant Services Program Specialist. This is, if I'm not mistaken, the most common position in FEMA. I actually never worked as one (my starting position was as a DSA Specialist), but I've worked alongside a whole bunch of them.
I'm sorry to say that the deployment rates for that position are incredibly erratic, unpredictable, and usually low: *potentially* between 1 and 3 months a year. However, in super bad years, it can be higher, even up to 7 months in 2017 when we had three major hurricanes hit all at roughly the same time.
The good part is, you learn A LOT in the job about FEMA as a whole, and more importantly about how to empathize with and keep the focus on survivors themselves, rather than the massive bureaucracy that surrounds the process. It's an excellent place to start your career, because you'll meet people in lots of other areas that you can network and make friends with. (This is completely true, you can choose to believe it or not, I don't really care, but during my *very first* deployment, I worked alongside a guy who worked at a super high level in the top-secret side of FEMA, where he interfaced with the National Nuclear Security Administration every day.) Literally EVERY single FEMA employee, all the way up to the super-high-ups, have to be available to deploy to the field for a certain number of days each year, even if they were asked to serve in the lowest level positions. Can you imagine if the military required a Colonel or a Brig. Gen. to deploy as a rifleman at 24 hours notice? That's FEMA.
As for if leads get deployed more, it's safe to assume that most of the time, yes, they do. It's really just a matter of numbers. Leads can deploy in their position as a lead, yes, but they can also be asked to deploy at the lower level and still get paid at the higher rate. As a result, they have far more opportunities to be deployed than a normal grunt. They're also almost always going to be qualified in that lower position, and qualification always increases the chances of being deployed. Again, this is because of the numbers game. There are less people who are qualified, and the ratio of qualified to trainee at most disasters is typically set at 1:1, so your chances are higher. Of course, to become qualified, you have to be deployed enough as a trainee, so it's a common meme and joke in FEMA that it's like some kind of Emergency Management mafia.
As for needing a driving license to be a Lead, ehhhhh, I'd say that they're probably not going to outright *require* it, but when I was a lead, I would have found it almost impossible to be able to survive without a car of my own. Leads just tend to travel more, and you're in an isolated area most of the time. It would be kind of awkward to have to explain to the Task Force Leader that you pulled someone away from helping survivors so that they could drive you to the Joint Field Office for a meeting.
As for whether a Public Trust clearance typically has contact with others, no. Not typically. They're not likely to be calling up your neighbors and bosses to ask about you, but technically they can if they felt the need to. It just depends on what you put on the forms. I mean heck, my job before FEMA was at the Department of Defense, where I had a secret clearance, and they never even bothered to contact my neighbors. So I'd say you're in the clear there. Lol
And finally, don't worry about being young or not having much experience. More and more of the agency is made up of under-30s. I myself am 25, and started at FEMA when I was 23. This job is unlike anything else anyone has ever done. We all start at the same dumbfounded, confused, and bewildered stage in this career. You just need to be empathetic, kind, and patient to succeed.
As I often say, the hardest part of the job is waiting for the call to come. Deployments are the vacations you take from that job. You just need to be willing to take on the behemoth that is impatience, and if you can successfully vanquish it, then you'll thrive in this career.
Wow. This is INCREDIBLY helpful! I really want to be a reservist and have been researching it for the past year or so. I’ve tried to gather basically all of this information by piecing it together from various sources, which wasn’t so easy, so I soooo appreciate the work you’ve done with this!!!!
I’m a USAF vet, no kids, in college at the moment. I’m going on a vacation in August and *should* be done with my bachelors degree in September. I plan to apply for a reservist position in August, however I’m still having trouble deciding which cadre I’d be
most useful in/enjoy most. I have IT background with the military but I didn’t enjoy it that much. My degree is in HR, which I also don’t enjoy (I’m really good at making life choices -_-). I love helping people, humanitarian aid, working hard and with my hands when I know what to do. The ones that stuck out to me most were the more entry-level cadres (IA and DSA, possibly PA).
Any insight would be appreciated but I’ve already gained a lot of great info from this post!!!
Welcome to the party friend! You certainly do know how to make some ironic life choices haha, but becoming a FEMA reservist is one of the best ones you can make, so I'll unironically agree with you there!
Sounds to me like IA or DSA would be a perfect place to start for you! Both find themselves thrust right in the action with disaster survivors, and work a lot with their hands. In the most basic terms, IA is at a fixed location where people come to them, and DSA is a mobile force that goes door to door.
You mentioned PA, which isn't generally considered entry level. It's a cadre with a very specific, segregated mission from the rest of FEMA, and it can take a LONG time to learn all the lingo. IA and DSA aren't easy cadres to stay in long term, especially if you want to maintain the flexibility of a reservist, and still make enough to survive. PA is the opposite problem, where you make a lot, but have very little flexibility. It's the same work over and over and over again. DSA and IA have a new challenge every day, but don't get deployed often, so it's about sorting out your priorities.
I spent my first two years in DSA and accrued a lot of cool stories and experiences there, but then I discovered that I valued a high savings rate more, so I worked really hard to make the switch to PA. The excellent thing about DSA and IA though, are that you can get exposed to lots of other cadres, so by the time I made the switch to PA, I was certain it was where I wanted to be!
In short, this is a long journey, and the start doesn't matter nearly as much as you first think it does. Just enjoy the ride and try to stay patient during the waiting periods. Let me know when you get close to wanting to apply, and I'll gladly help you navigate that process!
In the meantime, enjoy your vacation, and stay FEMA Flexible! :)
Thank you so much for the clarification! You’re the nicest :). I will more than likely hit you up soon when I’m ready to apply. I really appreciate it!
Hey! Not sure if this question has already been answered so sorry 😫 but I was hired as a reservist in the operations cadre? Any inside intel? Dying to deploy ASAP but worried I made a financial mistake going the reservist route. If operations doesn’t deploy a lot, is it easy to transfer cadres?
First of all, thank you for this thread. Do you happen to know if the IT Cadre deploys often? On our onboarding briefing they spend about 5 seconds explaining the IT Cadre, so did not get much information on it.
Hello friend! I would consider IT to be a middle-tier cadre when it comes to deployments. Not out all year, like PA, but not out only one month, like DSA. Maybe it would average out to 6 months a year for IT? The catch is that each deployment is actually quite long, maybe 10-12 months for some, but there are other years where people wait all year and don't get deployed. This averages to 6 months, but that's by no means a guarantee you will actually work that in a year.
Not sure what else I could say about it. All the information above comes from mostly anecdotal evidence and the little bit of deployment data I have access to. As for actual work, I've met IT folks who were doing everything from setting up my phone at onboarding to driving a bus at the PMC. Seem to fill the need wherever they are.
Thanks for your question!
Nope, the HM stands for Hazard Mitigation, which is it's own cadre. They do however work closely with PA sometimes, but likely not in that specific position. HM is one of the fastest growing areas of FEMA, and just recently received a huge influx of cash. It would be a great opportunity if you've been offered the position. Thanks for the question!
Yes I am filling out the paperwork as we speak! How often would you say that I might be deployed? I think my current job may work with me on staying there and doing the fema role as well.
That's everyone's biggest question. I *still* ask that question. And the only answer is that you really, truly, just don't know. It could be 12 months out of the year one year, then 0 the next.
I will share anecdotal evidence though. A friend's girlfriend worked that exact job and was deployed from May 2018 - May 2019 in one place, then May 2019 through March 2020 in another, then a long strech without deployments, until she was deployed to a vaccine center in Jan 2021 where she stayed for two months. Then she went back home from March 2021 through July 2021, where she got a full-time job with one of FEMA's regions.
Take from that what you will, but the truth is that everyone's experience is different. The only reliable thing is change, so we just have to keep swimming! :)
Thank you for the help. I just got my masters in emergency management and have no field experience so this will be my first taste. I’m excited cause it is my dream job already. Mitigation is the part of EM I wanted to do and community outreach.
Well you got the perfect job then! Haha. It may be bumpy at times, but there's nothing quite like it. I work in PA and want to tear my hair out sometimes, but when you remember what this all is... what we get to do... it's incredibly special and motivating. Part of the reason I like answering questions on this thread is because it keeps me in tune with the wonder of it all. Seeing all of you going through the same giddy excitement I went through two years ago reminds me of why we do what we do. So thanks for helping to give me that feeling again! :)
No problem I am beyond excited to start hopefully being chubby won’t be an issue lol. I am used to working really long shifts on my feet so I feel like I’m prepared for the hard work. Been working every day I could since I could haha. I also have a bachelors in Spanish so I really want to use that. DC is currently my goal city or Boston haha. I’m so glad I found this
By plane mostly, but you can use your own car if you want to. FEMA will reimburse you up to the cost of the plane ticket. The problem with bringing your own car is that you won't be provided a rental car, which is arguably one of the coolest perks of working in the field lol. Plus, who wants to put that many miles on their personal car? FEMA would pay for your gas, but not for mileage while you're just driving back and forth to the hotel or work, so kind of a waste tbh.
Still, you can do it if you want to. And keep asking questions if you have them! I love answering people's burning questions about this world. I remember how many I had at the beginning lol
Hello,
So I have a question but it’s not about the job. If you want to answer you can haha. Do you think that FEMA should stay in DHS, move to a different department or should it become it’s own agency separate from DHS.
Oooooh, just what every civil servant loves to talk about... agency POLITICS! Lol, but no, its actually a really good question, and the truth is that everyone in FEMA has an opinion on it. Most of us think that we had more agency over our own affairs when we were an independent agency, and would prefer it that way again. The Administrator was even once a member of the Cabinet! That's so cool! But the harsh reality is that we get more money from being under DHS and being in charge of things like Mount Weather and all that national security jazz.
On the whole, I think that we have the best of both worlds. On the one hand, we get all that money and clout from being in charge of the National Response Framework, Watch Centers, and tippity-top-secret crap, but on the other hand, we get to freely complain to our Coast Guard and Customs Enforcement step-siblings that we're better than them and should get to be Cabinet-level again.
I mean, I can't tell you how fun it is to go out on a date with someone and be like, "Yeah, I prevent NUCLEAR DOOMSDAY for a living, but honestly I'd rather just go back to the good old days of preparing for the LITERAL LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN WORLD HISTORY when the San Andreas fault get' drunk one night and decides to finally kick things off."
But yeah, I think it probably just depends on how I'm feeling that day, and how many layers of bureaucracy I have to go through to get paid lol. Thanks for the question though!
No need to apologize! I really wouldn't know though. Before COVID, you would normally go to the CDP in Anniston, AL, but based on what I've heard, that isn't happening anymore. Some people go in person to an office near them to get their badging done, others go for a couple days to a center in DC. I'm sure you'll get details soon after you've sent that paperwork back in.
Let me know if you have any other questions though!
Hello,
I saw that you mentioned that HM just received a bunch if new funding do you think that this will mean that FEMA would deploy the HM cadre to help governments and NGO's to create emergency plans? How typically would a person who is in the HM be deployed to a disaster zone? Would it be before the disaster happens. Sorry for the lengthy post and many questions I am just a fan of know as much as possible. My main question is what functions does the HM cadre do? Do they help to create emergency operations plans with local, state, tribal governments and NGO's?
Hello my friend! Thanks for jumping on here and asking some questions! I wish I could be courteous and reciprocate with answers, but the truth is, I have no information whatsoever about any of that lol. I've never worked *in* HM, *with* HM, or even spoken *to* HM. All I know is that the Biden administration announced about a billion dollars for new HM initiatives back in March or so. I have a friend who's girlfriend worked in HM for about three years, and she spend a lot of that time working with individuals and local governments to teach them about mitigating hurricane damage in central and coastal North Carolina. That was after Florence, but I don't know how quickly they deployed her after the hurricane hit Wilmington.
Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I appreciate you starting the discussion and taking the time to learn! You're definitely my kind of person haha
Thanks so much for this info! Do you know about any potential issues with deploying from somewhere that isn’t your residence of record? I just got hired for IA and I’ve been doing some intermittent work around the country that I’d like to continue but could easily leave from if deployed.
That is an excellent question, and one that I've been pondering for sometime myself. Many reservists, including yours truly, are interested in travel during our non-deployed time. I've often considered what would happen if I were to get a deployment request while I was away from home, or even in a place like Japan on the other side of the world! The truth is... I don't know for sure.
My guess is that they would just limit their reimbursement to the cost of a flight from your RoR, and you'd do a constructed travel cost worksheet to determine what that reimbursement would be. Then you'd pay for the flight from where you are with your government credit card, and pay the difference on the account with your personal funds. That's what I would expect anyway. The important thing to note is that even being on the other side of the world wouldn't stop you from accepting the deployment and making whatever arrangements you needed to get there. No matter what it costs you personally to get to the disaster site, you will make enough to cover the cost easily once you get there... trust me. :)
Thanks for the question!
I used to work as a reservist but my friend recently applied last year and he says he has the same position I worked but he can choose to work from home can I get more information on this position ?
Absolutely! I'm not sure what position you're referring to of course, but I can provide some context for FEMA as a whole right now.
In the majority of cadres that tend to deploy for a long time, such as PA, HM, EHP, and CVR, we're almost all deployed virtually. I'm sitting at my desk taking a break from working with PA applicants as we speak, and my feet are resting comfortably on my bed lol. It means we don't get per diem, but we also don't have to mess with Concur, which I'm sure you can appreciate as a former reservist haha.
In the short deployed cadres, like IA and DSA, there is *some* opportunity to deploy virtually, either to help the National Information Processing Center (NIPC) as a virtual call center agent, or for the COVID-19 Funeral Assistance mission, also as a virtual call center agent. There were also several people in my old cadre of DSA that were deployed virtually at the beginning of COVID that worked as call takers supplementing the Small Business Administration's PPP loan program.
None of us get a choice as to whether we get to work virtually or in-person though, at least not as reservists. The vast majority of work is being done virtually, but it's because the mission's virtual, not because of our personal choice.
I don't know how much longer this situation will last, but with the COVID variants spreading so quickly, we're estimating it will be FEMA's operating posture for at least another year.
Hello my friend! As a reservist, you go to Orientation and Onboarding first, then get placed into the queue and set up in DTS so that you can receive a deployment. In other words, when you leave Orientation, that's when your wait starts.
Let me know if you think of any other questions!
Both get deployed out a lot, but on the whole, PA gets deployed more often. For some jobs at least. The way to think about it is, for some jobs in PA, you may be deployed 10 months out of the year, but virtually. For Log, you may be deployed 6 months out of the year, but in-person. It all just depends really. I've met people in both cadres that have gone 13 months without a deployment, even when there were disasters happening. Sometimes you just have to play the waiting game.
Dr. FEMA, this was just the guide I've been searching for. I've spent months trying to find information about FEMA and only seemed to find information about the program I'm too "old" for now ( I'm 27)
My question is about the work/life balance while working for FEMA. I'm still going over your guide trying to figure out which position fits my personality and interests (I'm thinking DSA or IA) but I'm curious if you or other people you've encountered during your time had families and if the job, while time consuming, still provided a sense of enjoyment for parents such as myself?
Thank you again for this awesome guide! And forgive me if this was already asked.
Thank you SO MUCH for the compliments! It's taken me a LONG time to write all of this, so I'm glad it's been worth it for you.
And excellent question! Personally, I don't have children, so I can't speak to that, and most people I've met in the field are in the same boat. The general rule with FEMA reservists and field staff is that they fall into one of two groups: those in their 20s without much life experience or responsibilities (like myself haha), and those that are retired who do it to remain active and have fun. While I have met people in middle age on the job, those people tend to be childless, or even permanent bachelors and bachelorettes.
That being said, the single most hardworking, interesting, and highest-ranking person I ever met on a deployment was a guy in his forties who had a wife and four children. This man was INCREDIBLE. Full-stop. Drop the mic. I LOVED talking to him, because he would teach me so much about his philosophy of life, parenting, and what it meant to be in love. He would GUSH about his wife, his kids, and his incredible life back home, which always gave me a warm fuzzy feeling deep inside.
He worked at FEMA Headquarters in a pretty high-ranking department, but would volunteer to go out to disasters in the field just to stay connected to the work. He'd volunteer for literally everything he could. He spent months at the border helping take care of and advocating for unaccompanied children (often doing battle with CBP and HHS), helped to guide FEMA's response to COVID in the early days, and I found out just recently that he volunteered to go help the Afghan refugees, first in Ramstein, then at Dulles.
One night while deployed to wildfires out West, we were part of a group checking on the operations of a mass-care shelter. As the survivors started laying down to rest, we found a quiet corner and he introduced me to his kids over a video call. OMG, my heart was fluttering with how much those kids respected their dad. He gave them all a "hug" by pressing the phone to his chest while they did the same. It was the cutest thing. :)
Then I met his wife, and we started talking together. Eventually, I asked her how she felt about him being gone so much, and they just gave each other this quiet, knowing smile. Finally, she said, "Love will travel as far as you let it." Then he responded, "But always under the same stars." I felt like I was in The Notebook or something, I was SWOONING.
He explained that it was a phrase they had developed together, the first part from *her* to remind *him* that she supported his desire to leave and explore. The second part from *him* to remind *her* that they were never that far away.
So my answer to your question is based on the strength of their bond, and the bond between his kids and himself. What is work-life balance like while on a deployment? "I just got off work and it's only 11PM! I hope I have time to stop in at Wendy's and get a meal before I fall asleep at the wheel of my rental car." Some days you may even make it back to your hotel! Yipee! Lol, the point is that there *is* no work-life balance on a deployment. Everything is work. Everything is subject to change. *Everything* is unbalanced.
But the only way we make it through it is by depending on and taking care of each other, both as FEMA employees and as human beings trying to help others that have lost everything. The reason my friend was *so* good at his job, *so* kind to survivors, and *such* an inspiration and leader to the rest of us, is because he was working with a support system that was truly *out-of-this-world*. He had us there, where we were helping each other, and he had his family, who were keeping him grounded and reminding him to be patient and thankful.
So I suppose the only people who can know if you would be able to make it through something as demanding and emotionally painful as this job are the loved ones around you.
You will enjoy everything about this job, as long as you have the support of the people you love. But without that, I don't know that my friend would have been as incredible as he was.
I hope his story was able to give you some answers, and please feel free to ask anything else you think of! Thanks my friend!
This answer was everything omg, that is the sweetest thing I've ever heard!!
Thank you, this did give me some much needed insight. I suppose now I need to spend some time figuring out the hiring/application process. You went to amazing detail about this but there's so much information here I forget key parts of what you've mentioned so forgive me for asking these questions (again):
1. Would you consider the first step for someone interested in a career with FEMA is to apply for listing on their website, or is it possible to apply for areas not listed on usa jobs? I'm seeing listings on their page right now for high paying specialist positions so I do not believe these are considered "entry level" maybe?
Can you only apply for reservists positions when there's a job posting for it?
2. Do you have any resume or interview tips? I have a lot of valuable work experience but I want to be able to format my resume in a way thats appealing even though I do not have a ton of experience working in government offices.
3. You may not have an answer for this but I have one more semester left in university, do you have any ideas on how to acquire some experience that could be beneficial to a resume before applying with FEMA?
Thanks again!
I'm so sorry my friend! I got busy with work and forgot to answer your comment. But I *definitely* need a break from work for now, so I'm going to avoid my supervisor by replying to your comment lol.
