Possible Jobs?

[LaterBloomer]

You've got a bachelors degree, and you have TESC's AAS in Emergency Safety and Securty Technology (or whateve it is!), and wondering what sort of jobs are out there? Here are two job announcements in the health department
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/jobs/listing/listing.asp

Of course, it would entail living/working in Northern Virginia. Expensive! Bad traffic!

[sanantone]

I used to have a coworker who called me Debbie Downer and said that I always crush everyone's dreams, but I have to keep it real. The AAS in ESST would almost be completely worthless when applying to those job openings. They want a bachelor's degree in business administration, public safety, emergency management, or a related field. With it being an employers' market, I doubt they would seriously consider someone with a bachelor's in a major not listed above plus the AAS in ESST because the AAS is not equivalent to having a bachelor's in emergency management or whatever major they want. There are just way too many people out there with bachelor's degrees in business and the other fields they're looking for. The applicant's experience in emergency management/public safety would have to be extensive to overcome that deficiency.

To argue your case, you would have to show that you have just about enough emergency management credits to make a major in a bachelor's program. When I argue my case for jobs that require a bachelor's in criminal justice, I can show that I have 30+ credits in CJ that I earned from a college and university. I have the AAS in ESST and I barely took any emergency management courses. My degree plan included 5 FEMA credits with two of them not having much to do with emergency management (leadership, decision making). The rest of my degree consisted of a homeland security course and CJ courses that focused on corrections and law. Now, if someone has a bachelor's in business, public safety, emergency management, etc.; then the AAS would really be a non-factor in getting those jobs.

[rebel100]

I used to have a coworker who called me Debbie Downer and said that I always crush everyone's dreams, but I have to keep it real. The AAS in ESST would almost be completely worthless when applying to those job openings. They want a bachelor's degree in business administration, public safety, emergency management, or a related field. With it being an employers' market, I doubt they would seriously consider someone with a bachelor's in a major not listed above plus the AAS in ESST because the AAS is not equivalent to having a bachelor's in emergency management or whatever major they want. There are just way too many people out there with bachelor's degrees in business and the other fields they're looking for. The applicant's experience in emergency management/public safety would have to be extensive to overcome that deficiency.

To argue your case, you would have to show that you have just about enough emergency management credits to make a major in a bachelor's program. When I argue my case for jobs that require a bachelor's in criminal justice, I can show that I have 30+ credits in CJ that I earned from a college and university. I have the AAS in ESST and I barely took any emergency management courses. My degree plan included 5 FEMA credits with two of them not having much to do with emergency management (leadership, decision making). The rest of my degree consisted of a homeland security course and CJ courses that focused on corrections and law. Now, if someone has a bachelor's in business, public safety, emergency management, etc.; then the AAS would really be a non-factor in getting those jobs.

I don't completely agree that the AAS is "worthless" or a "non-factor" but I wholeheartedly think that in the competitive market we find ourselves in today your going to be hard pressed to find EM employment with just an AS/AAS. The reality is that there are FAR more candidates for these positions than there are jobs. Really huge numbers of overqualified candidates routinely apply for these, and many exercise veterans preference on top of that (where appropriate).

With that said I think the FEMA AAS has its place...it's a great starter and might well be enough to move a volunteer fire fighter into a paid position, provide you a bona-fide to move up at work, etc... I think that since it's "low hanging fruit" it makes a lot of sense to pick up on the way to a bachelors....I don't think the FEMA AAS is a great stopping point.

[sanantone]

I think that if someone already has a bachelor's in public safety or emergency management, then employers won't even care about the AAS in ESST. It's like a person having a bachelor's in computer science and an AAS in Computer Studies. The AAS in Computer Studies would be a non-factor. The AAS in ESST might compliment a bachelor's in business for these particular jobs, but that's about it. Everyone is different, but I have stated before that I wish I had not picked the low-hanging fruit because of the two associates degree limit. I much rather have had two associates degrees in something more useful. An associates in an IT-related major qualifies one for a lot of jobs. From what I've seen, a bachelor's is most often required for emergency management and safety job openings. The AAS in ESST is fine for someone who just needs an associates degree to get a job in law enforcement or some other public agency.

[OpenRoot]

I was in the Non-Profit section of Craig's List for a new job when I saw this. Not sure if this is the type of emergency management job you're looking for or what your past experience is, but the title made me think of this thread.

Its for an emergency medical management position in my area (MA) Not sure how much it pays, but you could probably email and ask.

Executive Director