How can you gain Emergency Management experience while still in school?

Volunteering with local organizations can be a good way to build experience if you do it smartly. Just being on a disaster response team or working "boots on the ground" roles does not help build EM experience, but many of the local volunteer organizations allow volunteers to serve in leadership roles that do build EM experience. Experience as a ARC shelter lead, working in your local EOC, or in a command staff position during a Team Rubicon deployment can be just as valuable in terms of EM experience as a paid EM position. It often takes time and hard work in the "boots on the ground" positions to get the opportunity to progress into a volunteer leadership position, but it is worth it if it helps you reach your end goal.

Also consider connecting with your local/regional National Volunteer Organizations Active In Disasters (VOAD). The American Red Cross, Salvation Army in addition to faith-based disaster relief organizations (Catholic Charities, Episcopal Relief & Development, Lutheran World Relief, Adventist Community Services, etc) are members of VOAD. Website: nvoad.org.

Volunteer! Is there a small podunk volunteer fire department near your school? They'd probably love another volunteer. I started as a volunteer firefighter, just walking into the fire station and asking about volunteering. Does your college have a CERT team? Volunteer for it. Can you be a CPR instructor? Go on campus police ride-alongs? Have you taken all the ICS series self-paced IS courses at FEMA? many people think that volunteers at hospitals only escort lost visitors and work in the gift shop, but many hospitals will allow a volunteer to craft a custom volunteer position in Emergency Management or other specialized experience.

I Absolutely agree!!! You will not be Amazing stepping out with your crisp new Degree. Although filled with Knowledge and Calculating Education, Nothing will beat experience of making mistakes and learning from them OR Listening to those that have passed before you willing to share THEIR Experience on mistakes they have made prior!!! Communication is Key!! Be Humble!! Never stop Learning!!! It will take you further than you ever imagined.

I cannot tell you how many volunteers are needed within a city or counties EM team. Search and rescue team, exercise teams, local town meeting preparation, etc. Those in school can also speak with their instructors to see if they know of any opportunities to volunteer with local teams.

Look for Summer internships (paid or unpaid) with County or cIty Level emergency management agencies. Gain experience working with them on planning, preparedness and mitigation activities. I had interns that have actually had the complete experience of working a 12 hour shift in a fully activated and locked down EOC. Many have gone on to EM positions at local, state and k12 positions.

In my case, my EM career started as a volunteer with the Red Cross, and grew from there. There are many opportunities to learn specific parts (or many parts, if you prefer) of the EM continuum through volunterr based organizations.

I’d recommend FEMA’s Professional Development Series for a good overview of current emergency management. You can get your PDS cert by taking 7 IC courses.

The discipline of emergency management is built on the foundation of the unique experience and knowledge of every emergency manager. One of the most profound aspects of EM is to understand that it is impossible to fully comprehend the entire scope of things necessary to completely comprehend all stages of a disaster cycle. Instead, it is important to rely on the reassurance that your partners and you have continued to elevate themselves when possible for a whole-encompassing approach. These online aspects allow people to create connections across the world, and are foundational to establishing a "non-siloed" approach to the future of emergency management.

Doing internship with the emergency management agency is also a wise way to gather hands on training in emergency management while in school or after graduation. Internship is a specialization practice and also a crash course to touch bit of everything during the short period of time.

I can't speak highly enough about joining student organizations, they are a great way to make connections in both the industry and with your fellow students (who you will also be working with one day). Don't be intimidated about taking a lead role in one, there are lots of supports and people willing to help out!

One of the best ways to become connected with the emergency management community is to join various organizations whether its your college or university's emergency management or security studies club, and honors societies, or becoming a member of professional associations such as your state's emergency management association, the International Association of Emergency Managers, or the many others. These associations offer many ways to advance your personal and professional career goals through training, networking, certifications, job fairs, and activities that allow you to become engaged in the field.

I would say that joining a student club or association does NOT contribute to building EM "experience" but is critical in other ways. EM professional networks are extremely local because of nature of our work. Anything you can do to get into that network will help when looking for a job. It was very rare for me to see the resume of someone I did not know or at least know of when I was filling positions in the city's EMA as the Director. State associations and state/regional conferences are great places to connect to professional EMs in your area.

If you live in California join the California State Guard. Emergency Management is a core mission! The CA State Guard also provide3s educational benefits.

Some schools are associated with Community Emergency Response (CERT) teams or other disaster volunteer organizations. Make sure to jump on any of these opportunities.

I cannot emphasize enough how important internships are. Quite possibly the most beneficial thing you can do as a student, even more so than being a student. I always favored applicants with internship experience over those that had completed degrees. 6 of my 8 former staff were all previous interns. I also started off as an intern and learned more in 3 months on the job compared to the years and years of education. Get your foot in the door, and get your foot in early. Even if it’s an unpaid internship, you’ll put yourself strides ahead of other applicants for quality positions that may require experience.

Both internship and fellowship programs are a great way to gain experience. You may have to travel to participate, but the experience you will gain will be a tremendous benefit to you. To see how other organizations apply federal doctrine and local policy can help you develop keen problem solving skills as some things don’t fit the mode. You have to be able to adapt and overcome with the understanding of the policy and the politics that can play a part. You have to also be willing to get your hands dirty and do the grunt work. No job comes without doing the small tasks, but those will help build your character, and understanding in creating a foundation for what it takes to make things happen! Hands on experience is essential!

Internships can be one of the best way to build experience in emergency management while in school! I always recommend volunteering for volunteer organizations active in disasters as well (think Red Cross, Team Rubicon, ITDRC, ToolBank). This can help you gain experience with operational planning and dealing with communities after they’ve been impacted by a disaster.

