CEM Corner: Work History, Experience and References

By Daryl Lee Spiewak, CEM, TEM, CFM, CEM® Commissioner and Past ASPEP President Emergency Action Coordinator, Brazos River Authority, Waco, TX

This month's tips articles deals with the work history, exercise or actual disaster experience, and reference sections of your application packet. In this article I will discuss some specific tips for completing these sections.

Work History. To satisfy this requirement, the candidate must demonstrate three years of experience in a comprehensive disaster/emergency management position. This means that the candidate cannot count time spent as a HAZMAT technician, a rescue worker, an EMS responder, a radio operator, a fireman or a policeman. These positions work in the response phase of emergency management. The Commission is looking for candidates who served in positions responsible for all four phases of comprehensive disaster/emergency management – preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation.

Many jobs fit into a comprehensive disaster/emergency management position yet are not called emergency manager or coordinator. For instance, a fire chief whose duties include planning for, controlling the response to, and coordinating the recovery from disasters would qualify. So too would a police lieutenant with the same types of duties. A military noncommissioned officer or a commissioned officer would also qualify given the same type of duties.

All three years do not have to occur in any one position or job. A candidate may utilize a combination of positions that total three years. An example is part-time work or a position whose duties only relate directly to comprehensive disaster/emergency management for a portion of the time (30 percent, 50 percent, etc.).

One problem the commissioners' encounter with part-time work is that many candidates fail to provide adequate documentation to prove the total time worked. Simply telling the commissioners that you worked part-time for the Red Cross over a six-year period is not proof; even a letter stating the same thing signed by a Red Cross representative is not enough. The commissioners require details. Describe your job title and duties in the letter. Tell us how many hours a day/week/month you worked in those duties and the dates of service. Have your supervisor or other knowledgeable superior sign the letter and include it with your application packet.

Candidates with a baccalaureate degree in disaster/emergency management need only demonstrate two years of experience in a comprehensive emergency management position. The rest of the requirements still apply.

Experience . In addition to the three years of comprehensive disaster/emergency management experience, a candidate must also demonstrate participation in a full-scale exercise or in an actual disaster or emergency. Fill out the appropriate form completely with the required details. The commissioners use the description of the candidate's role to determine participation credit. Lessons learned or the recommendations for future mitigation activities described on the form demonstrate the candidate's understanding of comprehensive emergency management principles as they apply to that exercise or actual disaster.

References. A candidate must provide three references who are familiar with the candidate's work in the emergency management field. One of the references must be the current supervisor. If the current supervisor does not rate the candidate, then the second reference must be the person who does rate the candidate's performance.

Qualified references include a past supervisor (within the last seven years), government officials, department heads, supervisors or managers from other emergency service organizations, and professional association officials. Nonqualified references include any subordinates, former students or interns, friends, relatives, or neighbors.

Documentation. As with everything else, the commissioners make their decisions based upon the documentation provided by the candidate. Make sure the documentation is clear and it details the candidate's comprehensive disaster/emergency management duties for the work history section. Include a copy of the appropriate job descriptions with the dates of service. If a written job description is unavailable, submit a letter signed by the candidate's supervisor stating why the job description is unavailable. Include an outline or description of the comprehensive disaster/emergency management duties, the dates of service and the approximate amount of time spent in performing the comprehensive disaster/emergency management duties.

Completely fill out the appropriate form for exercise participation or actual disaster/emergency experience. Include a letter, newspaper article, etc., that describes your participation if one is available. If the candidate received a certificate or letter of appreciation, etc., please include that also. Do not include a complete after-action review or some other report. A one-page letter is sufficient. The commissioners will not read the report.

Be sure to include contact information for your references and tell them they are listed as a reference for your certification application. The CEM® Commissioners do call many of the listed references to verify the data submitted by candidates. An application becomes suspect right away when a commissioner calls a reference and that person doesn't know the candidate or provides contradictory information. It has happened before. Don't let it happen to you!

Final Tip. Check, check, check and check again. Verify you completed all the required forms, your comprehensive disaster/emergency management time totals three or more years (two years with a baccalaureate degree in disaster/emergency management), you have three references and they know they are listed, and you have included job descriptions and any other supporting documentation.

April 2002, IAEM Bulletin