**First Question**
Yes, the first step in applying for any job with FEMA is to do so through USAJobs. There was a time where you could apply through an email address, as it says on the website, but that was a long time ago, and is *far* outdated. Trust me. I tried for almost a year to switch cadres from DSA to PA, all the while emailing everyone I could find and applying everywhere I could, but the only success I had was when I applied through the listing on USAJobs. That means that, unfortunately, yes, the only way nowadays to get hired is through formally applying for a position on USAJobs.
**Second Question**
The biggest resume tip I can give you is to not worry about the length. Put EVERYTHING on there, and rack up the page count. Federal hiring managers don't give a crap about the length of your resume. They want to see that you meet the specific requirements laid out in the job. This is usually in the form of three short sentences of qualifications the job is looking for. Show that the qualifications are met as many times as you can: the more, the better.
Don't be afraid of how long ago you did the job, or whether it's relevant. I put my high school pizza shop job experience on my resume, and tailored it so that it fit one of the qualifications on the job.
Now, of course, I didn't get the job *just* because of that pizza shop wording, but because I met the qualifications for the job in *so many* places on my resume, I think it probably put me ahead of other candidates.
And don't worry that you have little experience working in government. FEMA doesn't care. Not one bit. This isn't the École Nationale d'Administration in Strasbourg or something. It's not like you're trying to join some *elite*, private club. We're here to help survivors. That's it. Full stop. We're just like them, and it was fate and fate alone that our houses and communities weren't effected by the disaster and theirs were. Haven't worked in government before? Well get over here and we'll teach you how. All we care about is that you want to help and you're willing to learn.
**Third Question**
Congrats on finishing up university! That's quite an achievement when you have kids! Well done!
When it comes to experience, I think people actually overestimate the importance of volunteering, because it's difficult for someone who doesn't live in an area where disaster response is actually occurring to get together with others and fly out to help. It's expensive, and it's time consuming. The experience with organizations like the Red Cross and Team Rubicon is *really* valuable, but I feel like it gets thrown out too easily, and sets the bar too high for people who are certainly *interested* in Emergency Management, but ultimately understand that it needs to be work you get *paid* for. Still, try to do it if you can, but don't stress if you can't.
As such, I'd say that more realistically, you're best bet is on taking FEMA's various Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Independent Study courses. You can register for a FEMA Student Identification Number (SID) by following the prompts on the EMI website. Anyone over the age of 10 can get an SID. Once you have an SID, you can begin taking the tests and becoming certified in different Independent Study courses. If you pass the tests, you'll get a certificate, and at that point, you can put the class on your resume. I have all 30 or so FEMA IS courses I've passed on my resume, and it's just another way to show that I'm serious about the training and the job. It also provides more keywords for the resume sorter and the reviewer to see that are related to FEMA topics.
Let me know if you have any other questions about FEMA or the topics I mentioned above, and thanks so much for your question!
Quick question: if I have a full time job before I become a fema reservist. Does my first employer have to keep my job while I am on a deployment or can they fire me?
Hello my friend! I wish I was able to give you better news regarding your question, but unfortunately, there are no legal protections given to reservists that allow their secondary jobs to be protected while they are on deployment.
Such protections do exist under the USERRA law for military reservists and National Guard troops, but they do not extend to FEMA workers.
You can imagine how those of us that are reservists feel regarding that. It's hard to reconcile that people who give of themselves to work 12-14 hour days helping disaster survivors might have such a lack of protections when it would be so easy for Congress to give us them. Alas, this is one of the unfortunate realities of being a reservist.
Thanks for the question!
Hi. I just sent my resume abs cadre choice to FEMA in hopes of becoming a reservist. How long until I hear about next steps? I applied to logistics. Are there certain cadres that are easier to get into?
Hi Dr Fema! Thank you so much for this post, I've been referring to it over and over. I'm onboarding as an EHP reservist at the end of this month. I'm really excited, but I've been hearing a lot of doom and gloom things about reservists (particularly in EHP) not going deployed at all in the past year. I have stable income for the next several months, and I'm not significantly worried about finding something else after that, but it would be kind of a bummer to go through this whole hiring process and not get deployed. Can you speak to what the state of deployments for reservists is like at this particular moment in time?
Hello my friend! Thanks so much for the compliments and the question!
Congrats on onboarding as an EHP reservist! EHP is a great cadre to be in if you want to make a difference. They are primarily the people who review all the projects for rebuilding and reimbursement of damages in cities and counties for environmental and historical disruption. In other words, you guys are like the green police lol. Nothing gets built or paid for until you guys sign off on it. There's a bit of a friendly rivalry between EHP and PA because of that. In PA, we work with the cities and counties to submit the project, and then you guys review our work. It's a fun back and forth if you've got good people on both sides lol.
As for the deployment thing, that's the key question for everyone. Literally all of us want to know when, where, and how long we are going to be deployed. I'll share some anecdotal evidence for you:
I was hired into the DSA cadre of FEMA in early May 2019, then went to training in Anniston, AL in early August 2019. I then spent the next 13 months packed and ready to go, all the while becoming more and more bitter. I had to work odd jobs at UPS and other places, and even enforced masks and social distancing at a hospital for a little while (which was NOT fun. I got spit on by CovIdiots quite a lot haha.)
Then, finally, the clouds parted. I got deployed in September 2020 to Oregon for wildfires, which lasted about a month. I then was home for about three months, when I got sent out again to vaccine centers out West. I stayed there for two months, from early Feb to early April. At this point, I officially switched cadres from DSA to PA, and did two months of full-time paid online training for my new job. Two days after I finished that training, I was virtually deployed to my current disaster. That was in early June 2021, and I've been here ever since.
The only information I have specifically about EHP is that more than 25% of the cadre is not currently deployed. It could be as high as 90%, or it could be as low as 26%, but I know that at least 25% of the cadre is at home waiting. That information comes from the daily ops situation report FEMA sends out. If a cadre falls below 25% non-deployed, meaning that at least 75% of the cadre strength is out in the field, they have to begin reporting specific numbers on that report.
As for the reservist program as a whole, as of today, September 9th, 2021, there are 7,070 reservists deployed, and 14,275 reservists assigned to the program. Of those 14k, 3,701 are currently on PANA, in transit home, or otherwise unavailable. This leaves 3,504 people like yourself that are currently available at home waiting for deployments.
All of the above information can be found by googling for the FEMA daily situation report. There's a website that records the info each day, so you can go back and look at what the situation was like during major disasters if you'd like.
As for what I know about EHP specifically, it's not much. In PA, we are nearly all working virtually from home right now, so I would assume EHP would be in the same boat, given the similarity of our work. Of the entire Public Assistance process, which is what you'll be helping with, EHP only touches most projects for a week at most. It's the really massive projects for rebuilding power plants, water control facilities, bridges, and the like that can necessitate EHP being on the project for months. Also in cases where there were endangered species involved, or where there was a large chemical or toxic spill.
Effectively, there is no way to know how long you will be waiting. It could literally be for days or for a year. However, I do know that many EHP people worked outside their area of expertise with me at the vaccine centers, and there is a chance we may do that again for the vaccine booster shots this winter. Suffice it to say, with Ira and COVID, there is plenty of work for FEMA, and you'll make your way up the deployment roster pretty quickly I imagine. As I've said in many comments above, the name of the game here is patience. So just keep swimming, and you'll get there before you know it.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hey seems like you went through onboarding a year ago! Can you please describe what/where onboarding was located for you? In region?Anniston?DC? Thanks
Hey this is an awesome post and thanks so much for taking the time to write this up. I really only have three questions about life as a reservist (I’m LOG but haven’t been on a deployment yet).
1. I work out just about every day and eat quite a bit, is this possible to keep up with as a reservist working at a disaster?
2. Do most reservists have a side job or other career for their non-deployed time?
3. Do you ever get days off while deployed?
Well thank you so much for the compliment! I'm happy to do it.
So the answers to all of these answers are going to be "it depends," as you can imagine. However, I can speak to my specific experience in different disasters to give you some context and a little more to think about.
**First Question**
So as for working out, in the first disaster I was at, for wildfires in Oregon, I worked 14 hours most days and wasn't able to find time to do more than a few push-ups and sit-ups in the mornings before a shower. I'm talking 5-minute workout kind of thing. However, on my second deployment, at vaccine centers out West, I had a bit more time, and was able to reserve a slot at the hotel gym about half the time I normally would work out. As for food, well, that's tricky. One of the first things I do on any deployment is buy an instant pot, which I usually fill in the mornings and let cook throughout the day. Rice and chicken, maybe some Thai food, spaghetti, that kind of thing. There are jokes about the "FEMA 15" that you gain on deployment, but I've found that, as long as I'm moving a lot throughout the day (like LOG does) and not eating McDonalds and Subway, I can keep a pretty constant weight while deployed. It takes effort though, and I would imagine it would be almost impossible to actually *lose* weight at a disaster. You just don't have time to do a proper workout and diet, let alone the energy to cook when you get off work.
**Second Question**
It's difficult to say, because it depends on what cadre you are in. For DSA and IA, you would almost certainly be retired or have some kind of outside income. For PA and HM, we're *usually* deployed enough throughout the year that we can save up and make it through the downtime months without having to go job-hunting. This last year and a half has been crazy though, and I know a lot of people who have second jobs now compared to before COVID. As for LOG itself, I actually don't have much to tell you. We *generally* consider LOG to be in the middle of the deployment extremes. Not out for 1-2 months a year, but also not constantly getting deployments, as you well know lol. In that way, you may be able to go without a second job if you save up enough during deployments, but it would just depend on your spending habits.
**Third Question**
As a general rule, the lower on the rung you are, the more likely it is that you will get a day off at some point in your deployment. As a DSA specialist in Oregon, I got 2 days off in about a 30 day period. The first wasn't until about two and a half weeks in. For the second deployment to vaccine centers, we always got at least Sunday off, because the clinic was closed that day and there would have been nothing for us to do. Some weekends we didn't have to work Saturday either, because there was no drive through vaccination that day. Of course, we don't get paid for days that we don't work (though we do get per-diem), so we generally prefer to work as much as possible. Of course, the higher up you are in the chain, the less likely you are to have shorter hours or take days off. Management takes a lot more time and comes with more responsibilities and report-writing, even when your team is off.
Of course, we can take rotations for a week or two every couple months if we need a break and want to go back home to see family and friends. We don't get paid, but FEMA pays for the flight and travel costs. Then you come back to the disaster when you're rotation is over.
And with that, I think I've answered your questions to the best of my ability. Let me know if you have any more, and thanks for asking them!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this! Before I found this subreddit and this post I felt like being a FEMA reservist was so obscure and no one online had any advice or knowledge on the job. This helped so much and if I have any more questions I’ll definitely ask on here, thanks again & good luck out there!
I had another question if you’re still checking this post, on my first day at the Dallas mobilization center, what sort of clothes would you recommend? I was thinking polo and slacks or khakis, not sure if I should tuck or not!
Also, while in the field, whats your typical attire look like? I’ve been stocking up on polos and cargo pants. Thanks!
Excellent question! You can wear exactly what you described, but there's no need to tuck in your shirt if you don't want to. Generally, you'll see people similarly dressed, though there are always a pretty sizable group that wear t-shirts and shorts. There's no supervisor you're assigned to while at RSOI in Dallas, so it's not about being told off or getting in trouble. It's more about giving off the kind of impression you want to. If you're a chill, down to earth person, wear a nice shirt or polo and some jeans. If you like to look professional, throw on some khakis and a dress shirt. There's really no rules here, besides not wearing something outwardly lewd or offensive.
Also, when you finish with RSOI, they'll give you a FEMA polo. It's navy and has the FEMA logo on it. Sometimes it's black. Each time you get deployed, you'll add to your collection haha. If you're impatient, there are plenty of places online to order shirts and jackets with the FEMA logo, out of your own pocket of course.
As for when you're in the field, I always wear a FEMA or standard color polo and a pair of darker jeans. In short, professional, but *extremely* casual. I usually tuck my shirt in, but that's just because I like the way I look lol. I always wear tennis shoes, and carry a sweater or jacket too. Obviously, it will depend on your supervisor, but it's kind of an unofficial rule that, while in the field, every day is casual Friday. Jeans are standard, and a solid-color t-shirt isn't out of the question, as long as you have a jacket or sweater over it.
You'll always wear your lanyard and ID around your neck, and I'm pretty famous for my FEMA ballcap, which helps me keep looking professional even with a t-shirt and jeans on. Essentially, the only big rule is that you want to outwardly present yourself as being from FEMA. Either through your shirt, cap, jacket, or lanyard. The more combinations of those, the better.
Supervisors are different of course, but the dress code is one of the benefits of the job. Don't stress too much about it. Just wear what makes you comfortable and confident, and if a supervisor has a problem with it, they'll let you know. Chances are that they won't though. The focus is always on the survivors and the mission, not on ourselves.
Thanks for the post, super comprehensive! I have an interview for a position as a Reservist EHP Compliance Specialist this week and just had a few questions:
1. How is renewal determined after two years? I guess my broader question is, how is our success measured?
2. When deployment ends, are you reimbursed for your travel expenses to get back home?
3. What is the day to day life of covid outreach? That seems to be a pretty big part of reservist work right now and I was wondering what that entails.
4. Any tips for the hiring process? I’m a bit nervous about my interview as I’m straight out of college with little to no experience in the field
TYIA!
Hello my friend, and thanks so much for the compliment! I'd be happy to answer your questions.
**First Question**
Renewal is nearly automatic. Your appointment, or "commission," is renewed every two years without issue. The only way it wouldn't be is if you *really* messed up. I mean like if you stole, cheated, or did something illegal. If you don't do that, then you'll be fine.
As for how our success is measured, there are a couple of points to make. First, when you are deployed, you report to a temporary duty supervisor. They usually don't have the authority to "fire" you or anything. They can send you home, but not much more than that. They also give you an evaluation at the end of the disaster. That evaluation ranks you 1-5 in various categories, including a written portion. The evaluation is attached to your profile in DTS, which can effect future deployments. However, most supervisors don't want to rock the boat, so even if you underperform, they'll usually give you a 3 and hope to never see you again (at least that's what I've done before haha).
Additionally, there's something called the FEMA Qualification System (FQS). Essentially, this is a list of tasks and trainings that you get signed off on as you do them in order to become "qualified" in your position. It's the best way of determining whether you are on the right track or not. When you've completed the requirements, not only do you receive more deployments requests, you also get a 6-7% raise in your hourly rate. Some people complete the FQS in as little as 6 months, but it can take others a couple years. Typically, you have around 4 years to complete it, but they're flexible to your circumstances.
**Second Question**
Yes. Full stop. FEMA pays for all travel expenses both *to* and *from* the disaster. In fact, FEMA will even pay for the travel costs of taking a 1-2 week rotation home every couple months if you want to visit friends and family. You don't get paid during that time, but the travel costs are 100% free.
In case you are interested, the way it works is that FEMA issues you a government credit card for any on-the-ground expenses, and we also have a travel agency with that card's information on file. Anytime you are booking flights, hotels, or rental cars, you just need to call the travel agency and they will get you the flight and make the reservations. Then later on, you complete an expense reimbursement, or voucher, in an online portal. Once it's approved, the government pays the amount of the voucher to your government credit card. As long as the amount on the voucher matches the balance on the card, your balance will be fully paid off. We usually "voucher out" every two weeks or so. Also, on our vouchers, we include our per-diem, which just gets paid straight into our personal bank account like our paycheque.
**Third Question**
Excellent question, and one that I would very much like to know the answer to as well. I just don't really know much. A bunch of people in my old cadre of DSA were deployed to Nevada for COVID outreach a few months ago, at least from what I could tell in the various reservist Facebook groups. However, I don't know anything about their on-the-ground activities. I'm sure it would be very interesting work.
I worked at several COVID vaccination centers back in the earlier part of this year, but it was like any other vaccine site you probably went to if you've been vaccinated. There were different kinds, both big and small, indoor and outdoor, walk-in and drive through. It was a very fluid work environment, where you kind of just did whatever was asked of you in the moment. Sometimes we worked as scribes taking information and filling out the CDC vaccine cards. Other times we worked as vaccine runners or traffic control. It was really interesting being in the midst of such a massive national effort. At that time, we would have 500 vaccines for the day and well over 1,000 cars lined up, so we had to count the people and let the 501st person know that we were out. It was a fascinating and historic thing to experience for all of us. Hope that helps at least a little.
**Fourth Question**
I had no experience in Emergency Management either when I started. I was 23 and only had a year of experience out of college in a totally unrelated field. My advice is to be charming and to remember to breath. Literally just come out and say that you're nervous, crack a little joke about how you'll get through it together, and be human. Don't memorize a bunch of lines or be a robot. If you're nervous, then you're nervous, and that's okay. Trust me, they already know that interviewees are.
Secondly, express a love for the work. If it's your dream job, say so! Passion is a good thing, and in this instance, you have two things to be passionate about! Not only will you be helping individuals and communities recover from disasters, but you will also be working to ensure that the environment and historical buildings are protected while doing so! Express how important and motivating that is. This is one of the two really important things FEMA is looking for. No one wants an emergency manager who's apathetic to the importance of the work they are doing.
Lastly, the second really important quality FEMA looks for is flexibility. This is a job that will require you to be on a plane within 24 hours of receiving notice. You will cancel vacations, be called out for emergencies at midnight, and be randomly and unceremoniously told you are moving teams or supervisors in a flash. When deployed, your duty station, work site, or hotel can change on a daily basis, and when you are sent home, you rarely have more than 24-48 hours notice. It's a hard job, but it can be made so much harder if you don't go with the flow of it all and retain the wonder of what you get to do. FEMA needs to see that you can go with that flow.
Tell them that you already know about the phrase "FEMA Flexible" and what it entails. It's an unofficial motto of the agency, and a tongue in cheek saying we repeat to each other on an almost daily basis. I mean, I *literally* just got out of a meeting where it was said three times. Just hearing you say the phrase will make them think of you as an insider and win you brownie points. It may also get a laugh haha.
And there you have it. Please let me know how your interview goes! I'd love to help you through that post-interview jitteriness if it would help haha. And feel free to ask any other questions you may have! Thanks my friend!
Where do the orientations typically take place? My leader her Location is from Washington DC. Do you think at this address my orientation will be there? Is the orientation an actual week or work week? My EOD is October 10th and I am so excited haha. Another question I have is say I applied for another position during my two-year period as a reservist for something that is full-time within fema would my two-year contract disallow that? One final one, I was thinking about using tiktok to document my journey especially since I am in the community outreach and hazard mitigation section do you think they would allow this?
Pre-COVID, onboarding and orientation typically took place at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, AL. Now, I'm not really sure, but DC sounds right. I'd heard that they rented a big conference center or something and were processing people through there. I believe it only lasts a couple days now, but orientation in Anniston, as well as initial job training, usually took 2-3 weeks.
On your second question, the two-year "commission" isn't really a contract at all. You can resign or transfer jobs at any time you want. It's really just a way for FEMA to hire an employee without having to go through the full federal hiring process, with all its rules and regulations. And as I've said before, almost every reservist has their 2-year commission renewed. The only ones that don't are the ones that mess up big time by doing something unethical or illegal.
Finally, for your last question, I know for a fact that they would not be okay with you using TikTok on duty. Not only could you accidentally expose someone's personal information, but FEMA is *very* careful and strict about its outward facing image during disaster response and recovery. I mean, technically, it's against social media regulations for me to even use the handle "Dr-Fema." It could imply that I am an official voice, which of course I'm not. The only reason I'm comfortable doing so is because I keep the focus on my personal experiences and, frankly, I'm anonymous. I don't use any identifying information anywhere. That would be nearly impossible on TikTok haha.
