Day 196
February 14, 2023
We attended the Federal Hiring Prep session at 8:30.
Permanent Full-time positions are competitive, and fast-track hiring does not apply. Fast-track hiring applies to Cadre of On-call Response/Recovery (CORE) and reservist positions. CORE is full-time, and the term will very likely be renewed; these positions have more job security than it may first appear.
The FEMA Qualification System is the system credentializing FEMA’s workforce. Staff complete Position Task Books to gain qualifications for other positions. It isn’t uncommon for 52 weeks of specific experience to be required to apply to a position.
USAJobs is the federal hiring portal. One must get the required clearance (public trust, secret, top secret) before they can get the job. The vast majority of fast-track hiring jobs would only require public trust.
Not every qualified candidate will be referred, and not every referred candidate will be offered a job. A temporary job offer is dependent on passing the background check, but is a good indication that one will be hired.
Incident Command (IC) scales are the equivalent to the General Scale (GS) pay scales. Typically FEMA Corps alumni can get jobs in the IC-7, IC-9, and IC-11 pay grades. This appears to start from $38k/year and go up to $57k/year? It’s not completely clear to me.
Members attending fast-track hiring are allowed to apply for up to 10 CORE positions and 5 reservist cadres.
Internal job postings are sent through the internal/FEMA email. These positions are not necessarily open to the public, and are ideal to get through networking; these jobs are more likely to be with people one has already worked with.
I worked on laundry and packing for a few hours, and then we had a Life After AmeriCorps training at 15:30. This was mostly about public assistance (PA) and the Consolidated Resource Centers (CRCs):
CRCs are where many grant projects go to be worked on. Public assistance is one of the main cadres, and there are about 150 staff at each CRC location.
The Consolidated Resource Center staff are CORE or local hires. People who do not live in an area can apply for local hire positions if they are willing to relocate. It is normal for local hires to eventually become CORE staff, so being a local hire can be a good “foot in the door.” More remote CRC jobs have been approved, though most require coming into the office at least once a week.
Grants generally cover 75-90% of the costs for most projects; however 100% of COVID costs were being reimbursed when grants were approved. There is a very large backlog of work, partly due to many organizations not submitting applications until closer to the deadline. CRCs may share the workload if there is a major backlog; however, grant obligation policies vary depending on region.
We met for cleaning duty at 18:00. I vacuumed a room, relocated what was most likely a brown widow, and helped pack up the kitchen kit and drag stuff back to our dorms. I had some more last-minute packing before bed.
