It hit the fan - now what?

February 13, 2008 11:57 AM

Based on my career experiences so far, I think I'd be pretty good in a role focused on crisis management (ahh! everything's broke! fix it!) and crisis prevention (situation normal, let's keep it that way). The question, then, is how does one get into this field?

I've done some googling, but resources seem to be spread pretty thin. There are a bunch of companies that claim to perform this type of work, but none of the ones at the top of my search results seem to be of the larger, established type. There are also several schools that offer degrees or certificates in "Crisis Management", "Emergency Management", or something similar. My background is in IT consulting with a major firm (just over 5 years, mostly focused on IT security), and I just wrapped up my MBA. I've been involved in crisis management both internally, fixing engagements that are way off course & repairing client relationships, and externally, assisting clients responding to "cyber incidents" and dealing with other matters.

So where do I go from here? Are there consulting organizations I should look into? Are there career paths that do this type of work within corporations? Should I pursue a certificate or degree? Any help, direction, or <crosses fingers> networking contacts </crosses fingers> would be much appreciated!

posted by um_maverick to work & money (12 comments total)

Crisis management is really a form of PR, so you might look to broaden your experience in that field. Because crises don't continue as a daily form on communication (unless you are the current White House or Fox News,) it's more likely you will be working within a role of professional, or corporate, communicator and then be trained in crisis management/communication for when a crisis becomes apparent.
posted by parmanparman at 12:14 PM on February 13, 2008

I've been involved in crisis management both internally, fixing engagements that are way off course & repairing client relationships, and externally, assisting clients responding to "cyber incidents" and dealing with other matters.

I think, on second, that you might be coming to a title before you come to a role. This is not crisis management any more than it is crisis work within your current schedule of function. Do you want to work with fast deadlines with lots of responsibility on large and small projects to appease people? Then your MBA will more than suffice. I believe in professional terms, this is called "quick-thinking" and "prepared for tight situations".
posted by parmanparman at 12:17 PM on February 13, 2008

Consider looking at internal system management in large corps-- depending on your skill level, either managing the systems directly, or managing the people who can.

That's generally the job of internal systems people, maintaining the status quo, and planning ahead to make sure the AUGH moments never happen and dealing with them if you fail to do so. I would think with a decent background in IT security, there would be a lot of potential there.
posted by Static Vagabond at 12:24 PM on February 13, 2008

Become a firefighter or join the military.
posted by thomas144 at 12:28 PM on February 13, 2008

Seconding parmanparman, you are good ad solving problems, not at managing crises. A good problem solver is able to think on his or her feet, narrow the options to a few good ones, and help the team choose and execute the right solution. It's a great skill to have and not many people are adept at it, in my experience. And it is certainly essential to being able to tackle crises. But unless you want to be a fire chief, or something, you're not likely to find a position that's all crises all the time. Aim for a management position leading a team that tackles a variety of challenging problems. Or, if the diplomacy/negotiations aspect of resolving interpersonal issues is something you enjoy and think you are cut out for, think about a law degree followed by specialization in conflict resolution or mediation. A diplomatic career would be possible, but keep in mind that only the rare diplomat gets to be in the spotlight role of negotiating treaties and the like.
posted by beagle at 12:30 PM on February 13, 2008

um_maverick, are you looking for advice on getting into business crisis management ("OMG Fedex dropped the shipment of crystal widgets! Get Dusseldorf on the line immediately!") or disaster and emergency preparedness and response ("There's been a 9.1 in San Fernando...")? They're very different fields (with very different payscales) though there is some skillset overlap. I can help with one, but not the other.
posted by bonehead at 1:23 PM on February 13, 2008

don't know where you're located, but look at innovative emergency management. good people, and they've got people all over the place. headquartered in baton rouge, but they've got offices in several us cities and also do work internationally, if i'm remembering correctly.
posted by msconduct at 1:33 PM on February 13, 2008

At a previous engagement (IT consultant) the organization had a director-level organization called "IT Special Projects". The in-house director was the only person directly employed by the client, everyone else (several teams, several consultancies) were out of house.

The explicit job of this organization was to identify, intervene, and fix projects that were missing their targets. Examples include, "We need X problem fixed NOW", in a timeline that the in-house organizations could not hit. Or "We need to oversee/replace leadership in an overrun project"

This director had a good record of taking spiraling-out-of-control projects and turning them around.

He's now a VP at this particular client.
posted by WetherMan at 5:19 PM on February 13, 2008

It would help to define which kind of crisis. Enron? Katrina? Apollo 13? It seems that your career path will be different depending on whether you want to respond to business, government, or technology crises.
posted by selfmedicating at 5:30 PM on February 13, 2008

For years my job as a caterer was all about crisis managment. There was always a fire to put out(!). This could be the wedding cake no-show, finding the circuit breaker in the museum or (a favorite) finding the shut off for the lawn sprinklers in the middle of an outdoor reception. Crisis managment was never specifically part of the job description.

I think you are looking for a job that involves projects with the potential for going off the tracks and veering toward disaster. From my experience you want a position of responsibility involving projects that are complex, involve multiple vendors and have time constraints. I am not sure there is a job title beyond "Fixer". In the movie "Michael Clayton" he was known as one of these and I think there is truth that his career path suffered from his inability to fit a role.
posted by pointilist at 7:32 PM on February 13, 2008

I think what you're describing is the job of the director of whatever field you're applying it to. For example, the job of the IT director (CIO, whatever you call it now) is to imagine worst-case scenarios, steer around the ones you can, have pre-scripted responses to the other ones you can, and deal with the remaining ones on the fly. The more you can stick to the former solutions rather than the latter pretty much defines your degree of success or failure as a director. (Dealing well with a crisis already in progress is only losing less badly)

Being a "fixer" of problems (only) (like Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction?) is a fictional job, in my experience. The director screwed it up (or failed to plan for it), the director fixes it or we get a new director.

If there were such a job, I wouldn't want it. Your name would always be associated with F'd up situations. Many of them would already be so F'd up by the time you arrived that you'd be there just in time to take the blame.
posted by ctmf at 8:00 PM on February 13, 2008

On the other hand, if you're talking about fire/flooding/mongols type of emergency preparedness planning, it helps to be the fire/flooding/mongol fighter first, then slide sideways into the planning side of the house. I was offered a job by FEMA related to what I do some time ago. Unfortunately I can't just quit this job anytime I want without going to jail.
posted by ctmf at 8:06 PM on February 13, 2008