If I was your supervisor on site and you wanted to take a picture or a quick video of your work environment for personal use, I'd be fine with it, as long as it didn't have any patients or survivors in it and you didn't put it on social media. Otherwise, that would be a no-no.
Let me know if you think of anything else!
Thank you! I meant for the videos more doing educational stuff and not exposing victims however that is the answer that I expected. My orientation is a week long so I do hope that it is in DC as that’s is my favorite city I’ve been too. I do know that it is in-person and virtual. My unit leader is located in DC so that is why I was thinking it may be there. I start October 10th and I’m super excited about it.
Just chiming in since I’m in the middle of onboarding/orientation- there will be one day in person at the nearest FEMA office to your home/residence and the rest will be online. So the city depends entirely on where you’re currently located!
Nope - they just paid for people to stay two nights. So people drove or flew in Sunday, had an in-person day of onboarding on Monday, and left Tuesday. The rest of orientation is online and didn’t continue until Friday so people had time to make it home and do the online sessions from there
1. It would only be feasible to work as a reservist if you were enrolled in an online program, didn't find yourself requiring much time to study, had understanding professors who would let you skip lectures, and were in one of the lesser-deployed cadres like DSA or IA. Even then, there is no guaranteed chance of success. I've only met one person who was in college at the same time, and she openly admitted to me that it was only possible because she already had all the answers to the classes she was taking because of an older sibling, and that she wasn't learning anything because she was working so much she didn't have time to study. I'd prioritize getting a *good* education first, then join FEMA. With climate change and the San Andreas fault, it's not like we're going anywhere anytime soon.
2. It used to be a lot easier, but PA has tightened now. I'd say that if you spent a good bit of that year working with PA, then the FEMA Corps experience might be all you needed, but there's no guarantee. It used to be the case that virtually *any* FEMA Corps member was getting an offer from PA after they finished their 10-months, but those days are long gone. PA finished a massive hiring spree that lasted a few years just before COVID in early 2020, and since then, there's only been a trickle of PA jobs on USAJobs. Still, I kept applying to everything I saw on that website for over a year and it eventually worked out for me. The key is patience and persistence. Just keep swimming.
Which cadre had the chance to be deployed the most usually? I know it’s all varied but rn I’m in hazard mitigation community outreach and education and was told that one is barely deployed. I want something to get as much experience as possible. How long after starting the reservist position I am in should I wait before I try to get one that is more deployed.
Excellent question, and the answer varies, as you seem to be aware. First, the most deployed cadre: the common refrain answer is Public Assistance. I can vouch for that. I was deployed as a new PA reservist three days after I finished training. That was back in June, and I'm still on the same deployment.
I can't speak for your specific job, or even your cadre. My understanding is that HM was deployed fairly frequently, and for a pretty long time. I imagine that this may have been effected in some way by the pandemic, as many other things have been. And anecdotes aside, your own experience is all that really matters, so if you're asking why you haven't been deployed yet, I can't tell you a clear cut reason.
Now, as for changing cadres, I'd tell you that there is absolutely no set amount of time you should wait. If you find another job on USAJobs or through talking to people, and you think you would enjoy it better, go ahead and apply. Personally, I was in DSA for about six months before I started actively applying to other positions because I hadn't been deployed yet. Then it took me a year before the position I wanted came open on USAJobs. In that time, I was deployed twice in DSA.
If you think you'll enjoy your job, then stick with it. A deployment will come. However, if you find something you think you will enjoy more, then change to that. There isn't a way to game the system, and there's no pattern to take advantage of. It really is just incredibly random. So just focus on being in a job you will enjoy doing, then hunker down and wait for the call.
I will probably stick it out for 6 months to a year. Sadly my main training away from the onboarding is full so I’ll have to wait longer to be deployed. They’ve been kinda slow in sending my phone and travel card. Still haven’t gotten either in over a month but I’m mostly just anxiety to start and get deployed. I’ve been working my butt off to get here so I can get field experience.
Good morning my friend! Sorry for the delay in answering. This is a complicated question, and is probably best served by googling the GS salary tables. The answer depends on many different factors, including location and base pay rate.
Start by finding the salary tables for where you live. Then click on the one for hourly pay. There you will find the base and overtime hourly rates. It will give you an idea.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but the topic is just way too complicated to answer any other way. Let me know if you have any other questions though!
Hello, thank you for the informative post ! I needed it haha. My question is as a student what steps should I take to get into FEMA ? I’m currently a junior in college with a major in criminal justice, and a minor in Emergency management next semester. Would that be enough to get a job at FEMA ? I have also obtained my associates degree back in 2020. What would you suggest I do to get the experience? And to have a resume that would match up ? Thank you !!
Welcome my friend! We're glad to have you interested! Now the first thing to consider is what you actually want to do. FEMA does *a lot* of different things, and each cadre has very specific jobs and tasks that they do.
If you have absolutely no clue, then the best thing would be for you to join FEMA Corps once you graduate. I say that because they do a lot of different things, work with lots of cadres, and generally get a good look at what kinds of jobs they want to do after their 10-12 months of service. Then you interview for various cadres you're interested in, and can be hired as a reservist or even a CORE through a fast-track hiring process.
If you already have a good idea of what you want to do, be it planning, DSA, Public Assistance, or whatever, then all you need to do is apply when you see the position you want come open on the USAJobs website.
There really isn't some kind of secret hiring tips or anything like that. I used to think there was, but then as I've gained experience, I realized that it really is all just incredibly random. The only thing that guarantees success is patience and perseverance. Don't get a job you want the first time? If you apply with the exact same resume, you may get it the second or third. I've seen it happen, and it makes absolutely no sense at all. I've seen a guy just like yourself graduate college, do a one month long deployment answering phones from home, then get hired as a big-time supervisor in the field. No rhyme or reason why.
FEMA is like a playground for those of us that like chaos and change. Things change daily, and you may spend a few months in one place, then get thrown to the other side of the country. You'll spend months at home doing nothing, begging for a deployment and some pay, then find yourself smack in the middle of the Utah desert doing something your job description never indicated you would while making bank. That's just the job. If that sounds good, then just keep applying and trying. This is a numbers game, and the only numbers that matter are how long you've been trying and how many attempts you've made.
Just keep learning everything you can and keep going. It will happen. And in the meantime, let me know if you have any more questions!
Hello 👋🏼, thank you so much ! I think I’m too old already for the FEMA corps I’m 24 I’ll be 25 in April. I was looking through the cadre there’s so many haha. But how cool for the guy just to upgrade like that 😂. Thank you so much! Take care.
Yo your not too old for FEMA corps. It's up to 26 btw
I know this bc Im 25 and in NCCC
Also the deadline to apply is April 30th this month for the upcoming July date. Your fine
Hello my friend! I'm so sorry for the delay. I got caught up elsewhere and forgot to answer you when the message came in.
I'm afraid I don't know much about the Supply Management Specialist position, or the Logistics cadre overall. I've met a few people in the cadre, and they always seemed to have been deployed for a pretty long time. Months usually. Almost always in-person rather than virtual. They tended to work long hours, often on weekends, and got plenty of overtime as a result.
However, I'm not sure about deployment wait times, which is all that really matters in this line of work. I've heard them generally regarded as a "middle-ground" cadre: not getting a deployment request 5 minutes after demobing like PA, and not waiting 13 months between deployments like DSA. Somewhere undefined in-between.
As for your experience, I'd say you'd be a shoe-in! I'd recommend talking up the logistics and EM experience as much as you can. Make it the crux of your resume, and draw the reviewer back to those experiences as often as possible. I don't generally regard Log as a cadre with a need for a lot of previous FEMA experience. It's more entry-level, but generally unrelated to most other cadres. It's a good place to be if you want to work in Log for the rest of your career, but not if you want to swing often between cadres.
Still, most everything in FEMA is more about the exception than the rule, so there's no hard truths to pretty much anything. Just jump on into the water and see where it carries you.
Thanks for your question, and feel free to ask any others!
I am new reservist as logistics specialist. I feel like they said not to many LOG specialist in all of FEMA. I have not been deployed yet but have take virtual training. If deployed could I knock out my tasks on one deployment or does it take several. My next step would be to obtain Pcard which seems like a pretty powerful position.
If you have any tips would love to hear also. Feel free to message directly.
Hi Dr.FEMA! I don’t know if you’re still updating this post or keeping up with comments, but I greatly appreciate you doing this! Before this post I don’t really think there was any information about FEMA online in this way.
Anyway, I was wondering if you knew anything about the Operations cadre? If you are knowledgeable, do you know how often do they deploy? Do they deploy for extended periods of time or just a quick few weeks? Especially for Unit leaders?
And another more embarrassing question; is it considered…weird or annoying if a reservist purchases FEMA identifying clothing? Just for use during the deployment, and while actively working? The apparel I’ve seen looks really cool lol
Thank you for any help!
Hi Dr. Fema,
I applied for a Reservist position. The exact position is Administrative Support Specialist (Intermittent). The job description is pretty much the same as any other predominant office admin role. They called me about a week ago asking if I was interested then they’ll forward my info to HR for review.
My question is: would someone in the admin support specialist role be doing any work outside of the average “reporting, data analysis, meetings, presentations, information tracking.. etc,” like “field” work? Like helping survivors, helping recovery teams on the grounds…. I just want to know if I’ll be at a desk or not lol. The roles description doesn’t explain anything outside of the typical admin specialist role.
Phenomenal and comprehensive! I know you mentioned FEMA is considered a 'slow burn' - bide your time and you can get far. Let's say, hypothetically, a potential applicant is a bit long in the tooth. Does slow burn mean merit-based advancements are an uncommon occurrence within FEMA and that the promotion time frame is similar for all who show up and do the work? And if this is true do you have any sense of the typical trajectory and time frame for someone starting out now (I.e. - where do *you* see yourself 5 years in)?
Thanks so much for this great post!
Hey there friend! Thanks so much for the compliment! ☺️
The simple truth is that there is no hard and fast rule anywhere in FEMA. You could rise rapidly, or you could stay in the same position for years. I’m talking primarily about Reservists, since that’s what I know.
If there is any hard rule, it’s pretty much that YOU control your career more than FEMA does. If you like your current position, and can see yourself doing it for several more years, you will. If you don’t like your position, you can apply for another position in a different cadre.
As far as advancement goes, that is very clearly based on your experience. The more field or job experience you have, the higher in the ranks you rise. This can best be seen in the process of FQS qualifications. FQS stands for FEMA Qualification System, and is how Reservists are determined to be “trainee” or “qualified.” If you are a trainee, you have a set of trainings and tasks you have to complete in order to become qualified. This is listed in your PTB, or Position Task Book.
Now to your question, when you’ve qualified in your current PTB, you can request to open a new PTB in your supervisor’s position. That makes you deployable in both. Once you finish that one, you can go to the next, and so on and so on. I’m not sure how that affects pays because I’ve never been in a position long enough to be considered qualified lol.
As for me and my future, I just recently got into a new position that I prefer much more than my old one, so I think I just see myself qualifying in this one and staying in it for the foreseeable future. I may request a new PTB after, but it just depends how long it takes me to finish my first one.
Thanks for the question, and stay FEMA Flexible! 😁
I've been a Reservist for 4 years. I would like to know about shopping for groceries while on deployment. I realize that at any given moment I will be deployed elsewhere, which makes buying groceries a gamble of sorts. I'm not a restaurant/fast food/take-out type of person. Any suggestions?
I totally understand. I have literally gotten like $100 worth of groceries before, then found out I’d be leaving the event within 24 hours lol.
Honestly, for me, it’s a calculated risk. I don’t like eating out, both for health and social anxiety reasons, so I choose to go to the grocery store. I just make sure to buy only a few days of food at a time.
As much as I’d like to go to Sam’s Club and get two months of groceries for $300, that doesn’t work on a FEMA deployment haha.
Hi I have a question. How possible is it to be a reservist without a driver’s license? Are we able to get reimbursed for those local transportation, Uber, or Lyft trips from the hotel to TDY and vice versa?
I’m not entirely sure about the reimbursement for those kinds of trips, more because deployments right after a disaster are unlikely to have those services available.
I’ve actually answered this question before, where I told a story about a coworker of mine that didn’t drive, and as a team we just took turns picking him up and driving him to work. He got a hotel close to a grocery store where he could walk, and it was fine.
I know that not having a license isn’t something you would necessarily call being disabled, but the same kind of principle applies. I broke my foot a week ago. As a result, here, during the high part of hurricane season, I won’t be able to drive. I’m not going to let that stop me though. If I get deployed, I’m going to take it, then communicate my needs to leadership. It would be the same thing for someone without a license.
Thanks for the question!
Hello! Your post, comments, and this thread are incredible. Thank you for such detail. I scrolled in hopes of answering my own question, any info you could lend would be very much appreciated. I'm interested in the Disaster Field Training Operations cadre, but struggling to determine how and when they support. Does this team providing training for Corps members, specialists, etc. etc. like during onboarding, or is this team of first/emergency response personnel, who are also deployed and provide training on the ground?
Great question and easy: both. DFTO provides training in-residence at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, AL, as well as the Emergency Management Institute in Maryland. They also provide Just in Time (JIT) training at Joint Field Offices (JFOs) in the field. Additionally, they can support operations virtually by teaching online classes for both.
It’s a pretty cool cadre all things considered. I don’t know much more than that, but I at least know the answer to your question lol
Hi! Are you still a PDMG? I recently got an offer from the PA cadre for the PDMG position. Are the deployment lengths for this position long (potentially 50 weeks)? I'm in IA now but I have construction, grant writing and claims adjusting experience. I would prefer to be in a cadre that deploys frequently and or longer but I've been told by some PA isn't deploying a lot of people. Can you provide some insight? Thank you.
PA is definitely deploying people FAR more often and for much longer land IA. With the experience you describe and the your desire for longer and more frequent deployments, I think it would be perfect for you! 👍🏼
And I’m not a PDMG anymore, I’m in Operations now, but that’s just because I love being in the field rather than working from home or an office. Thanks for your question!
I prefer being in the field too, it's a lot more exciting. Plus the potential for earning OT and per diem. I didn't know this was a position you could do from home. This would be a pay increase from my current position but if I'm losing per diem and OT than it may not be worth it. Good luck with Operations! Your posts on here about PDMG is what encouraged me to apply, thank you.
Thank you! Yeah, I only had one deployment as a PDMG before I left after 6 months and moved back to a field position in Ops out of boredom. I was deployed virtually, no overtime or per diem, but it easily could have lasted as long as I wanted.
It’s a balance. I don’t get deployed as much now, and I certainly make less both per hour and per year, but I’m happier, both on and off the pitch, so to speak.
Just gotta determine what you value and what your responsibilities are, then base the decision off that. And remember that being a PDMG is VERY valuable experience in FEMA due to how big the PA Grants Program is for FEMA. So if you want to do it for a little while then switch back like me, that can be good too 👍🏼
Wow, really appreciate it. This is good advice. Also, how do virtual deployments work if you don't have a laptop? I had to turn mines in after my last deployment.
I actually already had one from a previous deployment, back when they were really generous with the laptops. But my coworkers described the process as really easy. They send you one in the mail, the you go through something called the “Virtual PMC,” which takes 1-3 days and they help you get it all set up and working. Then you start the deployment. Fairly easy.
Thank you so much for this incredibly comprehensive post!
I’m considering applying to be a FEMA reservist, it seems like a perfect job for me! I’m concerned about the form you mentioned where you must disclose use of federally illegal drugs. If I have used such drugs in the past seven years (but don’t currently) would I still be eligible for employment? I’m so excited about this job, but I don’t want to waste my time chasing something if I’m not going to be able to get it.
I personally know people employed by FEMA who disclosed prior use of cannabis. It’s absolutely possible to still receive an offer when disclosing.
As for other substances, I’m not sure, but I can promise you, with CERTAINTY, that it is always better to disclose things honestly than be discovered after the fact.
Don’t worry too much about wasting your time. What you’re really worried about is getting your hopes up, and that’s entirely within your own control! You lose absolutely NOTHING by applying and being honest. So do that!
You’re only going to know if you apply, and if you have any questions about that process, I’m positively BEGGING you to let me answer them lol. I freaking LOVE my job, and I desperately want to help other people feel what I feel about it!
Thanks for the question! 👍🏼
Great! Then I will apply! And I will absolutely ask you any further questions should they come up. Thanks again so much for your help, this is such great info you’ve shared!
Wish me luck!
Hi Dr-Fema,
Hope all is well. Currently a super new reservist, No deployments under my belt yet. Very interested in getting to work being as I resigned from my last job before learning about the crew act. Im very interested in moving to a working cadre. 1st choice PA, 2nd Planning, 3rd Logistics. Are we able to apply to another cadre now while in non deployment status? Will we have to go through the process all over or do you know if its a non complicated process and if so what is the process?
Hey there my friend! Sorry, your question got lost in the weeds for me. My apologies.
So, I’ve changed cadres twice. I know many others who have also changed cadres. Each time was done through USAJobs, without fail. I’ve heard anecdotally that it is possible to change by contacting the proper Reservist Program Manager or Assistant RPM in the cadre you want to move to, but I’ve never actually met ANYONE who has been able to do it that way. Feels like one of those urban legends in FEMA haha.
So yes, it’s essentially the same process you used to get your current job. Go to USAJobs, find or wait for the job announcement you want to apply to, then go through that process. Some of it will be faster, including the fingerprinting as you’ve already done that, and you won’t have to go through the onboarding and orientation online or in person again most likely, but everything else should be the same.
If you have more specific questions please feel free to let me know! ✌🏼
Hi,
This is an amazing post!
I recently got hired for the Info Tech cadre and will be attending training on 1/15/23. Any insights about training, deployed life, etc. related to this cadre?
I am super excited! I hope to get deployed soon after training, especially since i am also on the register for the State Department as IMS. The State Department could contact me soon for class invite, so I would at least like to have been deployed once with FEMA for the experience!
TIA
Welcome my friend! I’m so happy you’ve got opportunities in TWO different FANTASTIC areas of the federal government! I mean seriously, the Foreign Service?! That’s so cool!
Okay, well as far as the IT cadre is concerned, I’ve worked with plenty of IT cadre members. I’m not confident in deployment length estimates, but I’ve seen people stay for one month, and others for 12, so it’s kinda situation specific. IT always has their own special section of the Joint Field Office and each Branch Office. They usually work the same schedule as the JFO and Branch staff as a result. This usually means a full 12 hours, 7 days a week for the first 1-3 months after the disaster. For anyone following along, this is also true of other HQ or office based cadres, including HR, Finance, and Planning.
However, just because you’re based at the HQ doesn’t mean you’ll be there all the time. IT has field missions to help set up equipment at Disaster Recovery Centers, as well as having a single IT rep on site usually at DRCs. If you’re assigned to a DRC as the IT rep, you’re going to be functionally assigned to the DRC manager as their IT rep, but that usually means you end up helping where you can with things that don’t have anything to do with IT. That could be managing survivor seating, working with the registration table, or even helping to register survivors yourself in the event your DRC is short staffed. And most DRCs are short staffed right now. But trust me, it’s better than being sat at a DRC with all your FEMA gear on and having a bunch of survivors stare you down as they wait for hours for help and see you not taking people, thinking you’re lazy or something haha. I’m in Operations, and even I started registering people for a few minutes as I visited different DRCs each day. It isn’t FEMA if you’ve not done several things that weren’t in your job description by the end of an exhausting shift.
Keep up with your WebTA, MASTER the art of vouchering in Concur, and your life will be fantastic haha. I can help with any of that you find out about at training or in the field as well.