Whether doing paid or unpaid internships, any experience you gain will be valuable. It would help if you used your internships to explore a variety of sectors as well. This could include interning in government, healthcare, consulting, etc. This will allow you to explore how EM looks from different perspectives and allow you to grow your network. When searching for internships, utilize your network and join groups on LinkedIn, such as the Aspiring Emergency Managers Online Group. When it comes to timing, always start your internship search early. Most summer internships are posted in the fall; regardless, try to apply and search constantly.

Internships are great avenues for gaining the real-world experience that employers are looking for from recent grads. First, try to define which area of EM you’re interested in and set your search for intern roles related to that pathway. Second, depending on where you are in life, be prepared to seek and obtain internships outside your immediate residence. This gives you exposure to the laws/regulations in different states and jurisdictions. Third, once you obtain the internship, be willing to take on complex projects to stretch you as much as possible. Don’t limit yourself to administrative duties.

This is how I got started - while you likely won't pick up much direct field/EOC/etc. experience by doing research, you'll be able to learn how and why things are done the way they are done. You may also learn the history behind the various systems that we use in EM. In addition, if you're doing any surveys or interviews as part of your research, you'll be able to get a look at how current EM staff see emerging issues in the field. You may even get to identify issues and help provide your own solutions! Working as an EM researcher is also a great way to get a preview on the industry and make a more informed decision as to whether you think the field is for you.

Conducting research and reading the great research that is available. Look for scholarly articles and study the lessons learned. It will not give you field experience, but it will give you some perspectives on what to do and what to not do.

The world of EM over the last several decades has begun to transform into a dedicated career that has a foundation in the constantly expanding study of emergency and disaster management. Each emergency manager is capable of pushing the discipline forward, and creating a lasting impact based on supported theories for engagement. During my graduate studies, I focused my thesis work on the legality and ethicality of compulsory service for healthcare workers. This requires pulling from professional expertise across fields such as law, healthcare, EM, and criminal justice. The focus of the thesis demonstrates that each EM can have a unique contributable experience that will lead to solutions to ethical and legally challenging problems.

In my younger days both while in school and especially in early stages of being operational I have to admit that I’d of laughed at you and said some disparaging words if you invited me to a conference. A few years into the job and I began to see their worth but instantly dismissed myself as being worthy of participation. Now 20 plus years in the business and I’m often begging the younger generation to attend. The amount of experience, institutional knowledge, and opportunities to participate in projects that have arose from my attendance and participation in conferences like the Special Operations Medical Association Symposium or the State Urban Search and Rescue Conference is unimaginable.

Conference attendance is a great way to start networking especially is students leverage their institutions SGA or other funding sources to offset the cost of conferences. Some workshops may also cover cost of travel depending on the program. As a student also look to submit papers, research, and posters at calls for proposals. This is a good way to gain cross sectional research between the academic and professional opportunities.

There are many opportunities to attend local workshops and conferences. This is where you will gain exposure/network with experts in the field and hear directly from them regarding lessons learned from high profile events, strategies for implementing effective EM programs and many more insightful topics that can help improve your understanding of the field. These events are also great opportunities to find out who’s hiring, learn about new technologies and services that can benefit an EM program, and use that knowledge to offer sound recommendations to the supervisor for your internship.

Any conference or training session you can attend will add to your knowledge base. Seek out the influencers in your area and pick their brains to find the areas that you can gain learning from. Online classes are a wonderful resource that will broaden your knowledge.

Networking is a core function to the success of emergency management. Partnerships across agency and the public-private sector is a necessity to guarantee a common operating picture before an event occurs. Conferences and workshops allow a location to learn, but most importantly from each other. Many agencies have the same overarching goals, but rely on various theories to achieve their ends. One of the greatest things that can be heard by an emergency manager is somebody stating they have a greater understanding of how you can assist them moving forward. Supporting other professionals is just as important as our commitment to helping our communities!

When you begin in emergency management learn to say, “I can, pick ME!” When I started out, I volunteered for everything I could. This gave me an opportunity to explore many fields in my industry and learn a variety of tasks in EM that has benefited me to this day. As a Tech Hazards SME, the experience I gained by jumping in with exercises, training, policy writing, recovery procedures, etc. has helped me build a very well-rounded knowledge base to better do my job. So, if anyone asks who can help with something from their office/unit, raise your hand!

I believe another way to connect with other like-minded emergency management individuals, learn about free training and read important articles and briefings by industry experts is by using platforms such as Linked-In. Set up an account on Linked-In and follow the industry experts and read what they are saying and learn about emergency management/business continuity and find out who is offering free training or scholarships to industry conferences.

Consider an internship or entry level position with a consulting firm. Many will afford you the opportunity to put your taught/learned skills to practice through planning , training, exercise, policy, response, and recovery projects. Depending on the firm, you will get exposed to a wide range of specialties within the profession, helping you to decide your ultimate career path. You will also learn soft skills such as facilitation, developing better presentations, technical writing, group dynamics, stakeholder engagement, and much more.

You might want to check with your local Emergency Management (EM) office to see if they offer internships or collaborate with educational institutions for internships as an alternative to final papers/projects. It's a good idea to enroll in training sessions hosted by EM, as they are typically free and great for networking. Additionally, consider volunteering for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) if they allow or an affiliated volunteer group, or an organization within the Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD). This can provide you with valuable experience and exposure to the EM field. Even brief experiences like these can open doors for more opportunities and networking.

There are numerous free online training (FEMA, Coursera, Crowd Manager) that are the foundations of the field. So first things first- get the knowledge and certifications. Then, major sporting events, major shows, major city and county events, in most cases, all have an EOC and are always short of people. Offer to volunteer at the various stages of plan creation and implementation, and gain additional practical skills and experience. You will be far more attractive in the Emergency Management field with these certificates and hands on experience.