After obtaining a master’s degree in emergency management, you are most likely ready to enter the career field and find the job that best fits you. Whether you already have job experience, or taking your first full-time career, these are jobs that will fit in with the education that you’ve received.
Resource: Top 10 Emergency Management Master’s Degrees Online 2016 – 2017
Homeland Security Officer
This is a quickly growing field in emergency management, and is extremely important to the safety of the public. Typically, a career in homeland security means taking a focus on prevention and preparedness. They are typically looking to make sure that emergencies do not occur at all. But, they also have plans and procedures set in place for if they do. A position here might mean working at security the nation’s different point’s of entry, especially vulnerable areas. It could mean developing disaster response programs, especially for targeted or repeat areas. This is a career field in which advancement is very common.
Emergency Management Specialist
An emergency management specialist is someone who works behind the scenes to train emergency personnel, plan disaster response strategies, and generate communication between the different disaster relief agencies. Well educated emergency management specialists are currently in very high demand, due to the growing number of threats to national security, as well as from natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes.
Safety Engineer
Safety engineers have a variety of roles and duties, which can vary greatly depending on where they are employed. They are typically hired out by firms or companies that are looking to meet safety regulations. Some safety engineers might measure safety performance within a factory. Others might study human behavior to correct techniques geared toward safety. Some might have a focus on environmental safety and health. They are typically in charge of documenting any safety “failures” that they discover, and then enacting a plan on how to reverse or change these failures. Safety engineers typically work with a team of other people, such as quality assurance, educators, lawyers, and even compliance specialists.
Hospital Emergency Preparedness Administrator
The role of someone in this type of position is to create prevention and response plans for any and all types of hospital emergencies. It’s important to keep in mind that some situations that are considered emergencies at hospitals would not be considered so elsewhere. Some hospital emergencies that need to be prepped for are: electrical outages, hazardous spills, fires, hostage situations, natural disasters, and more. The administrator is typically in charge of other team members who are there to help find flaws in plans and to execute the plans if necessary.
Humanitarian Response Manager
This is a position that typically requires travel to underdeveloped and disaster-stricken areas. These locations could be domestic or international. You typically work closely with teams to direct emergency response programs. You usually work in-field, meaning before, during, or after an emergency situation, to help set up a plan of action, set up a preparedness program, or make sure that teams are working as needed so that plans are being performed accurately and efficiently. This is typically a very popular position for those who have recently graduated, as it involved extensive travel and requires a lot of flexibility.
With a master’s degree in emergency management, you have many more options for career fields to enter into, as many fields require more education than a bachelor’s degree. With an advanced degree, you typically have the opportunity to take lead position or manage team members, instead of starting at an entry-level position. These five career choices are very popular with emergency management master’s holders.