Let me know if you have any other questions! 👍🏼
Thanks for your rapid response!
Again, this is extremely helpful.
Definitely would like to get out of comfort zone (IT) and learn other skill sets and work in other areas. I just hope I can keep up 12 hour days without getting burnt out (a bit of fear since i am bit on the older side and its been quite some time since working in my twenties and thirties to that degree)
Well as I’m sure you know, it’s normal in situations like that, where everyone is working together towards a common goal of helping the affected community, for you to develop SUCH a satisfying second wind throughout the day. Like an energy you didn’t even know you could muster.
And even more interesting about FEMA is that until the recent CREW Act passed and your regular job became protected while deployed, it was only young people in their 20s like me that didn’t know what they wanted to do with their life, keeping expenses low by living with family or roommates, and retired people who were staying active and making a difference.
That helped to develop this amazing culture where there were young people and retired people mixing with very little Gen X in between to facilitate the generational divide, which is one of the only workplaces I can think of where so called “millennials,” “zoomers,” and “boomers” mixed with no one else. It helped to develop a hilarious culture of references to both Reddit memes and 50s TV shows, all in a disaster setting.
I’ve actually had two people in their 60s tell me two separate times that they felt like they were in their 20s again, just from the camaraderie and the culture we develop in the field. It’s wonderful 😊
I would encourage ANYONE who’s later in life to come bring your life experience to the table in FEMA. Here, we are all equally scared to be away from home, working with people we don’t know how much longer we’ll see, in a literal DISASTER zone. It just does amazing things for friendship and group dynamics that I’ve never seen anywhere else.
You have nothing to worry about haha. Exhaustion is THE thing that builds that culture and camaraderie. And unlike a private company where the exhaustion is caused by needing to get a BS report out before the next shareholders meeting, here we’ve got a good reason that will improve and support the lives of thousands.
My understanding is yes, but they certainly couldn’t drive it. You also should only ever use your government rental car for official duties and essential needs like grocery shopping or getting supplies. No road trips or sightseeing.
If you’re thinking about having someone visit you or even accompany you on a deployment, that’s totally doable, and happens fairly commonly. Obviously their costs are their own to cover, but it can certainly be done.
Thanks for the question, and let me know if you have any more!
I would point you to the Joint Travel Regulations. They’re the specific rules for everything travel related in the federal government. Should be easy to Google
Can one person on a team decide that only them and their direct report should reduce their hours while everyone else on the team continues to work overtime?
I received an email a couple of days ago from the FEMA Recruitment Team that requested an updated resume for an Acquisitions Reservist position. It also included a personal email to direct questions which is the closest I’ve come to speaking to someone within the organization. My past experience made it easy to tailor my resume to the qualifications desired in the request. I sent it to them, copied the individual named, and sent him/her a personal email. What is the likelihood of hearing back from someone under the circumstances that I’ve shared?
Thanks to your post, I took a leap and applied to be a reservist. However, the only cadre that was available was IA. Is their anything I could do to help myself get deployed quicker (take certain trainings, express interest to my supervisors, etc.)? I don't have prior EM experience and my graduate degree isn't in a job-related field so does that mean I would be considered a last resort in getting selected for a deployment. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Hi @Dr-FEMA or anyone else who’s been hired recently, do you happen to remember how long from when you applied to when you were interviewed to when you went to orientation?
I’m debating applying to be a reservist or CORE but have a big trip (3weeks) coming up in Jan. Other USG departments take ages, but it seems FEMA moves quicker. Is it feasible to apply now and not have to go through orientation until Feb potentially?
Hey there friend! I believe that’s totally feasible. FEMA will certainly be willing to work with you around that schedule, and I’ve found that trying to time applications and things really causes more issues than it’s worth.
Just apply and start the process. It’s much easier to delay something you have, than try to perfectly time getting something you don’t.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi! Are you still a PDMG? I recently got an offer from the PA cadre for the PDMG position. Are the deployment lengths for this position long (potentially 50 weeks)? I'm in IA now but I have construction, grant writing and claims adjusting experience. I would prefer to be in a cadre that deploys frequently and or longer but I've been told by some PA isn't deploying a lot of people. Can you provide some insight? Thank you.
Hi! I wanted to get your take on the IA Voluntary Agency Liaison. I’ve been offered the position but was in the transition of leaving the cadre. Now I am having second thoughts about moving to DSA. Can you give me any advice on the matter?
I don’t see anything regarding SAAD Safety Cadre information for reservists. Anyone with experience there regarding duties, deployment frequencies, etc…?
This is an incredibly helpful post. Thank you!!
* I am a recent retiree. Is it possible to deploy, but limit the time of the deployment for yourself? As an example, can you accept a deployment, but only support the effort for 30-60 days?
* How can I best determine where I would fit? I have over 40 years professional experience in insurance operations and IT, but I'm not sure which cadre I would be the best match for.
u/Dr-Fema Are you enjoying Ops? I've been in DSA for 2.5 years and the cadre has been good to me, but I'm ready for a new challenge. As a DSA Crew Lead I've really enjoyed working with the Emergency Managers and the FEMA Ops folks and I'm thinking about trying to transition to the Ops cadre. How often are you deployed? Do you typically work 40 hours a week when deployed, or do you get the chance for overtime like DSA does?
I recently applied for a FEMA local hire job as an Emergency Management Specialist, which would require me taking a big pay cut, but might make the transition to Ops easier. I'd love to hear your take on the Ops cadre.
Thank you for creating such a helpful post! I was just hired on as a FEMA reservist for Disaster Survivor Assistance Specialist and I have my orientation later this month. I know that deployments are part of the job, and I'm up for the challenge. But, I want to make sure that my time away from home is worth it- meaning I'd like to work as much as possible while I'm away. When you're offered a deployment is there any way to know how many hours a day you might work? Or, are there any questions you ask prior to accepting a deployment? Lastly, I currently have another job as a freelancer. Is there usually reliable internet when you're deployed, or would I be totally screwed if I had to try to finish up a freelance assignment while I'm on deployment?
Welcome to the party my friend! Those are excellent questions and I remember wondering them myself. I can give you a pretty good answer considering that I was a DSAS myself for a couple of years. For me, deployments can best be summed up as follows: you know squat. Nada. Zilch. You don’t even know where you’re being sent when you get deployed. Almost every deployment starts in Dallas, Texas where you in process and get your equipment for a day or two, then get your onward orders. Dallas is always listed as the deployed destination when you get it at home. That tells you how little you actually know from the get go. I mean, we don’t know whether to pack a tank-top or thermal underwear, so most of us pack BOTH. It’s the most suspicious luggage the TSA agent will check all day. Now for the million dollar question: how much do you work? Well, again, that depends. If you want to work a lot, then this is the job for you. 40 hours a week is a given. Virtually guaranteed the whole time you are out. If there’s less than 40 hours of work, they start sending people home, and likely far before that. As for what can be above that… it can be a lot. DSA is one of the first boots on the ground, and there’s always lots of work to do at first, but it can vary based on the mission. I can’t offer you a guarantee, but I CAN offer you personal experience and anecdotal evidence. For a wildfire in Oregon, I worked 13-14 hour days, including the commute, for 7 days a week, for a month. Then got sent home. For the COVID vaccination mission, I worked a much more varied schedule. Some weeks we worked 40 hours, others we worked all 7 days for 10-12 hours a day. That mission lasted two months. As you can see, it depends. It varies based on the needs of the mission. But when you get close to 40 hours a week, that’s something to fear rather than celebrate. It means the loss of glorious overtime, and even the potential for the unspeakable thing: demobilization. In DSA and IA, we run from that word, and whisper it with bated breath. As for your work as a freelancer, congratulations! You’re living every reservist’s dream! Some version of flexible, mobile work you can do when not deployed pairs very well with this career. I know of many people who have successfully worked in DSA while keeping another job elsewhere, though it always surprises me that they can do it. This is because you CANNOT do it while on duty. Both because it’s not permitted, and more importantly because it would literally be impossible. In DSA, we are always on our feet, working directly with survivors, often going door to door. You won’t have time. So the question becomes much simpler at that point. Is your freelance work flexible enough to allow you to work when it’s closer to 40 hours a week, but skip when you’re exhausted at the end of a 14 hour day, and you have only a few hours to rest before you have to do it over again? Only you can answer that question, but with the assumptions that it is ALWAYS at least 40 hours a week when deployed (and likely much more), and it is ALWAYS going to be impossible for you to do outside work during FEMA hours, I’m sure you can come up with an answer. If you have any other excellent questions then feel free to let me know! Either way, welcome to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, and stay FEMA Flexible! :) Edit: As for internet, that also depends. I’ve always had good internet in good hotels, but most people with a few years experience in FEMA have horror stories about Puerto Rico. Staying in tents or on hospital ships. Internet was the least of their problems. You also asked about any questions before accepting a deployment. While you do technically have a contact you can call, they often know almost nothing more than you, and that can take up valuable time. Most requests are time sensitive or first come first served. It’s better to take it ASAP, then call with any questions about logistics if you have them.
Thank you u/Dr-Fema for such a detailed reply. I have to admit that not knowing where I'm going to deploy to does make me a bit nervous (I'm usually a planner), but if this COVID world has taught me anything it's that sometimes you just have to go with the flow! I'll stay FEMA flexible! My one last question is about food and packing. I saw a packing list on FEMA's website and it said to pack 3 MREs. When you're working 14 hours a day does FEMA feed you, or do you use your per diem to buy/pack your own meals?
Excellent question! When physically deployed, you recieve a per diem of at minimum $55 per day, which you are responsible for using to feed yourself. The agency does not provide meals for you. I always try to pick a hotel that has a kitchen and then run to Sams or Costco to get a massive stock of groceries that I can use for the next month. In fact, with this method, I'm usually able to pocket $45 or more worth of per diem a day. Food is not difficult, even if you just want to grab something on the way home every day. I might bring a few snacks with me for the first few hours or days, but I never pack MREs or anything like that. If there's people where you're going, then there's going to be some kind of food source there too. And I get what you mean about needing to plan. The combination of the FEMA Flexible concept and the pandemic has made me a far more chill person than I used to be. In fact, in addition to the "be FEMA Flexible" slogan you'll hear, I've started to try and populize the phrase "just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo throughout the agency. I just find it so much more cute and motivating. Anyway, just keep swimming my friend!
Hi! I'm actually interested in being a reservist for Public Assistance or DEC. I graduated from FEMA corps back in 2017. I'm curious to know if these Cadres all have different email addresses instead of using the fema-careers one? I know that EHP has one.
Hello my friend! Always great to meet a former FEMA Corps member! I respect the crap out of you all, and you're my favorite group of people to work with. So you may recall that FEMA used to hire primarily through those email addresses that you mentioned, but now, everything for the bigger cadres is run through USAJobs. That is frustrating if there aren't any announcements for jobs you want, but at least there is transparency and a process rather than the pain of waiting for a reply to the email address that never ends up coming. And you can trust me on that. I spent all of last year sending email after email to EVERYONE I could find in PA, every email address, every phone number, every resume dump, from 2017 forward. None of it worked. No response, or the email was returned as undeliverable. Then, there was a USAJobs announcement for a PA PDMG in December 2020 that I was hired off of in mid-January. It's all about vigilance and patience. Check every day, multiple times a day, and have all your documents ready to tailor to the specific job announcement. Then apply to it when you seen it on USAJobs. Sometimes, these job announcements are only for 24 hours, or until midnight, so it's about being ready when the time comes. Here's the [link](https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/Results?a=HSCB&s=startdate&p=1) to a custom USAJobs search I put together. It lists every FEMA job open at a given time, with the most recent at the top. Anything listed as IM is Reservist, IC is Regional CORE, IT is IM-CORE or N-IMAT, GS is Permanent Full Time (PFT), and WG is Wage Grade, usually blue-collar based at Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center (WMEOC). Like I said, what this comes down to is patience and timing. Bookmark the link and check it often. Then apply for things as they come open. FEMA is not nearly as secret as it used to be, so there are lots more people applying for limited positions than there used to be. 2017 and 2018 were the golden years where you could send a quick email to the PA hiring inbox and then get hired within a week or two. Unfortunately, it's not really like that anymore. Let me know if you have anymore questions, and welcome back to the mad house that is FEMA my friend!
Oh wow that sucks 😭. Wish i would of joined then but thanks for the information! I'll keep checking USAJOBS then!
Don't get discouraged! It's still very much worth the wait, and FEMA Corps are considered GOLD in FEMA. When the announcement you want is posted, you'll be a shoe in! And just out of curiosity, why didn't you use the expedited hiring process you all get access to at the end of FEMA Corps? It would have been much easier for you back then, right? I'm just fascinated by FEMA Corps because I was one year too old to apply when I found out about it.
Thanks for the encouragement! I didn't use the expedited hiring process because I was more focused on going to college and getting my degree. I didn't really have a clue what I wanted to do with my life at the time. The only thing I knew was to get some type of degree lol. Also, being from the South and an introvert living with 5-6 other individuals all from the northeast was definitely fascinating to say the least lol.
I'm the exact same way, an introverted Southerner, and I can certainly understand. Well congrats on prioritizing a degree then! I think that was definitely the right call! Thanks for your question, and please let me know if I can help in any other way!
And thank you for the helpful information.
Reservist question: I’m considering applying for a reservist position in a region different than the one I currently live in. If I ended up getting hired for that position would I need to move to that region or would they just fly me to where I’m serving?
All reservist positions are nationwide, and you can live anywhere you want within U.S. borders. They just fly you out from your local airport. However, because of this, no reservist positions are listed with a specific location. If you are applying for a job that lists a specific location, then it is likely going to be a Local Hire or CORE position, at which point you WOULD have to relocate to the listed location. Send me the announcement your interested in and I'll take a look at it to give you some more details if you'd like!
Hi u/Dr-Fema I'm back with more questions... I completed my onboarding earlier this month and I've already gotten a deployment request. Eek! Yay! Eek! (I'm both excited and scared!) Do you have a packing list that you can share with me? I have no idea what to pack for a one-way trip to Texas. Thanks in advance for all your great advice, and I hope we get the chance to cross paths out in the field one day.
No way! That's awesome, I'm so happy for you! Are you being deployed to the PMC in Grapevine, TX? If so, then your actual deployment location will be elsewhere, and you'll find out where when you've processed through. It's not too cold throughout much of the country right now, so you shouldn't have to worry about that, and you could always buy a jacket or gloves when you get to the disaster. So pack warm weather, summer clothes. Also, pack a bag of snacks if you can. I don't know of any disasters right now that wouldn't have food accessible upon landing, but knowing you have something to eat and a water bottle just makes you calm. Then, you'll want some entertainment. A book, or a tablet, laptop, or something like that. You likely won't have much time to relax, but it's still nice to have. Depending on your disaster, you may be issued a laptop or equipment while at the PMC. Plan accordingly. FEMA pays for two carry ons, and if they give you a laptop, it will come in a big case that you will have to carry on with you, so plan for that. Other than that, there isn't much else to say. Remember that you'll be getting $55 a day minimum in per diem once you leave home, so you can buy anything you need once you get there. I like to buy an instant pot once I land if I don't get a hotel with a kitchen. Makes it easier to eat and save some money. National Travel is your friend, but do some research on hotels with kitchens before you call, then request it from them. Sometimes they miss them or just put you in a random hotel. Most of their agents are fantastic though. They'll take great care of you. Take time for yourself, listen to some good music on the flight, and enjoy the adventure. Stay FEMA Flexible, remember to breath, and try not to feel rushed. A lot is about to happen to you, and you're going to feel overwhelmed. That's okay. As Dory says in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming." Above all, remember how fortunate you are. There are many people who are stuck at home, either waiting for a deployment, or working virtually. I'm working a disaster virtually right now, and I want to be where you will be, right in the thick of it. However, even we are leaps and bounds more fortunate than the people you will be there to help. Don't flaunt how happy you are to be there, especially in front of survivors. This will be your very first deployment. You will not have another one. Enjoy it. Savor it. Don't blink.
Hey Dr. FEMA, Hello, what skills you do see as essential or useful as a FEMA Public Assistance Reservist? Furthermore, do you need a degree in Engineering or Construction to work as a Public Assistance Reservist? Thank you for your help!
Hello my friend! Sorry for the late response, I was away from all electronics over the weekend. When it comes to PA, there are two main jobs people tend to do: Site Inspector and Program Delivery Manager. As a SI, you would preferably have some sort of construction experience, specifically in public works. However, this is a best case scenario. There are many SIs working right now that don’t have any experience like that. They just tend to be worse at their jobs than their hard-hat wearing colleagues (speaking as the person they give reports to). As for PDMGs, we are more like project managers than engineers or construction workers. There’s a common joke that the first time a PDMG hears the word “culvert” is when the applicant tells them theirs has been damaged. I didn’t have any experience in these things at all when I started, and I’m still learning terms several months later. Public Assistance is a grant program, not a code of engineering. The job of a PDMG is to guide cities and counties through that grant program. Then engineers and costing specialists actually writing the scope of work and supervise the rebuilding. It’s my job to make sure that the whole thing gets done while meeting regulatory deadlines, watching for process pitfalls, and answering the applicants’ questions about the process. As for degrees, there’s really no hard and fast rule. My degree is in accounting and I don’t have a masters. I’d never worked in engineering or anything remotely like that before. Many PDMGs don’t have a bachelor’s, though that may be because of the massive hiring spree they went on back in 2018-19. PA is a weird, mythical cadre that just plays by different rules than the rest. Sometimes things just don’t make any sense from the outside, and it can feel like there’s a veil of some kind between PA and the rest of FEMA. I understand how frustrating that can be, but the only way to get a job in PA is to persist in trying. Patience is the right of passage. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Gotcha, Do you believe the training provided on public assistance through FEMA's website is useful or important (IS-1000 - IS-1027)? Would it be advantageous to know in the hiring process? Continued thanks for your help.
Absolutely! Any information you can glean about the PA program is helpful. I recommend taking those courses, as well as just generally Googling about PA until you have a good understanding. It's the largest grant program in the Department of Homeland Security, and we are SORELY understaffed. The less time it would take you to get up to speed, the better. Also, just generally, when working for FEMA, it's a good idea to have some kind of understanding about ICS, or the Incident Command System. It's the process by which all objectives are set and decisions are made. It helps in understanding why some of the weird things work the way they do. Let me know if you have any questions about PA, or if you just want to test your knowledge! I'm still learning things too, so we can be study partners! :)
Thanks so much for this helpful post! I interviewed today for a Reservist Civil Rights Advisor. First question. The pay range is quite large, about $38-$50 per hour. Do they always offer the low end? Is there room to negotiate? Second question. Is deployment always thirty days or longer? I would be keeping my state government job and it will be a harder sell if I am gone for longer than thirty days more than once a year. It sounds like we have no idea how long the deployment will last when we take it as well? Third question. Do you know how often Civil Rights deploys? Thanks so much!
