administration executive

administrative assistant

senior program analyst

program analyst

senior project manager

City of Detroit

Working for Detroit EMS was absolutely the worst employment experience of my life. As a matter of fact it was so terrible it was utterly surreal and hilarious at the same time. From the punitive and pedantic supervision to the fantastically inept payroll department you will be in for a new and entertainingly tragic surprise every day. Let me break it down for you; the city doesn’t want you there. They would rather just contract out the work to private EMS but they don’t know how to get rid of the EMS division. The firefighters are generally pretty cool but some won’t like you because you’re a medic and they and want nothing to do with EMS.  It’s a cultural thing. The DFD is a 150 year old department and they started doing EMS in 1972. Most of the old timers didn’t sign up for EMS, they wanted to fight fires. They begrudgingly take EMS calls because they are being threatened and forced to. 
The police and dispatch think that EMS is a “catch-all” response service for every run that nobody else wants to deal with. The citizens will abuse you worse than a rented mule. You will be beat on, sweared at, spit on, attacked with weapons, urine and feces, then they will call 911 because they need a ride across town. Worst of all, everything will be your fault and you will get absolutely no support from anyone but maybe your partner if you like each other. As a matter of fact the job is so miserable that people fight like heck to find any and every reason to get off the road and into a spot at either training, supply or supervision. This includes going off on injuries, stress and psych. Once these people get off of the suck wagons they will do whatever they have to in order to stay in their positions. This gives the Chiefs ammunition to use against middle management by threatening them unless they carry out whatever vindictive plot they’ve cooked up for the week to “improve morale.”
(The beatings will continue until morale improves...)
Anyway, every day is a literal fight for physical and mental survival and at the end of each pay period you can expect that your check will be so screwed up you won’t even know where to begin getting it fixed. 
Detroit EMS is the biggest emotional and psychological mind screw job I’ve ever experienced and I worked restaurants for 20 years. It is literally psychological warfare. It starts in the academy where they tell you that this is the best EMS job you will ever have and you will never have it better than this anywhere else while simultaneously telling you that you aren’t worthy to be there. (Spoiler alert-none of that is true.) 

Honestly there are some really decent people working there but most everyone who could leave has left. The ones that stayed either CANT go anywhere else, or are afraid to because they have so much time and energy invested that they are institutionalized to believe that this really IS the best it’s ever gonna get for them. 
With the current state of the American workplace and the glaring lack of first responders everywhere, you could literally go to ANY department or agency and have a better employment experience than working for Detroit EMS. My advice is to do your career, marriage, physical and mental well-being a solid and steer clear of that toxic dumpster fire of a department. 
There is nothing that can fix it. 

I had the pleasure of working for the City of Detroit for most of my working experience.

TYPICAL DAY AT WORK:  The City of Detroit proved to be an excellent training ground for me.  There was constant interaction between customers (inter-departmental, departmental and citizens).  

WHAT I LEARNED:  This is where I honed my skills and became the hard working individual that I am today.  Opportunities were endless.  With every assignment I had, I always had the opportunity to go above and beyond the call of duty, which is very important to me.  I like work assignments that offer diversity.

MANAGEMENT:  Directors and Managers constantly selected me to represent our departments for city-wide assignments and volunteer events. I sat at the feet of some of the greatest minds and was absolutely delighted to do so.  My service to these leaders nurtured me and formed me into the person that I am today.  I have great work ethics and I am a whole lot smarter because of these interactions.

CO-WORKERS:  Lifelong relationships!  I am still in touch with many of my former co-workers.

THE HARDEST PART OF THE JOB:  I found nothing at all difficult about working for the City of Detroit.  I was promoted constantly and worked in various departments from City Council to Arts.  If I had to find something that I would have liked to change - it would have been to give myself free parking/which I did have most of the time!

THE MOST ENJOYABLE PART OF THE JOB:  Hard work always yielded great rewards. There were plenty of incentives to do well.  As a volunteer leader/winner I constantly received perks (tickets to concerts, tickets to games, and free lunch).

Supervisor, workshop facilitator, job developer, case manager and Assistant Program Director were the various jobs that I held in my professional employment with the City of Detroit.  Before entering the military, I worked seven years for the city as a Page and a Student Clerk.

In my work as a professional I worked principally with the communities in which I was assigned except for the Assistant Administrator. In the latter occupation I was in charge of a two year city-wide Cultural Arts program.  In my community work I case managed and later supervised case managers to screen and assist community residents to refer for further servicing.

I also supervised a staff of community out reach workers in the Detroit East Side community.  I organized community groups and provided help in working with street gangs  to minimize community problems and to support the youth in their personhood.

I met with community groups and interpreted services.  I advocated on behalf of communities and interpreted community needs to the city administrations.   As a case manager, I screened and refereed clients to the appropriate services needed.  In job development, helped clients and business come together in effective exchange of labor and compensation.

I worked with Detroit Police for several years. From previous experience from other law enforcement departments I can tell you the following about Detroit compared to other city's. 
-The pay/benefits/retirement is lower than what they should be. 
-There is no fairness when it comes to scheduling/mandatory overtime. 
-The training you receive compared to other department's is minimal.
-The policies and procedures make everyday tasks difficult and drawn out.
-There is a strong attitude of "I went through it, so should you".
-There is no parking system for court, you will have to pay out of pocket. 
-They will pull you from your regular shift for events, and will not provide needed equipment to you to work these events.
 
If you have the education and ability to find employment elsewhere, I would suggest doing so. You will be quickly overworked and underappreciated. The department is constantly understaffed with a huge turnover rate for a reason. The officers who put thousands into their pension lost it overnight. There is currently a 401k type of retirement that has never been fully explained to anyone. For the most part, you are just a number and going into this field that shouldn't be the case for anyone. Bottom line, if you do end up working here I would get my experience and leave before it's too late.

