Pros
Great people with many having a selfless attitude More informal work environment and dress code Make lots of contacts in Emergency Management and local government
Cons
VERY low pay VERY long hours with VERY unreasonable expectations High turnover, been here less than a year and 4 people have quit out of my office alone Executives make 6 figure salaries with bonuses while most of the management level work horses earn closer to 35k so there is a massive pay gap No opportunity for advancement and no raises.....ever Often times they will hire outside the organization rather than promote their own Aside from house fire cases, we only really provide services that arent really needed like handing out water to firefighters EXTREMELY disorganized...Ive never ever seen an organization that doesnt even know what vehicles they have or where they are They claim to have "service to armed forces" as a primary mission, but charge PTO days for military training, so as a reservist, Im on average 3 days in the hole every year before I even make my PTO days. Dont plan on training when you get to your job. Most of us got thrown in with no guidance whatsoever Volunteers tend to be self centered and you have to stroke their egos to get them to do anything or they threaten to quit