Hello my friend! Congrats on the interview! I hope you get the job and join us soon! Now to answer your questions: 1. I have never myself, nor heard of anyone else, negotiated an offer. As far as I know, you can't negotiate it. Please TRY and report back to me, because I would *LOVE* to know if we can do that haha. I've always just been offered the low end of the pay rate and accepted that was what I'd be paid. However, for higher paid positions like that of a CRA, I imagine there could be different rules. Just let me know what you find out! You only ever get a specific pay rate offer when they offer you the job, so there's no harm whatsoever in asking your Hiring Manager if there's room for movement. 2. Deployment lasts as long as it lasts, but in the case of a CRA, I'd bet money that you'd be gone more that 30 days every single time you were deployed. Every CRA and Disability Rights Advisor I've ever met has been either ALONE at the disaster, or part of a two-person team. That means that they typically stay for *at least* three-six months, if not *years*. I'm surprised you haven't been told that at this point. Frankly, I would think it would be VERY hard to keep a full time job elsewhere if you were offered a CRA position. When I talk about 30-day deployments, I'm talking about jobs in the Individual Assistance and Disaster Survivor Assistance cadres, entry-level stuff. As a CRA, you are advising the disaster's leadership, and in that way, are *a part* of leadership. If you think about it logically, would it make much sense for them to rotate out Civil Rights Advisors they're used to working with on a regular basis? Also, as someone in that field, would you *want* leadership to constantly be getting new advisors, or god forbid, *not have one at all*? I'd bet on being out for quite a long time, and with the limited size of the cadre and the number of climate-related disasters we're going to face in the next five years, be receiving LOTS of deployments. FEMA makes it very clear in orientation that THIS is your primary job, and not something you can do on the side. 3. As for the third question, my answer would mostly be based on the circumstantial evidence I mentioned above. There really is no way to know for sure. Sometimes you don't get deployed for over a year. It's the curse of this life, but I can tell you from experience, the journey is worth the initial leap of faith. Thanks for stopping in, and let me know if you have any other questions!
Circling back to this I ended up getting an offer for Reservist in Disability Integration and was offered base $29.15. I countered with $34 something and they came back with 30.95. I accepted it! I wrote three reasons why I thought I deserved more pay based on OPM Superior Qualifications guidelines. HR responded within 2 days with the counter. Hope this helps others! It never hurts to ask. 🙂
That's awesome! Yeah, I saw your post in r/EmergencyManagement about it haha. Very helpful information. Congrats, and I hope you get a chance to get out there soon!
Hello, I am set to onboard in the next few weeks and I am wondering if you may have any information on the Supply Management specialist position? How often they are deployed/the importance of the position in the logistics cadre? What I can expect from this position? Etc.
Hello my friend! Sorry for the delay in responding. I actually just shared all the information I know about this position with someone else, so I'll link my response to you [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/EmergencyManagers/comments/msg7nf/comment/hk5yitk/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). Let me know if you have any other questions!
Thank you for the input. I appreciate your time.
Thanks for the info! They know I have a full time job and said others in the program also do, so perhaps you have encountered the CORE staff and not Reservists? I do agree with you that having someone who can stay indefinitely makes way more sense, that's why I went into my interview unsure what it was all about. I was interviewed by two CORE staff and one PFT staff. It was a very technical interview and I think I did pretty well. I didn't want to ask a lot of questions about deployment in case they thought I didn't want to, but we did discuss how covid has created some all virtual deployments. I actually prefer to go into the field because I'm stir crazy. I think I only have a chance because they hire many positions because I am on the lower rung of the experience level most likely. I'll just have to wait and see. Even if I get an offer, It'll involve me negotiating time with my current employer and FEMA and that may not work out.
I'm confused about the difference between being a FEMA reservist & working as a reservist contractor. I'm very concerned about how much time I've already spent doing all these unpaid training Vanguard inspection Services certificate courses so I can become a FEMA contractor disaster home inspector. It seems strange that they can treat their contractors as employees, yet offer no benefits & pay no taxes. I found this here on Reddit whilst trying to see if there's another option. I don't see how to get that kind of job without going through a contracted company. I also see another company called WSP USA that used to be called PB. Can anyone please help me navigate a direct FEMA reservist route. I end up rerouted to a contract company when looking at the inspector services cadre. I'm feeling lost & am worried about wasting more time jumping through all these Vanguard hoops if they can't be useful elsewhere. Starting to worry about all my info I've shared thus far w/ Vanguard & am hoping someone has some insight on these contracting companies & if there's a direct FEMA hire route, why they'd be intercepting per-say. I really appreciate any help/info anyone can offer on the subject.
Hello my friend! I can certainly try to clear some of that up for you. As you seem to already know, there is a difference between being a FEMA Reservist and a FEMA-contracted housing inspector. A FEMA Reservist is a W-2 employee of the US federal government. A housing inspector is NOT a FEMA Reservist. Instead, they work for a private contractor like Vanguard or WSP as a 1099 independent subcontractor. Essentially, Reservists are federal employees, and housing inspectors are private sector contractors. That means that you as a contractor have to pay your own taxes, aren’t provided benefits, and don’t actually “work” for either the contractor or FEMA. As a FEMA Reservist, we have taxes taken out, and we are provided the benefits I talk about above as employees of the federal government. Now that we’ve cleared that up, we can talk about the difference in jobs. FEMA Reservists don’t do housing inspections. Full stop. That’s why FEMA contracts out that work to private contractors like Vanguard and WSP. Instead, we do literally DOZENS of other types of work. From helping people in shelters to inspecting public infrastructure. And that’s where I would send you. With your skill set, I’d say you could likely qualify as a Public Assistance Site Inspector, which is one of the dozens of jobs that is considered a FEMA Reservist. To apply to that, or any other Reservist job, you’d want to go to USAJobs.com. Search FEMA and look for jobs marked “Intermittent.” Then just apply through the site. You’ll have to wait for the job to be posted, but they do it every few months, so just keep checking. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask more! 👍🏼
I cannot believe I missed your reply until now. I'm beyond impressed with your super helpful, detailed response! Finally, I understand. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Hello, Dr-Fema. Thank you for this post. I have found more relevant information pertaining to FEMA here than anywhere else on the internet. It is presented well and in a manner so as to be easily digested. I made a profile in order to ask you a few questions regarding employment as a FEMA reservist. I hope you still check this post occasionally. I am strongly considering a career as a FEMA reservist, specifically an Emergency Management Specialist (Response). It would be a dream job to travel to areas that need my help immediately after a disaster. To help on the front lines in times of crisis feels like something I was meant to do. However, I am hesitant to leave my wife for extended periods of time. The job in question requires 76% travel according to the listing on [usajobs.gov](https://usajobs.gov) My questions are simple. \#1. In your experience, how often are EMS Response reservists deployed? \#2. Would my wife be allowed to visit me/stay with me in the hotel for short periods of time? If I'm on a long deployment, am I allowed to have visitors stay with me? \#3. Do you have any personal experience with juggling family and your job? Have you seen other reservists juggle family and work well? I have a suspicion that the reservist occupation as a whole seems to be a young person's game. Perhaps it is best to not have a home-life or people back home waiting on you to demobilize. \#4. In your opinion, would it be wise for a married man (with plans of starting a family) to join the reservists? Thanks again for this post! \-NOQUIT
On September 29th, president Biden signed the Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce (CREW) Act into law. This act amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act as well as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) to protect full-time employment of FEMA Reservists when they are deployed to disasters and emergencies on behalf of FEMA. It also protects them against penalization, discrimination, or loss of employee benefits as a result of their deployment to disasters, emergencies and critical trainings. Now as a reservist your job should be safe if you get deployed.
Hi! I recently received a TO as a reservist in the Logistics Cadre. Looking at the thread you’ve said LOG is around middle of the pack in deployments. Is that more like several short deployments or 1-2 long term deployments a year? I know you’ve said that you didn’t interact with LOG that much, is that because there aren’t that many deployed per site or do they tend to be separated from the rest of the cadres?
This information would help me as well. I received a TO as a reservist today with Logistics Cadre.
So have I any updates? Have you been deployed?
Nope
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Hi u/pineapplesflamingos! Good to meet you. So, Pathways is associated with the Title 5 hiring process and the Permeant Full Time (PFT) class of employee, which I mentioned briefly here. I'll talk a bit more about that when I get a chance to update the post again. Most of the stuff I say here is regarding Stafford Act employees like Local Hires and Reservists. Your situation is different, and the Pathways program is not based in the Stafford Act. I would assume that your internship is either in DC or at one of the regional offices. PFTs *occasionally* go out into the field, but mostly they are based at the DC HQ or in one of the regional offices. They run things from afar, while intermittent employees do the groundwork. I don't have any experience as a PFT with FEMA, so I can't say much more than that with certainty. In essence, you are likely going to be interning with FEMA's version of full-time, normal government office workers in DC or one of the regional HQs. FEMA Corps and reservists are the on the ground, dirty, grimy, 16-hour day types, so most FEMA questions on these kinds of subs are about them because it's so different. You might find more answers to your question on r/usajobs or another subreddit focused on normal Title 5 federal civilian employees, but let me know if you have anymore questions!
Local Hire question Hello, I have some questions regarding the status of a temp local hire for FEMA. I applied, was selected, and have been working as a support local hire for vaccine distribution for a week now. I am in location where marijuana is legal locally and while I understand the federal legality of the matter, I must admit that I was a chronic user before accepting this position. I had applied to the position because it had no drug testing requirements; furthermore, during my on boarding training we weren’t informed about the rules and regulations we local hires are meant to follow besides the general safety rules regarding Health and Safety against COVID-19. *(I am surprised that the background investigation let me through in the first place)* I have already ceased my consumption of it after completing my onboarding out of precaution, but I have no indication when my body will decide to completely rid the chemicals from my body, probably in the next 5-6 weeks? I want to inform my supervisor regarding the situation but I am absolutely terrified it’s going to end up turning against me with an immediate removal or there will be a drug test in the immediate future where all the alarms and bells will chime. What can I do about this issue?
Thank you so much for your question! So my immediate reaction is to congratulate you for being willing to address this issue, rather than just putting your head in the sand and hoping it doesn't become a bigger problem. THAT would be the worst way to deal with this, so pat yourself on the back for not doing *that*. Here's what it comes down to: DO NOT LIE. Do not purposely omit. If there is one thing that is always worse than whatever it is that an applicant has done in the past, it is lying about it on a federal form. Now I'm not sure what forms you signed as a local hire applicant, but if one of them was the SF-86, then there is a question on there about the use of federally illegal drugs in the past 7 years. If you checked no on that form, but have consumed federally illegal substances in that time frame, then you will face consequences. Not because of the cannabis use, but because of perjury on the form. I recommend that you thoroughly look through your hiring documents and ensure that you never answered no to that question. If you did, then you may need to consider resigning from your position and perhaps even retaining legal counsel. I don't mean to be dramatic, but you will have committed a federal offense, and while it is likely that it would never be found out, and not prosecuted even if it was, you would still be in legal jeopardy that you otherwise would not be in. Better to be safe than sorry. If you never lied on any form, then I must implore you not to consume any federally illegal substances whilst employed by the federal government. Drug tests are extremely rare in FEMA, and most of us, likely including your supervisor, would be chill, understanding, and sympathetic to your situation. However, the moment anything gets written down on official record, or overheard by someone that wants to make it a bigger deal, that can change. Do not play games with the law or the standards of conduct for a federal employee. As long as you have not committed perjury during the application process, and you do not continue to consume cannabis during your employment with FEMA, then I consider you in the clear. If either of those things change, things become far more serious, I am the LAST person you would need to be talking to. Otherwise, take a breath. You'll be fine. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your insight and advice. In regards to the paperwork, I only completed the SF-85 as part of the background investigation form. I will heed your advice as well as my own to abstain from misconduct, after all Integrity is a core value!
Hey Dr., I just got offered a fema position as a reservist. How long does it take to get background checks finished? Also what if you do not have a license? Could you utilize Uber or go with work buds? Sorry weird question
Hello my friend! That's excellent news! Congratulations! Background checks are typically not that bad in most FEMA reservist positions, but it honestly depends on your role. I wouldn't sweat it as much though. Most of us just have a standard, run-of-the-mill Public Trust background check, and that doesn't take long at all. As for needing a license: no, that's not typically required. It may be necessary in order to accept some deployments, and it will obviously limit you from taking on certain day to day roles in the course of your work, but I've worked with several people who didn't have a license, mostly from NYC or other urban areas where they aren't as necessary for daily life. Where FEMA deploys though, cars are almost always the only transportation around, and Uber is rarely available out in the sticks. You can certainly rely on coworkers to take you if needed, but there can also be rules about that. For instance, I actually drove a member of my team who didn't have a license to our work site everyday on the deployment before my current one, but the leadership made him ride in the back seat due to COVID-19 protection protocols. It was awkward at first, but then we started joking that I was his personal driver and it became fun. Keep the questions coming my friend! I know you must have more! :)
Thank you, sorry I had to make a new Reddit since I’m so embarrassed haha. I applied for the IA position, do they get deployed often? I also applied for DSA crew leader position and a IA lead. Not sure if crew leaders / lead get deployed more often etc, and if again not having a license would affect crew leader position Oh and for public trust backgrounds do they call people? I’m really young with little experience. Position is “moderate” risk
No need to apologize lol. This is Reddit, so I get it. Haha. Okay, so... IA deployment rates. This is a very popular topic because IA is the starting cadre for a lot of FEMA reservists. The last time I saw statistics, there were almost 3,000 people in the cadre. Most of them are something called an Applicant Services Program Specialist. This is, if I'm not mistaken, the most common position in FEMA. I actually never worked as one (my starting position was as a DSA Specialist), but I've worked alongside a whole bunch of them. I'm sorry to say that the deployment rates for that position are incredibly erratic, unpredictable, and usually low: *potentially* between 1 and 3 months a year. However, in super bad years, it can be higher, even up to 7 months in 2017 when we had three major hurricanes hit all at roughly the same time. The good part is, you learn A LOT in the job about FEMA as a whole, and more importantly about how to empathize with and keep the focus on survivors themselves, rather than the massive bureaucracy that surrounds the process. It's an excellent place to start your career, because you'll meet people in lots of other areas that you can network and make friends with. (This is completely true, you can choose to believe it or not, I don't really care, but during my *very first* deployment, I worked alongside a guy who worked at a super high level in the top-secret side of FEMA, where he interfaced with the National Nuclear Security Administration every day.) Literally EVERY single FEMA employee, all the way up to the super-high-ups, have to be available to deploy to the field for a certain number of days each year, even if they were asked to serve in the lowest level positions. Can you imagine if the military required a Colonel or a Brig. Gen. to deploy as a rifleman at 24 hours notice? That's FEMA. As for if leads get deployed more, it's safe to assume that most of the time, yes, they do. It's really just a matter of numbers. Leads can deploy in their position as a lead, yes, but they can also be asked to deploy at the lower level and still get paid at the higher rate. As a result, they have far more opportunities to be deployed than a normal grunt. They're also almost always going to be qualified in that lower position, and qualification always increases the chances of being deployed. Again, this is because of the numbers game. There are less people who are qualified, and the ratio of qualified to trainee at most disasters is typically set at 1:1, so your chances are higher. Of course, to become qualified, you have to be deployed enough as a trainee, so it's a common meme and joke in FEMA that it's like some kind of Emergency Management mafia. As for needing a driving license to be a Lead, ehhhhh, I'd say that they're probably not going to outright *require* it, but when I was a lead, I would have found it almost impossible to be able to survive without a car of my own. Leads just tend to travel more, and you're in an isolated area most of the time. It would be kind of awkward to have to explain to the Task Force Leader that you pulled someone away from helping survivors so that they could drive you to the Joint Field Office for a meeting. As for whether a Public Trust clearance typically has contact with others, no. Not typically. They're not likely to be calling up your neighbors and bosses to ask about you, but technically they can if they felt the need to. It just depends on what you put on the forms. I mean heck, my job before FEMA was at the Department of Defense, where I had a secret clearance, and they never even bothered to contact my neighbors. So I'd say you're in the clear there. Lol And finally, don't worry about being young or not having much experience. More and more of the agency is made up of under-30s. I myself am 25, and started at FEMA when I was 23. This job is unlike anything else anyone has ever done. We all start at the same dumbfounded, confused, and bewildered stage in this career. You just need to be empathetic, kind, and patient to succeed. As I often say, the hardest part of the job is waiting for the call to come. Deployments are the vacations you take from that job. You just need to be willing to take on the behemoth that is impatience, and if you can successfully vanquish it, then you'll thrive in this career.
Wow. This is INCREDIBLY helpful! I really want to be a reservist and have been researching it for the past year or so. I’ve tried to gather basically all of this information by piecing it together from various sources, which wasn’t so easy, so I soooo appreciate the work you’ve done with this!!!! I’m a USAF vet, no kids, in college at the moment. I’m going on a vacation in August and *should* be done with my bachelors degree in September. I plan to apply for a reservist position in August, however I’m still having trouble deciding which cadre I’d be most useful in/enjoy most. I have IT background with the military but I didn’t enjoy it that much. My degree is in HR, which I also don’t enjoy (I’m really good at making life choices -_-). I love helping people, humanitarian aid, working hard and with my hands when I know what to do. The ones that stuck out to me most were the more entry-level cadres (IA and DSA, possibly PA). Any insight would be appreciated but I’ve already gained a lot of great info from this post!!!
Welcome to the party friend! You certainly do know how to make some ironic life choices haha, but becoming a FEMA reservist is one of the best ones you can make, so I'll unironically agree with you there! Sounds to me like IA or DSA would be a perfect place to start for you! Both find themselves thrust right in the action with disaster survivors, and work a lot with their hands. In the most basic terms, IA is at a fixed location where people come to them, and DSA is a mobile force that goes door to door. You mentioned PA, which isn't generally considered entry level. It's a cadre with a very specific, segregated mission from the rest of FEMA, and it can take a LONG time to learn all the lingo. IA and DSA aren't easy cadres to stay in long term, especially if you want to maintain the flexibility of a reservist, and still make enough to survive. PA is the opposite problem, where you make a lot, but have very little flexibility. It's the same work over and over and over again. DSA and IA have a new challenge every day, but don't get deployed often, so it's about sorting out your priorities. I spent my first two years in DSA and accrued a lot of cool stories and experiences there, but then I discovered that I valued a high savings rate more, so I worked really hard to make the switch to PA. The excellent thing about DSA and IA though, are that you can get exposed to lots of other cadres, so by the time I made the switch to PA, I was certain it was where I wanted to be! In short, this is a long journey, and the start doesn't matter nearly as much as you first think it does. Just enjoy the ride and try to stay patient during the waiting periods. Let me know when you get close to wanting to apply, and I'll gladly help you navigate that process! In the meantime, enjoy your vacation, and stay FEMA Flexible! :)
Thank you so much for the clarification! You’re the nicest :). I will more than likely hit you up soon when I’m ready to apply. I really appreciate it!
Hey! Not sure if this question has already been answered so sorry 😫 but I was hired as a reservist in the operations cadre? Any inside intel? Dying to deploy ASAP but worried I made a financial mistake going the reservist route. If operations doesn’t deploy a lot, is it easy to transfer cadres?
First of all, thank you for this thread. Do you happen to know if the IT Cadre deploys often? On our onboarding briefing they spend about 5 seconds explaining the IT Cadre, so did not get much information on it.
Hello friend! I would consider IT to be a middle-tier cadre when it comes to deployments. Not out all year, like PA, but not out only one month, like DSA. Maybe it would average out to 6 months a year for IT? The catch is that each deployment is actually quite long, maybe 10-12 months for some, but there are other years where people wait all year and don't get deployed. This averages to 6 months, but that's by no means a guarantee you will actually work that in a year. Not sure what else I could say about it. All the information above comes from mostly anecdotal evidence and the little bit of deployment data I have access to. As for actual work, I've met IT folks who were doing everything from setting up my phone at onboarding to driving a bus at the PMC. Seem to fill the need wherever they are. Thanks for your question!
Hello would the title (HM Community Education and Outreach Specialist) fall under public assistance?
