AF eliminates civilian skill code requirements

  • Published
  • By Debbie Gildea
  • Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs
11/9/2012 --  JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- The Air Force has rescinded the manual used to define civilian position skill codes in one of several ongoing administrative actions geared toward transforming civilian hiring, determining employee training and development needs, and selecting employees for training under competitive procedures, Air Force Personnel Center officials said.

Skill codes were a foundation of the previous civilian hiring system, under which applicant eligibility was dependent on knowledge, skills and abilities documented in the Air Force civilian career brief. Those skills were tied to skill codes defined in Air Force Manual 36-505, Skill Coding, which was rescinded Oct. 3, said Albert Marshall, AFPC classification program oversight advisor.

Coded skills are no longer used in the hiring process or to identify past experience, so the skill coding manual is no longer necessary, Marshall explained.

In 2010 AFPC, working with USA Staffing, began the transition to a single staffing process, with all vacancy announcements posted on www.USAJobs.gov. That transition was completed earlier this year when Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., transitioned, and today, hiring officials use applicant resumes, rather than employee career briefs, to make hiring decisions.

The single staffing process was implemented to help reduce hiring time and standardize recruitment processes across the Department of Defense, and it benefits hiring officials as well, said Nancy Tackett, AFPC supervisory human resources specialist.

Under the previous system, vacancies open to internal and external applicants required staffing teams to review external resumes and internal career briefs for qualification criteria. Hiring officials also had to review the different types of documents to determine the best applicant.

"Not only did it take longer to conduct two different review processes, internal applicants were limited to whatever skill codes were identified in their career brief, while external applicants were able to fully describe their qualifications in a resume. This new process levels the playing field for all applicants," Tackett said.

Current civilian employees should familiarize themselves with the USAJobs site and application process, even if they don't plan to apply for a vacancy, she advised.

"If you were hired under the old system, you may not have a resume and you may not be comfortable with preparing one, but USAJobs requires a resume, and there are tips to help you prepare one," she said. "Even if you don't want to apply for a job right now, it's better to be prepared in case your dream job is announced."

Employees can submit an updated resume, via the myPers website, to update their past experience, Marshall said.

For more information about civilian career opportunities, and guidance on resume preparation, go to www.afciviliancareers.com.