On a typical day as a social worker for Victims Assistance consists of receiving and following-up with police reports, responding to the emergency room pager at Detroit hospitals, and providing counseling for Assault, and Domestic Violence victims. At the beginning of my shift, I greet everyone in my department, check my mailbox for new police reports or cases to follow-up with, and go to my office to check my voicemail. My day will depend on how many police reports I am assigned to, if I'm assigned to the emergency room pager, and if I have clients scheduled for counseling. I've learned to be prepared for anything; its crisis social work, and my day can change with any given moment.  I especially love the clients that I may only see for a day, but if I can find them shelter and/or provide them with clothes and food resource information, I feel that I made someone's day a little bit better.

As a Mechanical Inspector for the City of Detroit, (10th largest city in the US, now 18th) offers plenty of opportunity and experience in the areas of residential, light commercial, commercial and Industrial inspections of the plans and installation of HVACR equipment and systems to a minimum standard of the adopted Federal, State and Municipal Codes and Ordinances.

Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration, Space Heating distribution, Exhaust, Energy Recovery, Process Piping.

Natural gas, Propane (Lp) Gas, Oil, Coal, Steam, Geothermal, Hydronics systems, 

Fire Suppression;
(wet, dry, chemical, kitchen, residential and commercial)

Ventilation Air system applications; VAV-variable air volume, Fresh Air, Make up Air, Exhaust Air, Hazardous Air, 

Computer IT HVACR, Fire suppression systems.

Refrigeration system applications; Ammonia, Geothermal, Chlorofluorocarbons, Propane, Cascade system -200 deg Celsius.

Building automated temperature control system and networks, DDC direct digital control, Pneumatic control system and devices. 

Projects include;
Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers), Ford Field (home of the Detroit Lions), UAW-GM training facility, numerous high rise buildings for office and residential use, restaurants, Casinos- Greek town, Motor City and MGM,

You only get paid $11.64 and if you're with the union, they take off that amount as well. If you're new, I wish you luck. You will be FORCED to work 16 hour shifts and go to work the next day,only having 7 hours to yourself. To me, it's not worth it. You work so hard and you only get paid so low, in other places, you get paid at least $20.00. The people don't care about us.

Job is seniority based. If the seniors don't want to work overtime, then you will have to. Same with leave (off) days. If majority of seniors want a weekend off, then you can't get that day off. The only way you can leave is if you have a restriction letter, and those can be hard to get.

People are quitting left and right because the pay is awful and the high ups just doesn't care. The benefits are really good, but is it really worth it going to training, learning all of this stuff and only getting paid $11.64? You can't even get an apartment with that money unless you have a significant other.

I do like that the workplace culture is like a family and we can pretty much laugh and talk about anything. If I were you, I would work for 6 months and try to advance to 911 dispatcher, they get paid a little bit better.

Took this job with the intention of joining the police department.

On top of being disqualified from this option, the police themselves don't like or appreciate working this closely with civilians. Some of them will passive-aggressively let you know this during your shift.

Management is generally great, but their hands are usually tied when it comes to resolving issues with morale or staff disputes.

Pay is laughably low, and the limit on hours (25 hours per week max) is a tough pill to swallow.

Disrespect from civilians is guaranteed to happen to you several times. I've been run down by cars and cussed out so many times while in uniform it's ridiculous. Management will show concern, but any nearby officers will leave you and your team to fend for yourselves far more than they should.

I would steer clear of this department until they're taken seriously by the City. The pocket change you'll make is not worth the stress and disrespect you'll get from so many angles.

There are better cities to work for that has better pay and management. Don't waste your time working at a place that doesn't value your time and skill set. There is constant miscommunication. Even though we're all under the City of Detroit, the different departments compete and go against one another. Even to the point of making it impossible to complete your work during your shift.

They promote people based off of how long someone worked for the city. So you'll often have inexperienced formans and supervisors that you basically have to train so that they can manage you(?). Great workers, like myself, don't get rewarded with raises, praise, and opportunity. Great workers get the most work and the harder assignments while everyone else just sits around and do nothing majority of the shift.

The pay is by far one of, if not, the lowest throughout the state doing thee EXACT same work. I'm talking $4-5 /hr difference. 

I hope in the near future they get their act together. I just won't be there to witness/benefit from it. And this is all coming from a Detroit resident. I was excited to start working for my city, but that excitement quickly turned into annoyance and regret.

Management is awful.  If you don't fit in with the work boo click at work, you can get terminated.  You have to buy expensive gifts for your boss and his secretary or you can be terminated.  Not recognized for your hard work,  but recognized if you can do less and be apart of the work boo clicks and umprofessional behaviors. Drinking alcohol while on the job on offsite company team building meetings.  Pay was low for all the work required, but I enjoyed my job.  Not recognize for problems being resolved in your organization or professional skills not recognized to meet departmental goals.  Party celebrations for every calendar holiday instead of focusing on work related issues that will help the City customers.  Organizational goals were not met because there is so much partying going on in the work place.  Loud talking and not enough work being distributed equally among employees.  Some people take three hour lunches and cannot do their job and when you say something upper management they get upset with you. Awful!!!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administration executive 7 salaries reported	$35.50 per hour
Administrative assistant 17 salaries reported	$51,227 per year
Senior program analyst 15 salaries reported	$90,085 per year
Program analyst 13 salaries reported	$95,528 per year
Senior project manager 9 salaries reported	$93,964 per year

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