Nope, the HM stands for Hazard Mitigation, which is it's own cadre. They do however work closely with PA sometimes, but likely not in that specific position. HM is one of the fastest growing areas of FEMA, and just recently received a huge influx of cash. It would be a great opportunity if you've been offered the position. Thanks for the question!
Yes I am filling out the paperwork as we speak! How often would you say that I might be deployed? I think my current job may work with me on staying there and doing the fema role as well.
That's everyone's biggest question. I *still* ask that question. And the only answer is that you really, truly, just don't know. It could be 12 months out of the year one year, then 0 the next. I will share anecdotal evidence though. A friend's girlfriend worked that exact job and was deployed from May 2018 - May 2019 in one place, then May 2019 through March 2020 in another, then a long strech without deployments, until she was deployed to a vaccine center in Jan 2021 where she stayed for two months. Then she went back home from March 2021 through July 2021, where she got a full-time job with one of FEMA's regions. Take from that what you will, but the truth is that everyone's experience is different. The only reliable thing is change, so we just have to keep swimming! :)
Thank you for the help. I just got my masters in emergency management and have no field experience so this will be my first taste. I’m excited cause it is my dream job already. Mitigation is the part of EM I wanted to do and community outreach.
Well you got the perfect job then! Haha. It may be bumpy at times, but there's nothing quite like it. I work in PA and want to tear my hair out sometimes, but when you remember what this all is... what we get to do... it's incredibly special and motivating. Part of the reason I like answering questions on this thread is because it keeps me in tune with the wonder of it all. Seeing all of you going through the same giddy excitement I went through two years ago reminds me of why we do what we do. So thanks for helping to give me that feeling again! :)
No problem I am beyond excited to start hopefully being chubby won’t be an issue lol. I am used to working really long shifts on my feet so I feel like I’m prepared for the hard work. Been working every day I could since I could haha. I also have a bachelors in Spanish so I really want to use that. DC is currently my goal city or Boston haha. I’m so glad I found this
One final question. How does one get to their deployment is it by plane or are you allowed to use a personal vehicle?
By plane mostly, but you can use your own car if you want to. FEMA will reimburse you up to the cost of the plane ticket. The problem with bringing your own car is that you won't be provided a rental car, which is arguably one of the coolest perks of working in the field lol. Plus, who wants to put that many miles on their personal car? FEMA would pay for your gas, but not for mileage while you're just driving back and forth to the hotel or work, so kind of a waste tbh. Still, you can do it if you want to. And keep asking questions if you have them! I love answering people's burning questions about this world. I remember how many I had at the beginning lol
Hello, So I have a question but it’s not about the job. If you want to answer you can haha. Do you think that FEMA should stay in DHS, move to a different department or should it become it’s own agency separate from DHS.
Oooooh, just what every civil servant loves to talk about... agency POLITICS! Lol, but no, its actually a really good question, and the truth is that everyone in FEMA has an opinion on it. Most of us think that we had more agency over our own affairs when we were an independent agency, and would prefer it that way again. The Administrator was even once a member of the Cabinet! That's so cool! But the harsh reality is that we get more money from being under DHS and being in charge of things like Mount Weather and all that national security jazz. On the whole, I think that we have the best of both worlds. On the one hand, we get all that money and clout from being in charge of the National Response Framework, Watch Centers, and tippity-top-secret crap, but on the other hand, we get to freely complain to our Coast Guard and Customs Enforcement step-siblings that we're better than them and should get to be Cabinet-level again. I mean, I can't tell you how fun it is to go out on a date with someone and be like, "Yeah, I prevent NUCLEAR DOOMSDAY for a living, but honestly I'd rather just go back to the good old days of preparing for the LITERAL LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN WORLD HISTORY when the San Andreas fault get' drunk one night and decides to finally kick things off." But yeah, I think it probably just depends on how I'm feeling that day, and how many layers of bureaucracy I have to go through to get paid lol. Thanks for the question though!
Another question sorry where do you think the orientation would take place
No need to apologize! I really wouldn't know though. Before COVID, you would normally go to the CDP in Anniston, AL, but based on what I've heard, that isn't happening anymore. Some people go in person to an office near them to get their badging done, others go for a couple days to a center in DC. I'm sure you'll get details soon after you've sent that paperwork back in. Let me know if you have any other questions though!
Hello, I saw that you mentioned that HM just received a bunch if new funding do you think that this will mean that FEMA would deploy the HM cadre to help governments and NGO's to create emergency plans? How typically would a person who is in the HM be deployed to a disaster zone? Would it be before the disaster happens. Sorry for the lengthy post and many questions I am just a fan of know as much as possible. My main question is what functions does the HM cadre do? Do they help to create emergency operations plans with local, state, tribal governments and NGO's?
Hello my friend! Thanks for jumping on here and asking some questions! I wish I could be courteous and reciprocate with answers, but the truth is, I have no information whatsoever about any of that lol. I've never worked *in* HM, *with* HM, or even spoken *to* HM. All I know is that the Biden administration announced about a billion dollars for new HM initiatives back in March or so. I have a friend who's girlfriend worked in HM for about three years, and she spend a lot of that time working with individuals and local governments to teach them about mitigating hurricane damage in central and coastal North Carolina. That was after Florence, but I don't know how quickly they deployed her after the hurricane hit Wilmington. Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I appreciate you starting the discussion and taking the time to learn! You're definitely my kind of person haha
Thanks so much for this info! Do you know about any potential issues with deploying from somewhere that isn’t your residence of record? I just got hired for IA and I’ve been doing some intermittent work around the country that I’d like to continue but could easily leave from if deployed.
That is an excellent question, and one that I've been pondering for sometime myself. Many reservists, including yours truly, are interested in travel during our non-deployed time. I've often considered what would happen if I were to get a deployment request while I was away from home, or even in a place like Japan on the other side of the world! The truth is... I don't know for sure. My guess is that they would just limit their reimbursement to the cost of a flight from your RoR, and you'd do a constructed travel cost worksheet to determine what that reimbursement would be. Then you'd pay for the flight from where you are with your government credit card, and pay the difference on the account with your personal funds. That's what I would expect anyway. The important thing to note is that even being on the other side of the world wouldn't stop you from accepting the deployment and making whatever arrangements you needed to get there. No matter what it costs you personally to get to the disaster site, you will make enough to cover the cost easily once you get there... trust me. :) Thanks for the question!
Just heard back from my HR person and you’re right! I feel like they’re getting annoyed w my million questions😬
I used to work as a reservist but my friend recently applied last year and he says he has the same position I worked but he can choose to work from home can I get more information on this position ?
Absolutely! I'm not sure what position you're referring to of course, but I can provide some context for FEMA as a whole right now. In the majority of cadres that tend to deploy for a long time, such as PA, HM, EHP, and CVR, we're almost all deployed virtually. I'm sitting at my desk taking a break from working with PA applicants as we speak, and my feet are resting comfortably on my bed lol. It means we don't get per diem, but we also don't have to mess with Concur, which I'm sure you can appreciate as a former reservist haha. In the short deployed cadres, like IA and DSA, there is *some* opportunity to deploy virtually, either to help the National Information Processing Center (NIPC) as a virtual call center agent, or for the COVID-19 Funeral Assistance mission, also as a virtual call center agent. There were also several people in my old cadre of DSA that were deployed virtually at the beginning of COVID that worked as call takers supplementing the Small Business Administration's PPP loan program. None of us get a choice as to whether we get to work virtually or in-person though, at least not as reservists. The vast majority of work is being done virtually, but it's because the mission's virtual, not because of our personal choice. I don't know how much longer this situation will last, but with the COVID variants spreading so quickly, we're estimating it will be FEMA's operating posture for at least another year.
Quick question, if hired, do you do orientation right before first deployment or orientation and then wait for deployment?
Hello my friend! As a reservist, you go to Orientation and Onboarding first, then get placed into the queue and set up in DTS so that you can receive a deployment. In other words, when you leave Orientation, that's when your wait starts. Let me know if you think of any other questions!
I went ahead and sent my resume for both PA and Logistics. Do you know which cadre has the most deployment out of both?
Both get deployed out a lot, but on the whole, PA gets deployed more often. For some jobs at least. The way to think about it is, for some jobs in PA, you may be deployed 10 months out of the year, but virtually. For Log, you may be deployed 6 months out of the year, but in-person. It all just depends really. I've met people in both cadres that have gone 13 months without a deployment, even when there were disasters happening. Sometimes you just have to play the waiting game.
Thank you for you response.
Dr. FEMA, this was just the guide I've been searching for. I've spent months trying to find information about FEMA and only seemed to find information about the program I'm too "old" for now ( I'm 27) My question is about the work/life balance while working for FEMA. I'm still going over your guide trying to figure out which position fits my personality and interests (I'm thinking DSA or IA) but I'm curious if you or other people you've encountered during your time had families and if the job, while time consuming, still provided a sense of enjoyment for parents such as myself? Thank you again for this awesome guide! And forgive me if this was already asked.
Thank you SO MUCH for the compliments! It's taken me a LONG time to write all of this, so I'm glad it's been worth it for you. And excellent question! Personally, I don't have children, so I can't speak to that, and most people I've met in the field are in the same boat. The general rule with FEMA reservists and field staff is that they fall into one of two groups: those in their 20s without much life experience or responsibilities (like myself haha), and those that are retired who do it to remain active and have fun. While I have met people in middle age on the job, those people tend to be childless, or even permanent bachelors and bachelorettes. That being said, the single most hardworking, interesting, and highest-ranking person I ever met on a deployment was a guy in his forties who had a wife and four children. This man was INCREDIBLE. Full-stop. Drop the mic. I LOVED talking to him, because he would teach me so much about his philosophy of life, parenting, and what it meant to be in love. He would GUSH about his wife, his kids, and his incredible life back home, which always gave me a warm fuzzy feeling deep inside. He worked at FEMA Headquarters in a pretty high-ranking department, but would volunteer to go out to disasters in the field just to stay connected to the work. He'd volunteer for literally everything he could. He spent months at the border helping take care of and advocating for unaccompanied children (often doing battle with CBP and HHS), helped to guide FEMA's response to COVID in the early days, and I found out just recently that he volunteered to go help the Afghan refugees, first in Ramstein, then at Dulles. One night while deployed to wildfires out West, we were part of a group checking on the operations of a mass-care shelter. As the survivors started laying down to rest, we found a quiet corner and he introduced me to his kids over a video call. OMG, my heart was fluttering with how much those kids respected their dad. He gave them all a "hug" by pressing the phone to his chest while they did the same. It was the cutest thing. :) Then I met his wife, and we started talking together. Eventually, I asked her how she felt about him being gone so much, and they just gave each other this quiet, knowing smile. Finally, she said, "Love will travel as far as you let it." Then he responded, "But always under the same stars." I felt like I was in The Notebook or something, I was SWOONING. He explained that it was a phrase they had developed together, the first part from *her* to remind *him* that she supported his desire to leave and explore. The second part from *him* to remind *her* that they were never that far away. So my answer to your question is based on the strength of their bond, and the bond between his kids and himself. What is work-life balance like while on a deployment? "I just got off work and it's only 11PM! I hope I have time to stop in at Wendy's and get a meal before I fall asleep at the wheel of my rental car." Some days you may even make it back to your hotel! Yipee! Lol, the point is that there *is* no work-life balance on a deployment. Everything is work. Everything is subject to change. *Everything* is unbalanced. But the only way we make it through it is by depending on and taking care of each other, both as FEMA employees and as human beings trying to help others that have lost everything. The reason my friend was *so* good at his job, *so* kind to survivors, and *such* an inspiration and leader to the rest of us, is because he was working with a support system that was truly *out-of-this-world*. He had us there, where we were helping each other, and he had his family, who were keeping him grounded and reminding him to be patient and thankful. So I suppose the only people who can know if you would be able to make it through something as demanding and emotionally painful as this job are the loved ones around you. You will enjoy everything about this job, as long as you have the support of the people you love. But without that, I don't know that my friend would have been as incredible as he was. I hope his story was able to give you some answers, and please feel free to ask anything else you think of! Thanks my friend!
This answer was everything omg, that is the sweetest thing I've ever heard!! Thank you, this did give me some much needed insight. I suppose now I need to spend some time figuring out the hiring/application process. You went to amazing detail about this but there's so much information here I forget key parts of what you've mentioned so forgive me for asking these questions (again): 1. Would you consider the first step for someone interested in a career with FEMA is to apply for listing on their website, or is it possible to apply for areas not listed on usa jobs? I'm seeing listings on their page right now for high paying specialist positions so I do not believe these are considered "entry level" maybe? Can you only apply for reservists positions when there's a job posting for it? 2. Do you have any resume or interview tips? I have a lot of valuable work experience but I want to be able to format my resume in a way thats appealing even though I do not have a ton of experience working in government offices. 3. You may not have an answer for this but I have one more semester left in university, do you have any ideas on how to acquire some experience that could be beneficial to a resume before applying with FEMA? Thanks again!
I'm so sorry my friend! I got busy with work and forgot to answer your comment. But I *definitely* need a break from work for now, so I'm going to avoid my supervisor by replying to your comment lol. **First Question** Yes, the first step in applying for any job with FEMA is to do so through USAJobs. There was a time where you could apply through an email address, as it says on the website, but that was a long time ago, and is *far* outdated. Trust me. I tried for almost a year to switch cadres from DSA to PA, all the while emailing everyone I could find and applying everywhere I could, but the only success I had was when I applied through the listing on USAJobs. That means that, unfortunately, yes, the only way nowadays to get hired is through formally applying for a position on USAJobs. **Second Question** The biggest resume tip I can give you is to not worry about the length. Put EVERYTHING on there, and rack up the page count. Federal hiring managers don't give a crap about the length of your resume. They want to see that you meet the specific requirements laid out in the job. This is usually in the form of three short sentences of qualifications the job is looking for. Show that the qualifications are met as many times as you can: the more, the better. Don't be afraid of how long ago you did the job, or whether it's relevant. I put my high school pizza shop job experience on my resume, and tailored it so that it fit one of the qualifications on the job. Now, of course, I didn't get the job *just* because of that pizza shop wording, but because I met the qualifications for the job in *so many* places on my resume, I think it probably put me ahead of other candidates. And don't worry that you have little experience working in government. FEMA doesn't care. Not one bit. This isn't the École Nationale d'Administration in Strasbourg or something. It's not like you're trying to join some *elite*, private club. We're here to help survivors. That's it. Full stop. We're just like them, and it was fate and fate alone that our houses and communities weren't effected by the disaster and theirs were. Haven't worked in government before? Well get over here and we'll teach you how. All we care about is that you want to help and you're willing to learn. **Third Question** Congrats on finishing up university! That's quite an achievement when you have kids! Well done! When it comes to experience, I think people actually overestimate the importance of volunteering, because it's difficult for someone who doesn't live in an area where disaster response is actually occurring to get together with others and fly out to help. It's expensive, and it's time consuming. The experience with organizations like the Red Cross and Team Rubicon is *really* valuable, but I feel like it gets thrown out too easily, and sets the bar too high for people who are certainly *interested* in Emergency Management, but ultimately understand that it needs to be work you get *paid* for. Still, try to do it if you can, but don't stress if you can't. As such, I'd say that more realistically, you're best bet is on taking FEMA's various Emergency Management Institute (EMI) Independent Study courses. You can register for a FEMA Student Identification Number (SID) by following the prompts on the EMI website. Anyone over the age of 10 can get an SID. Once you have an SID, you can begin taking the tests and becoming certified in different Independent Study courses. If you pass the tests, you'll get a certificate, and at that point, you can put the class on your resume. I have all 30 or so FEMA IS courses I've passed on my resume, and it's just another way to show that I'm serious about the training and the job. It also provides more keywords for the resume sorter and the reviewer to see that are related to FEMA topics. Let me know if you have any other questions about FEMA or the topics I mentioned above, and thanks so much for your question!
Quick question: if I have a full time job before I become a fema reservist. Does my first employer have to keep my job while I am on a deployment or can they fire me?
Hello my friend! I wish I was able to give you better news regarding your question, but unfortunately, there are no legal protections given to reservists that allow their secondary jobs to be protected while they are on deployment. Such protections do exist under the USERRA law for military reservists and National Guard troops, but they do not extend to FEMA workers. You can imagine how those of us that are reservists feel regarding that. It's hard to reconcile that people who give of themselves to work 12-14 hour days helping disaster survivors might have such a lack of protections when it would be so easy for Congress to give us them. Alas, this is one of the unfortunate realities of being a reservist. Thanks for the question!
Hi. I just sent my resume abs cadre choice to FEMA in hopes of becoming a reservist. How long until I hear about next steps? I applied to logistics. Are there certain cadres that are easier to get into?
Hi Dr Fema! Thank you so much for this post, I've been referring to it over and over. I'm onboarding as an EHP reservist at the end of this month. I'm really excited, but I've been hearing a lot of doom and gloom things about reservists (particularly in EHP) not going deployed at all in the past year. I have stable income for the next several months, and I'm not significantly worried about finding something else after that, but it would be kind of a bummer to go through this whole hiring process and not get deployed. Can you speak to what the state of deployments for reservists is like at this particular moment in time?
Hello my friend! Thanks so much for the compliments and the question! Congrats on onboarding as an EHP reservist! EHP is a great cadre to be in if you want to make a difference. They are primarily the people who review all the projects for rebuilding and reimbursement of damages in cities and counties for environmental and historical disruption. In other words, you guys are like the green police lol. Nothing gets built or paid for until you guys sign off on it. There's a bit of a friendly rivalry between EHP and PA because of that. In PA, we work with the cities and counties to submit the project, and then you guys review our work. It's a fun back and forth if you've got good people on both sides lol. As for the deployment thing, that's the key question for everyone. Literally all of us want to know when, where, and how long we are going to be deployed. I'll share some anecdotal evidence for you: I was hired into the DSA cadre of FEMA in early May 2019, then went to training in Anniston, AL in early August 2019. I then spent the next 13 months packed and ready to go, all the while becoming more and more bitter. I had to work odd jobs at UPS and other places, and even enforced masks and social distancing at a hospital for a little while (which was NOT fun. I got spit on by CovIdiots quite a lot haha.) Then, finally, the clouds parted. I got deployed in September 2020 to Oregon for wildfires, which lasted about a month. I then was home for about three months, when I got sent out again to vaccine centers out West. I stayed there for two months, from early Feb to early April. At this point, I officially switched cadres from DSA to PA, and did two months of full-time paid online training for my new job. Two days after I finished that training, I was virtually deployed to my current disaster. That was in early June 2021, and I've been here ever since. The only information I have specifically about EHP is that more than 25% of the cadre is not currently deployed. It could be as high as 90%, or it could be as low as 26%, but I know that at least 25% of the cadre is at home waiting. That information comes from the daily ops situation report FEMA sends out. If a cadre falls below 25% non-deployed, meaning that at least 75% of the cadre strength is out in the field, they have to begin reporting specific numbers on that report. As for the reservist program as a whole, as of today, September 9th, 2021, there are 7,070 reservists deployed, and 14,275 reservists assigned to the program. Of those 14k, 3,701 are currently on PANA, in transit home, or otherwise unavailable. This leaves 3,504 people like yourself that are currently available at home waiting for deployments. All of the above information can be found by googling for the FEMA daily situation report. There's a website that records the info each day, so you can go back and look at what the situation was like during major disasters if you'd like. As for what I know about EHP specifically, it's not much. In PA, we are nearly all working virtually from home right now, so I would assume EHP would be in the same boat, given the similarity of our work. Of the entire Public Assistance process, which is what you'll be helping with, EHP only touches most projects for a week at most. It's the really massive projects for rebuilding power plants, water control facilities, bridges, and the like that can necessitate EHP being on the project for months. Also in cases where there were endangered species involved, or where there was a large chemical or toxic spill. Effectively, there is no way to know how long you will be waiting. It could literally be for days or for a year. However, I do know that many EHP people worked outside their area of expertise with me at the vaccine centers, and there is a chance we may do that again for the vaccine booster shots this winter. Suffice it to say, with Ira and COVID, there is plenty of work for FEMA, and you'll make your way up the deployment roster pretty quickly I imagine. As I've said in many comments above, the name of the game here is patience. So just keep swimming, and you'll get there before you know it. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hey seems like you went through onboarding a year ago! Can you please describe what/where onboarding was located for you? In region?Anniston?DC? Thanks
Hey this is an awesome post and thanks so much for taking the time to write this up. I really only have three questions about life as a reservist (I’m LOG but haven’t been on a deployment yet). 1. I work out just about every day and eat quite a bit, is this possible to keep up with as a reservist working at a disaster? 2. Do most reservists have a side job or other career for their non-deployed time? 3. Do you ever get days off while deployed?
