In March over four consecutive days, MCS conducted an assessment at FEMA’s Center for Disaster Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama, in order to select personnel to serve on two national and one regional FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMATs).
More than 200 applicants (selected from an original resume pool of 6000+) took the assessment, designed to select the strongest candidates. Of those assessed, approximately 60 people were selected for positions on the IMATs.
MCS designed and facilitated most of the assessment events, including a team simulation, reading synthesis and writing assignment, a briefing to senior officials, and an interview gauging self awareness and introspection. Trained by MCS in the assessment criteria, senior FEMA employees conducted evaluations for these events. FEMA personnel were solely responsible for facilitating and evaluating technical-functional interviews and medical-physical readiness assessments (climbing ladders, treadmill test, box lifting).
The assessment events for a given candidate transpired over the course of a single day. At the end of each day, senior FEMA executives weighed evaluation results with input from evaluators then made hiring decisions, offering jobs that very night. Those accepting positions started in-processing with security and Human Resources the next morning.
The facilitators participating in the assessment represented MCS admirably, putting its philosophy of leading by example into motion. Several FEMA personnel voiced their appreciation of the mission focus exemplified by MCS.
The success of the first iteration led to a second round of assessments conducted in Washington, DC, just one month later. In addition, IMAT personnel selected in the assessments are slated to take both Incident Leadership (CA-PREV-010/NWCG L-381) and Organizational Leadership for the Command and General Staff (NWCG L-480/S-420) as part of their training in June and July.