Well thank you so much for the compliment! I'm happy to do it. So the answers to all of these answers are going to be "it depends," as you can imagine. However, I can speak to my specific experience in different disasters to give you some context and a little more to think about. **First Question** So as for working out, in the first disaster I was at, for wildfires in Oregon, I worked 14 hours most days and wasn't able to find time to do more than a few push-ups and sit-ups in the mornings before a shower. I'm talking 5-minute workout kind of thing. However, on my second deployment, at vaccine centers out West, I had a bit more time, and was able to reserve a slot at the hotel gym about half the time I normally would work out. As for food, well, that's tricky. One of the first things I do on any deployment is buy an instant pot, which I usually fill in the mornings and let cook throughout the day. Rice and chicken, maybe some Thai food, spaghetti, that kind of thing. There are jokes about the "FEMA 15" that you gain on deployment, but I've found that, as long as I'm moving a lot throughout the day (like LOG does) and not eating McDonalds and Subway, I can keep a pretty constant weight while deployed. It takes effort though, and I would imagine it would be almost impossible to actually *lose* weight at a disaster. You just don't have time to do a proper workout and diet, let alone the energy to cook when you get off work. **Second Question** It's difficult to say, because it depends on what cadre you are in. For DSA and IA, you would almost certainly be retired or have some kind of outside income. For PA and HM, we're *usually* deployed enough throughout the year that we can save up and make it through the downtime months without having to go job-hunting. This last year and a half has been crazy though, and I know a lot of people who have second jobs now compared to before COVID. As for LOG itself, I actually don't have much to tell you. We *generally* consider LOG to be in the middle of the deployment extremes. Not out for 1-2 months a year, but also not constantly getting deployments, as you well know lol. In that way, you may be able to go without a second job if you save up enough during deployments, but it would just depend on your spending habits. **Third Question** As a general rule, the lower on the rung you are, the more likely it is that you will get a day off at some point in your deployment. As a DSA specialist in Oregon, I got 2 days off in about a 30 day period. The first wasn't until about two and a half weeks in. For the second deployment to vaccine centers, we always got at least Sunday off, because the clinic was closed that day and there would have been nothing for us to do. Some weekends we didn't have to work Saturday either, because there was no drive through vaccination that day. Of course, we don't get paid for days that we don't work (though we do get per-diem), so we generally prefer to work as much as possible. Of course, the higher up you are in the chain, the less likely you are to have shorter hours or take days off. Management takes a lot more time and comes with more responsibilities and report-writing, even when your team is off. Of course, we can take rotations for a week or two every couple months if we need a break and want to go back home to see family and friends. We don't get paid, but FEMA pays for the flight and travel costs. Then you come back to the disaster when you're rotation is over. And with that, I think I've answered your questions to the best of my ability. Let me know if you have any more, and thanks for asking them!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this! Before I found this subreddit and this post I felt like being a FEMA reservist was so obscure and no one online had any advice or knowledge on the job. This helped so much and if I have any more questions I’ll definitely ask on here, thanks again & good luck out there!
I had another question if you’re still checking this post, on my first day at the Dallas mobilization center, what sort of clothes would you recommend? I was thinking polo and slacks or khakis, not sure if I should tuck or not! Also, while in the field, whats your typical attire look like? I’ve been stocking up on polos and cargo pants. Thanks!
Excellent question! You can wear exactly what you described, but there's no need to tuck in your shirt if you don't want to. Generally, you'll see people similarly dressed, though there are always a pretty sizable group that wear t-shirts and shorts. There's no supervisor you're assigned to while at RSOI in Dallas, so it's not about being told off or getting in trouble. It's more about giving off the kind of impression you want to. If you're a chill, down to earth person, wear a nice shirt or polo and some jeans. If you like to look professional, throw on some khakis and a dress shirt. There's really no rules here, besides not wearing something outwardly lewd or offensive. Also, when you finish with RSOI, they'll give you a FEMA polo. It's navy and has the FEMA logo on it. Sometimes it's black. Each time you get deployed, you'll add to your collection haha. If you're impatient, there are plenty of places online to order shirts and jackets with the FEMA logo, out of your own pocket of course. As for when you're in the field, I always wear a FEMA or standard color polo and a pair of darker jeans. In short, professional, but *extremely* casual. I usually tuck my shirt in, but that's just because I like the way I look lol. I always wear tennis shoes, and carry a sweater or jacket too. Obviously, it will depend on your supervisor, but it's kind of an unofficial rule that, while in the field, every day is casual Friday. Jeans are standard, and a solid-color t-shirt isn't out of the question, as long as you have a jacket or sweater over it. You'll always wear your lanyard and ID around your neck, and I'm pretty famous for my FEMA ballcap, which helps me keep looking professional even with a t-shirt and jeans on. Essentially, the only big rule is that you want to outwardly present yourself as being from FEMA. Either through your shirt, cap, jacket, or lanyard. The more combinations of those, the better. Supervisors are different of course, but the dress code is one of the benefits of the job. Don't stress too much about it. Just wear what makes you comfortable and confident, and if a supervisor has a problem with it, they'll let you know. Chances are that they won't though. The focus is always on the survivors and the mission, not on ourselves.
Thanks for the post, super comprehensive! I have an interview for a position as a Reservist EHP Compliance Specialist this week and just had a few questions: 1. How is renewal determined after two years? I guess my broader question is, how is our success measured? 2. When deployment ends, are you reimbursed for your travel expenses to get back home? 3. What is the day to day life of covid outreach? That seems to be a pretty big part of reservist work right now and I was wondering what that entails. 4. Any tips for the hiring process? I’m a bit nervous about my interview as I’m straight out of college with little to no experience in the field TYIA!
Hello my friend, and thanks so much for the compliment! I'd be happy to answer your questions. **First Question** Renewal is nearly automatic. Your appointment, or "commission," is renewed every two years without issue. The only way it wouldn't be is if you *really* messed up. I mean like if you stole, cheated, or did something illegal. If you don't do that, then you'll be fine. As for how our success is measured, there are a couple of points to make. First, when you are deployed, you report to a temporary duty supervisor. They usually don't have the authority to "fire" you or anything. They can send you home, but not much more than that. They also give you an evaluation at the end of the disaster. That evaluation ranks you 1-5 in various categories, including a written portion. The evaluation is attached to your profile in DTS, which can effect future deployments. However, most supervisors don't want to rock the boat, so even if you underperform, they'll usually give you a 3 and hope to never see you again (at least that's what I've done before haha). Additionally, there's something called the FEMA Qualification System (FQS). Essentially, this is a list of tasks and trainings that you get signed off on as you do them in order to become "qualified" in your position. It's the best way of determining whether you are on the right track or not. When you've completed the requirements, not only do you receive more deployments requests, you also get a 6-7% raise in your hourly rate. Some people complete the FQS in as little as 6 months, but it can take others a couple years. Typically, you have around 4 years to complete it, but they're flexible to your circumstances. **Second Question** Yes. Full stop. FEMA pays for all travel expenses both *to* and *from* the disaster. In fact, FEMA will even pay for the travel costs of taking a 1-2 week rotation home every couple months if you want to visit friends and family. You don't get paid during that time, but the travel costs are 100% free. In case you are interested, the way it works is that FEMA issues you a government credit card for any on-the-ground expenses, and we also have a travel agency with that card's information on file. Anytime you are booking flights, hotels, or rental cars, you just need to call the travel agency and they will get you the flight and make the reservations. Then later on, you complete an expense reimbursement, or voucher, in an online portal. Once it's approved, the government pays the amount of the voucher to your government credit card. As long as the amount on the voucher matches the balance on the card, your balance will be fully paid off. We usually "voucher out" every two weeks or so. Also, on our vouchers, we include our per-diem, which just gets paid straight into our personal bank account like our paycheque. **Third Question** Excellent question, and one that I would very much like to know the answer to as well. I just don't really know much. A bunch of people in my old cadre of DSA were deployed to Nevada for COVID outreach a few months ago, at least from what I could tell in the various reservist Facebook groups. However, I don't know anything about their on-the-ground activities. I'm sure it would be very interesting work. I worked at several COVID vaccination centers back in the earlier part of this year, but it was like any other vaccine site you probably went to if you've been vaccinated. There were different kinds, both big and small, indoor and outdoor, walk-in and drive through. It was a very fluid work environment, where you kind of just did whatever was asked of you in the moment. Sometimes we worked as scribes taking information and filling out the CDC vaccine cards. Other times we worked as vaccine runners or traffic control. It was really interesting being in the midst of such a massive national effort. At that time, we would have 500 vaccines for the day and well over 1,000 cars lined up, so we had to count the people and let the 501st person know that we were out. It was a fascinating and historic thing to experience for all of us. Hope that helps at least a little. **Fourth Question** I had no experience in Emergency Management either when I started. I was 23 and only had a year of experience out of college in a totally unrelated field. My advice is to be charming and to remember to breath. Literally just come out and say that you're nervous, crack a little joke about how you'll get through it together, and be human. Don't memorize a bunch of lines or be a robot. If you're nervous, then you're nervous, and that's okay. Trust me, they already know that interviewees are. Secondly, express a love for the work. If it's your dream job, say so! Passion is a good thing, and in this instance, you have two things to be passionate about! Not only will you be helping individuals and communities recover from disasters, but you will also be working to ensure that the environment and historical buildings are protected while doing so! Express how important and motivating that is. This is one of the two really important things FEMA is looking for. No one wants an emergency manager who's apathetic to the importance of the work they are doing. Lastly, the second really important quality FEMA looks for is flexibility. This is a job that will require you to be on a plane within 24 hours of receiving notice. You will cancel vacations, be called out for emergencies at midnight, and be randomly and unceremoniously told you are moving teams or supervisors in a flash. When deployed, your duty station, work site, or hotel can change on a daily basis, and when you are sent home, you rarely have more than 24-48 hours notice. It's a hard job, but it can be made so much harder if you don't go with the flow of it all and retain the wonder of what you get to do. FEMA needs to see that you can go with that flow. Tell them that you already know about the phrase "FEMA Flexible" and what it entails. It's an unofficial motto of the agency, and a tongue in cheek saying we repeat to each other on an almost daily basis. I mean, I *literally* just got out of a meeting where it was said three times. Just hearing you say the phrase will make them think of you as an insider and win you brownie points. It may also get a laugh haha. And there you have it. Please let me know how your interview goes! I'd love to help you through that post-interview jitteriness if it would help haha. And feel free to ask any other questions you may have! Thanks my friend!
Awesome, thanks so much! This was super helpful, and I appreciate your kindness!
Where do the orientations typically take place? My leader her Location is from Washington DC. Do you think at this address my orientation will be there? Is the orientation an actual week or work week? My EOD is October 10th and I am so excited haha. Another question I have is say I applied for another position during my two-year period as a reservist for something that is full-time within fema would my two-year contract disallow that? One final one, I was thinking about using tiktok to document my journey especially since I am in the community outreach and hazard mitigation section do you think they would allow this?
Pre-COVID, onboarding and orientation typically took place at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, AL. Now, I'm not really sure, but DC sounds right. I'd heard that they rented a big conference center or something and were processing people through there. I believe it only lasts a couple days now, but orientation in Anniston, as well as initial job training, usually took 2-3 weeks. On your second question, the two-year "commission" isn't really a contract at all. You can resign or transfer jobs at any time you want. It's really just a way for FEMA to hire an employee without having to go through the full federal hiring process, with all its rules and regulations. And as I've said before, almost every reservist has their 2-year commission renewed. The only ones that don't are the ones that mess up big time by doing something unethical or illegal. Finally, for your last question, I know for a fact that they would not be okay with you using TikTok on duty. Not only could you accidentally expose someone's personal information, but FEMA is *very* careful and strict about its outward facing image during disaster response and recovery. I mean, technically, it's against social media regulations for me to even use the handle "Dr-Fema." It could imply that I am an official voice, which of course I'm not. The only reason I'm comfortable doing so is because I keep the focus on my personal experiences and, frankly, I'm anonymous. I don't use any identifying information anywhere. That would be nearly impossible on TikTok haha. If I was your supervisor on site and you wanted to take a picture or a quick video of your work environment for personal use, I'd be fine with it, as long as it didn't have any patients or survivors in it and you didn't put it on social media. Otherwise, that would be a no-no. Let me know if you think of anything else!
Thank you! I meant for the videos more doing educational stuff and not exposing victims however that is the answer that I expected. My orientation is a week long so I do hope that it is in DC as that’s is my favorite city I’ve been too. I do know that it is in-person and virtual. My unit leader is located in DC so that is why I was thinking it may be there. I start October 10th and I’m super excited about it.
Just chiming in since I’m in the middle of onboarding/orientation- there will be one day in person at the nearest FEMA office to your home/residence and the rest will be online. So the city depends entirely on where you’re currently located!
Do you stay in the area for the whole week? Also I’m in Greensboro,NC so I think DC might be the closest to me.
Nope - they just paid for people to stay two nights. So people drove or flew in Sunday, had an in-person day of onboarding on Monday, and left Tuesday. The rest of orientation is online and didn’t continue until Friday so people had time to make it home and do the online sessions from there
How feasible is it to work as a reservist while in college? How hard is it to get into PA with just a year in FEMA Corps?
1. It would only be feasible to work as a reservist if you were enrolled in an online program, didn't find yourself requiring much time to study, had understanding professors who would let you skip lectures, and were in one of the lesser-deployed cadres like DSA or IA. Even then, there is no guaranteed chance of success. I've only met one person who was in college at the same time, and she openly admitted to me that it was only possible because she already had all the answers to the classes she was taking because of an older sibling, and that she wasn't learning anything because she was working so much she didn't have time to study. I'd prioritize getting a *good* education first, then join FEMA. With climate change and the San Andreas fault, it's not like we're going anywhere anytime soon. 2. It used to be a lot easier, but PA has tightened now. I'd say that if you spent a good bit of that year working with PA, then the FEMA Corps experience might be all you needed, but there's no guarantee. It used to be the case that virtually *any* FEMA Corps member was getting an offer from PA after they finished their 10-months, but those days are long gone. PA finished a massive hiring spree that lasted a few years just before COVID in early 2020, and since then, there's only been a trickle of PA jobs on USAJobs. Still, I kept applying to everything I saw on that website for over a year and it eventually worked out for me. The key is patience and persistence. Just keep swimming.
Thank you! This was a very in-depth answer, I appreciate it
Which cadre had the chance to be deployed the most usually? I know it’s all varied but rn I’m in hazard mitigation community outreach and education and was told that one is barely deployed. I want something to get as much experience as possible. How long after starting the reservist position I am in should I wait before I try to get one that is more deployed.
Excellent question, and the answer varies, as you seem to be aware. First, the most deployed cadre: the common refrain answer is Public Assistance. I can vouch for that. I was deployed as a new PA reservist three days after I finished training. That was back in June, and I'm still on the same deployment. I can't speak for your specific job, or even your cadre. My understanding is that HM was deployed fairly frequently, and for a pretty long time. I imagine that this may have been effected in some way by the pandemic, as many other things have been. And anecdotes aside, your own experience is all that really matters, so if you're asking why you haven't been deployed yet, I can't tell you a clear cut reason. Now, as for changing cadres, I'd tell you that there is absolutely no set amount of time you should wait. If you find another job on USAJobs or through talking to people, and you think you would enjoy it better, go ahead and apply. Personally, I was in DSA for about six months before I started actively applying to other positions because I hadn't been deployed yet. Then it took me a year before the position I wanted came open on USAJobs. In that time, I was deployed twice in DSA. If you think you'll enjoy your job, then stick with it. A deployment will come. However, if you find something you think you will enjoy more, then change to that. There isn't a way to game the system, and there's no pattern to take advantage of. It really is just incredibly random. So just focus on being in a job you will enjoy doing, then hunker down and wait for the call.
I will probably stick it out for 6 months to a year. Sadly my main training away from the onboarding is full so I’ll have to wait longer to be deployed. They’ve been kinda slow in sending my phone and travel card. Still haven’t gotten either in over a month but I’m mostly just anxiety to start and get deployed. I’ve been working my butt off to get here so I can get field experience.
What is overtime pay for the hourly rate of $29 or higher if it's not time and a half? Thanks!
Good morning my friend! Sorry for the delay in answering. This is a complicated question, and is probably best served by googling the GS salary tables. The answer depends on many different factors, including location and base pay rate. Start by finding the salary tables for where you live. Then click on the one for hourly pay. There you will find the base and overtime hourly rates. It will give you an idea. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but the topic is just way too complicated to answer any other way. Let me know if you have any other questions though!
Hello, thank you for the informative post ! I needed it haha. My question is as a student what steps should I take to get into FEMA ? I’m currently a junior in college with a major in criminal justice, and a minor in Emergency management next semester. Would that be enough to get a job at FEMA ? I have also obtained my associates degree back in 2020. What would you suggest I do to get the experience? And to have a resume that would match up ? Thank you !!
Welcome my friend! We're glad to have you interested! Now the first thing to consider is what you actually want to do. FEMA does *a lot* of different things, and each cadre has very specific jobs and tasks that they do. If you have absolutely no clue, then the best thing would be for you to join FEMA Corps once you graduate. I say that because they do a lot of different things, work with lots of cadres, and generally get a good look at what kinds of jobs they want to do after their 10-12 months of service. Then you interview for various cadres you're interested in, and can be hired as a reservist or even a CORE through a fast-track hiring process. If you already have a good idea of what you want to do, be it planning, DSA, Public Assistance, or whatever, then all you need to do is apply when you see the position you want come open on the USAJobs website. There really isn't some kind of secret hiring tips or anything like that. I used to think there was, but then as I've gained experience, I realized that it really is all just incredibly random. The only thing that guarantees success is patience and perseverance. Don't get a job you want the first time? If you apply with the exact same resume, you may get it the second or third. I've seen it happen, and it makes absolutely no sense at all. I've seen a guy just like yourself graduate college, do a one month long deployment answering phones from home, then get hired as a big-time supervisor in the field. No rhyme or reason why. FEMA is like a playground for those of us that like chaos and change. Things change daily, and you may spend a few months in one place, then get thrown to the other side of the country. You'll spend months at home doing nothing, begging for a deployment and some pay, then find yourself smack in the middle of the Utah desert doing something your job description never indicated you would while making bank. That's just the job. If that sounds good, then just keep applying and trying. This is a numbers game, and the only numbers that matter are how long you've been trying and how many attempts you've made. Just keep learning everything you can and keep going. It will happen. And in the meantime, let me know if you have any more questions!
Hello 👋🏼, thank you so much ! I think I’m too old already for the FEMA corps I’m 24 I’ll be 25 in April. I was looking through the cadre there’s so many haha. But how cool for the guy just to upgrade like that 😂. Thank you so much! Take care.
Yo your not too old for FEMA corps. It's up to 26 btw I know this bc Im 25 and in NCCC Also the deadline to apply is April 30th this month for the upcoming July date. Your fine
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Hello my friend! I'm so sorry for the delay. I got caught up elsewhere and forgot to answer you when the message came in. I'm afraid I don't know much about the Supply Management Specialist position, or the Logistics cadre overall. I've met a few people in the cadre, and they always seemed to have been deployed for a pretty long time. Months usually. Almost always in-person rather than virtual. They tended to work long hours, often on weekends, and got plenty of overtime as a result. However, I'm not sure about deployment wait times, which is all that really matters in this line of work. I've heard them generally regarded as a "middle-ground" cadre: not getting a deployment request 5 minutes after demobing like PA, and not waiting 13 months between deployments like DSA. Somewhere undefined in-between. As for your experience, I'd say you'd be a shoe-in! I'd recommend talking up the logistics and EM experience as much as you can. Make it the crux of your resume, and draw the reviewer back to those experiences as often as possible. I don't generally regard Log as a cadre with a need for a lot of previous FEMA experience. It's more entry-level, but generally unrelated to most other cadres. It's a good place to be if you want to work in Log for the rest of your career, but not if you want to swing often between cadres. Still, most everything in FEMA is more about the exception than the rule, so there's no hard truths to pretty much anything. Just jump on into the water and see where it carries you. Thanks for your question, and feel free to ask any others!
I am new reservist as logistics specialist. I feel like they said not to many LOG specialist in all of FEMA. I have not been deployed yet but have take virtual training. If deployed could I knock out my tasks on one deployment or does it take several. My next step would be to obtain Pcard which seems like a pretty powerful position. If you have any tips would love to hear also. Feel free to message directly.
Hi Dr.FEMA! I don’t know if you’re still updating this post or keeping up with comments, but I greatly appreciate you doing this! Before this post I don’t really think there was any information about FEMA online in this way. Anyway, I was wondering if you knew anything about the Operations cadre? If you are knowledgeable, do you know how often do they deploy? Do they deploy for extended periods of time or just a quick few weeks? Especially for Unit leaders? And another more embarrassing question; is it considered…weird or annoying if a reservist purchases FEMA identifying clothing? Just for use during the deployment, and while actively working? The apparel I’ve seen looks really cool lol Thank you for any help!
Hi Dr. Fema, I applied for a Reservist position. The exact position is Administrative Support Specialist (Intermittent). The job description is pretty much the same as any other predominant office admin role. They called me about a week ago asking if I was interested then they’ll forward my info to HR for review. My question is: would someone in the admin support specialist role be doing any work outside of the average “reporting, data analysis, meetings, presentations, information tracking.. etc,” like “field” work? Like helping survivors, helping recovery teams on the grounds…. I just want to know if I’ll be at a desk or not lol. The roles description doesn’t explain anything outside of the typical admin specialist role.
Phenomenal and comprehensive! I know you mentioned FEMA is considered a 'slow burn' - bide your time and you can get far. Let's say, hypothetically, a potential applicant is a bit long in the tooth. Does slow burn mean merit-based advancements are an uncommon occurrence within FEMA and that the promotion time frame is similar for all who show up and do the work? And if this is true do you have any sense of the typical trajectory and time frame for someone starting out now (I.e. - where do *you* see yourself 5 years in)? Thanks so much for this great post!
Hey there friend! Thanks so much for the compliment! ☺️ The simple truth is that there is no hard and fast rule anywhere in FEMA. You could rise rapidly, or you could stay in the same position for years. I’m talking primarily about Reservists, since that’s what I know. If there is any hard rule, it’s pretty much that YOU control your career more than FEMA does. If you like your current position, and can see yourself doing it for several more years, you will. If you don’t like your position, you can apply for another position in a different cadre. As far as advancement goes, that is very clearly based on your experience. The more field or job experience you have, the higher in the ranks you rise. This can best be seen in the process of FQS qualifications. FQS stands for FEMA Qualification System, and is how Reservists are determined to be “trainee” or “qualified.” If you are a trainee, you have a set of trainings and tasks you have to complete in order to become qualified. This is listed in your PTB, or Position Task Book. Now to your question, when you’ve qualified in your current PTB, you can request to open a new PTB in your supervisor’s position. That makes you deployable in both. Once you finish that one, you can go to the next, and so on and so on. I’m not sure how that affects pays because I’ve never been in a position long enough to be considered qualified lol. As for me and my future, I just recently got into a new position that I prefer much more than my old one, so I think I just see myself qualifying in this one and staying in it for the foreseeable future. I may request a new PTB after, but it just depends how long it takes me to finish my first one. Thanks for the question, and stay FEMA Flexible! 😁
Very good to know. Thanks for the reply. Congrats on your new position!
I've been a Reservist for 4 years. I would like to know about shopping for groceries while on deployment. I realize that at any given moment I will be deployed elsewhere, which makes buying groceries a gamble of sorts. I'm not a restaurant/fast food/take-out type of person. Any suggestions?
I totally understand. I have literally gotten like $100 worth of groceries before, then found out I’d be leaving the event within 24 hours lol. Honestly, for me, it’s a calculated risk. I don’t like eating out, both for health and social anxiety reasons, so I choose to go to the grocery store. I just make sure to buy only a few days of food at a time. As much as I’d like to go to Sam’s Club and get two months of groceries for $300, that doesn’t work on a FEMA deployment haha.
Hi I have a question. How possible is it to be a reservist without a driver’s license? Are we able to get reimbursed for those local transportation, Uber, or Lyft trips from the hotel to TDY and vice versa?
I’m not entirely sure about the reimbursement for those kinds of trips, more because deployments right after a disaster are unlikely to have those services available. I’ve actually answered this question before, where I told a story about a coworker of mine that didn’t drive, and as a team we just took turns picking him up and driving him to work. He got a hotel close to a grocery store where he could walk, and it was fine. I know that not having a license isn’t something you would necessarily call being disabled, but the same kind of principle applies. I broke my foot a week ago. As a result, here, during the high part of hurricane season, I won’t be able to drive. I’m not going to let that stop me though. If I get deployed, I’m going to take it, then communicate my needs to leadership. It would be the same thing for someone without a license. Thanks for the question!
Hello! Your post, comments, and this thread are incredible. Thank you for such detail. I scrolled in hopes of answering my own question, any info you could lend would be very much appreciated. I'm interested in the Disaster Field Training Operations cadre, but struggling to determine how and when they support. Does this team providing training for Corps members, specialists, etc. etc. like during onboarding, or is this team of first/emergency response personnel, who are also deployed and provide training on the ground?
Great question and easy: both. DFTO provides training in-residence at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, AL, as well as the Emergency Management Institute in Maryland. They also provide Just in Time (JIT) training at Joint Field Offices (JFOs) in the field. Additionally, they can support operations virtually by teaching online classes for both. It’s a pretty cool cadre all things considered. I don’t know much more than that, but I at least know the answer to your question lol
Thank you!!
Hi! Are you still a PDMG? I recently got an offer from the PA cadre for the PDMG position. Are the deployment lengths for this position long (potentially 50 weeks)? I'm in IA now but I have construction, grant writing and claims adjusting experience. I would prefer to be in a cadre that deploys frequently and or longer but I've been told by some PA isn't deploying a lot of people. Can you provide some insight? Thank you.
PA is definitely deploying people FAR more often and for much longer land IA. With the experience you describe and the your desire for longer and more frequent deployments, I think it would be perfect for you! 👍🏼 And I’m not a PDMG anymore, I’m in Operations now, but that’s just because I love being in the field rather than working from home or an office. Thanks for your question!
I prefer being in the field too, it's a lot more exciting. Plus the potential for earning OT and per diem. I didn't know this was a position you could do from home. This would be a pay increase from my current position but if I'm losing per diem and OT than it may not be worth it. Good luck with Operations! Your posts on here about PDMG is what encouraged me to apply, thank you.
Thank you! Yeah, I only had one deployment as a PDMG before I left after 6 months and moved back to a field position in Ops out of boredom. I was deployed virtually, no overtime or per diem, but it easily could have lasted as long as I wanted. It’s a balance. I don’t get deployed as much now, and I certainly make less both per hour and per year, but I’m happier, both on and off the pitch, so to speak. Just gotta determine what you value and what your responsibilities are, then base the decision off that. And remember that being a PDMG is VERY valuable experience in FEMA due to how big the PA Grants Program is for FEMA. So if you want to do it for a little while then switch back like me, that can be good too 👍🏼
Wow, really appreciate it. This is good advice. Also, how do virtual deployments work if you don't have a laptop? I had to turn mines in after my last deployment.
I actually already had one from a previous deployment, back when they were really generous with the laptops. But my coworkers described the process as really easy. They send you one in the mail, the you go through something called the “Virtual PMC,” which takes 1-3 days and they help you get it all set up and working. Then you start the deployment. Fairly easy.
Ok, sounds easy. Thanks for the info.
Thank you so much for this incredibly comprehensive post! I’m considering applying to be a FEMA reservist, it seems like a perfect job for me! I’m concerned about the form you mentioned where you must disclose use of federally illegal drugs. If I have used such drugs in the past seven years (but don’t currently) would I still be eligible for employment? I’m so excited about this job, but I don’t want to waste my time chasing something if I’m not going to be able to get it.
I personally know people employed by FEMA who disclosed prior use of cannabis. It’s absolutely possible to still receive an offer when disclosing. As for other substances, I’m not sure, but I can promise you, with CERTAINTY, that it is always better to disclose things honestly than be discovered after the fact. Don’t worry too much about wasting your time. What you’re really worried about is getting your hopes up, and that’s entirely within your own control! You lose absolutely NOTHING by applying and being honest. So do that! You’re only going to know if you apply, and if you have any questions about that process, I’m positively BEGGING you to let me answer them lol. I freaking LOVE my job, and I desperately want to help other people feel what I feel about it! Thanks for the question! 👍🏼
Great! Then I will apply! And I will absolutely ask you any further questions should they come up. Thanks again so much for your help, this is such great info you’ve shared! Wish me luck!
Hi Dr-Fema, Hope all is well. Currently a super new reservist, No deployments under my belt yet. Very interested in getting to work being as I resigned from my last job before learning about the crew act. Im very interested in moving to a working cadre. 1st choice PA, 2nd Planning, 3rd Logistics. Are we able to apply to another cadre now while in non deployment status? Will we have to go through the process all over or do you know if its a non complicated process and if so what is the process?
Hey there my friend! Sorry, your question got lost in the weeds for me. My apologies. So, I’ve changed cadres twice. I know many others who have also changed cadres. Each time was done through USAJobs, without fail. I’ve heard anecdotally that it is possible to change by contacting the proper Reservist Program Manager or Assistant RPM in the cadre you want to move to, but I’ve never actually met ANYONE who has been able to do it that way. Feels like one of those urban legends in FEMA haha. So yes, it’s essentially the same process you used to get your current job. Go to USAJobs, find or wait for the job announcement you want to apply to, then go through that process. Some of it will be faster, including the fingerprinting as you’ve already done that, and you won’t have to go through the onboarding and orientation online or in person again most likely, but everything else should be the same. If you have more specific questions please feel free to let me know! ✌🏼
Cool beans I'll definitely go ahead and shoot a message and resume to other cadres.
Hi, This is an amazing post! I recently got hired for the Info Tech cadre and will be attending training on 1/15/23. Any insights about training, deployed life, etc. related to this cadre? I am super excited! I hope to get deployed soon after training, especially since i am also on the register for the State Department as IMS. The State Department could contact me soon for class invite, so I would at least like to have been deployed once with FEMA for the experience! TIA
Welcome my friend! I’m so happy you’ve got opportunities in TWO different FANTASTIC areas of the federal government! I mean seriously, the Foreign Service?! That’s so cool! Okay, well as far as the IT cadre is concerned, I’ve worked with plenty of IT cadre members. I’m not confident in deployment length estimates, but I’ve seen people stay for one month, and others for 12, so it’s kinda situation specific. IT always has their own special section of the Joint Field Office and each Branch Office. They usually work the same schedule as the JFO and Branch staff as a result. This usually means a full 12 hours, 7 days a week for the first 1-3 months after the disaster. For anyone following along, this is also true of other HQ or office based cadres, including HR, Finance, and Planning. However, just because you’re based at the HQ doesn’t mean you’ll be there all the time. IT has field missions to help set up equipment at Disaster Recovery Centers, as well as having a single IT rep on site usually at DRCs. If you’re assigned to a DRC as the IT rep, you’re going to be functionally assigned to the DRC manager as their IT rep, but that usually means you end up helping where you can with things that don’t have anything to do with IT. That could be managing survivor seating, working with the registration table, or even helping to register survivors yourself in the event your DRC is short staffed. And most DRCs are short staffed right now. But trust me, it’s better than being sat at a DRC with all your FEMA gear on and having a bunch of survivors stare you down as they wait for hours for help and see you not taking people, thinking you’re lazy or something haha. I’m in Operations, and even I started registering people for a few minutes as I visited different DRCs each day. It isn’t FEMA if you’ve not done several things that weren’t in your job description by the end of an exhausting shift. Keep up with your WebTA, MASTER the art of vouchering in Concur, and your life will be fantastic haha. I can help with any of that you find out about at training or in the field as well. Let me know if you have any other questions! 👍🏼
Thanks for your rapid response! Again, this is extremely helpful. Definitely would like to get out of comfort zone (IT) and learn other skill sets and work in other areas. I just hope I can keep up 12 hour days without getting burnt out (a bit of fear since i am bit on the older side and its been quite some time since working in my twenties and thirties to that degree)
Well as I’m sure you know, it’s normal in situations like that, where everyone is working together towards a common goal of helping the affected community, for you to develop SUCH a satisfying second wind throughout the day. Like an energy you didn’t even know you could muster. And even more interesting about FEMA is that until the recent CREW Act passed and your regular job became protected while deployed, it was only young people in their 20s like me that didn’t know what they wanted to do with their life, keeping expenses low by living with family or roommates, and retired people who were staying active and making a difference. That helped to develop this amazing culture where there were young people and retired people mixing with very little Gen X in between to facilitate the generational divide, which is one of the only workplaces I can think of where so called “millennials,” “zoomers,” and “boomers” mixed with no one else. It helped to develop a hilarious culture of references to both Reddit memes and 50s TV shows, all in a disaster setting. I’ve actually had two people in their 60s tell me two separate times that they felt like they were in their 20s again, just from the camaraderie and the culture we develop in the field. It’s wonderful 😊 I would encourage ANYONE who’s later in life to come bring your life experience to the table in FEMA. Here, we are all equally scared to be away from home, working with people we don’t know how much longer we’ll see, in a literal DISASTER zone. It just does amazing things for friendship and group dynamics that I’ve never seen anywhere else. You have nothing to worry about haha. Exhaustion is THE thing that builds that culture and camaraderie. And unlike a private company where the exhaustion is caused by needing to get a BS report out before the next shareholders meeting, here we’ve got a good reason that will improve and support the lives of thousands.
Thank you for creating this post! I just received a TJO for logistics management cadre! I’m excited
I have some questions as I'm soon to be interviewing for the position. Can you give me any insight? Thanks
Can non-FEMA employees ride in a car rented for a FEMA reservist?
My understanding is yes, but they certainly couldn’t drive it. You also should only ever use your government rental car for official duties and essential needs like grocery shopping or getting supplies. No road trips or sightseeing. If you’re thinking about having someone visit you or even accompany you on a deployment, that’s totally doable, and happens fairly commonly. Obviously their costs are their own to cover, but it can certainly be done. Thanks for the question, and let me know if you have any more!
You are awesome! Thank you so mucb! Is there anywhere guidance is documented?
I would point you to the Joint Travel Regulations. They’re the specific rules for everything travel related in the federal government. Should be easy to Google
Will do! Thank you!
Can one person on a team decide that only them and their direct report should reduce their hours while everyone else on the team continues to work overtime?
I received an email a couple of days ago from the FEMA Recruitment Team that requested an updated resume for an Acquisitions Reservist position. It also included a personal email to direct questions which is the closest I’ve come to speaking to someone within the organization. My past experience made it easy to tailor my resume to the qualifications desired in the request. I sent it to them, copied the individual named, and sent him/her a personal email. What is the likelihood of hearing back from someone under the circumstances that I’ve shared?
Thanks to your post, I took a leap and applied to be a reservist. However, the only cadre that was available was IA. Is their anything I could do to help myself get deployed quicker (take certain trainings, express interest to my supervisors, etc.)? I don't have prior EM experience and my graduate degree isn't in a job-related field so does that mean I would be considered a last resort in getting selected for a deployment. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Do you only get paid during deployments? And if so do you need another job for when you are not deployed?
Hi @Dr-FEMA or anyone else who’s been hired recently, do you happen to remember how long from when you applied to when you were interviewed to when you went to orientation? I’m debating applying to be a reservist or CORE but have a big trip (3weeks) coming up in Jan. Other USG departments take ages, but it seems FEMA moves quicker. Is it feasible to apply now and not have to go through orientation until Feb potentially?
Hey there friend! I believe that’s totally feasible. FEMA will certainly be willing to work with you around that schedule, and I’ve found that trying to time applications and things really causes more issues than it’s worth. Just apply and start the process. It’s much easier to delay something you have, than try to perfectly time getting something you don’t. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi! Are you still a PDMG? I recently got an offer from the PA cadre for the PDMG position. Are the deployment lengths for this position long (potentially 50 weeks)? I'm in IA now but I have construction, grant writing and claims adjusting experience. I would prefer to be in a cadre that deploys frequently and or longer but I've been told by some PA isn't deploying a lot of people. Can you provide some insight? Thank you.
Hi! I wanted to get your take on the IA Voluntary Agency Liaison. I’ve been offered the position but was in the transition of leaving the cadre. Now I am having second thoughts about moving to DSA. Can you give me any advice on the matter?
Okay I see reservist however what are the different positions?
What is a program deliver task force leader? I have an interview but I’m unsure where it fits in?
I don’t see anything regarding SAAD Safety Cadre information for reservists. Anyone with experience there regarding duties, deployment frequencies, etc…?
This is an incredibly helpful post. Thank you!! * I am a recent retiree. Is it possible to deploy, but limit the time of the deployment for yourself? As an example, can you accept a deployment, but only support the effort for 30-60 days? * How can I best determine where I would fit? I have over 40 years professional experience in insurance operations and IT, but I'm not sure which cadre I would be the best match for.
u/Dr-Fema Are you enjoying Ops? I've been in DSA for 2.5 years and the cadre has been good to me, but I'm ready for a new challenge. As a DSA Crew Lead I've really enjoyed working with the Emergency Managers and the FEMA Ops folks and I'm thinking about trying to transition to the Ops cadre. How often are you deployed? Do you typically work 40 hours a week when deployed, or do you get the chance for overtime like DSA does? I recently applied for a FEMA local hire job as an Emergency Management Specialist, which would require me taking a big pay cut, but might make the transition to Ops easier. I'd love to hear your take on the Ops cadre.