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Getting out in 2010? Start job hunt now

Whether you’re retiring or one of the 3,700 airmen being forced out in the latest drawdown, now is the time to start looking for a new job.

And that new job could be with the Air Force or a sister service.

The Air Force is adding about 20,000 new civilian positions through 2011, the Guard and Reserve continue to seek experienced airmen for part and full-time jobs, and the Army continues to welcome airmen with the “Blue to Green” program.

Even if you’re only toying with the notion of leaving in 2010, you should be checking what kind of work is out there.

“If you’re thinking about getting out, it is never too soon,” said Judy Tipton, who has spent 29 years advising service members and their families and now is with the Airman and Family Readiness Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

Starting the hunt

Airmen know they face a tough job market and are apprehensive, said David Bourgeois, who works with departing airmen at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

But airmen can find comfort in knowing a successful job search is based on the same principles as a winning military operation.

“A lot has to do with motivation,” he explained.

A job search should begin at least 180 days before your separation date, Tipton said, and giving yourself a year or two to land work is even better.

Federal law mandates active-duty airmen meet at least once with a transition counselor at least 90 days before they separate, according to the Air Force Transition Assistance Program, which posts information on www.afcommunity.af.mil, the Air Force Community Web site; however, airmen are not required to attend transition assistance classes to help plan a new career.

Hanscom offers a five-day transition assistance course that covers everything from family finances to writing a résumé and networking to understanding how federal hiring works, said Sondra Albano, center director.

A common challenge for airmen is simply realizing that they now have to choose a career, that they no longer will be told what to do, said Terry Cornellier, center counselor.

Airmen often fail to translate their military skills into civilian skills when they fill out job applications or write résumés that do not address the type of job they’re applying for, Cornellier said.

An airman with supervisory experience as a security forces member, for example, should highlight his leadership skills, he said.

While Cornellier can’t do the work for airmen, he does show them how to research jobs and write a résumé that fits the job.

Turning into a civilian

Slightly more than half the Air Force’s civilian work force, about 53 percent, has prior service experience.

And though the service is trimming its active-duty ranks, it is hiring civilians — from scientists to contracting specialists, office workers to weather forecasters. Right now, slightly more than 140,000 civilians work for the Air Force.

By the end of 2011, the service wants to fill 20,000 new civilian jobs — about 9,000 of them next year, said Shirlene LeBleu, chief of the Civilian Force Renewal and Development Division at the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. And the Air Force has about 15,000 existing positions that open up every year, LeBleu said.

The Air Force Electronic Systems Center, based at Hanscom, needs to fill about 500 new positions in 2010 and another 800 positions in later years, said Sheila Brennan, the center’s director of manpower and personnel. Every year, the center must fill 300 to 400 existing positions because of employee turnover.

While most of the jobs are at Hanscom, the center has offices across the U.S., including sites in San Antonio; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Montgomery, Ala.

The Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, needs to fill about 400 new positions in 2010 and 2011, said Pam Swann, the lab’s deputy director of personnel.

Besides Wright-Patterson, lab locations include Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and Rome, N.Y.

As part of the civilian hiring drive, the Personnel Center set up a Web site focused on the service’s job openings: www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/afcivilianjobs. The site includes links to the federal government Web site where all open jobs are posted, www.usajobs.gov.

Some Air Force agencies have set up their own Web sites to highlight their openings, such as the Electronic Systems Center’s /www.afesccareers.com.

Joining the Guard or Reserve

Two programs in the Guard and Reserve are open to active-duty airmen.

The Palace Chase program allows airmen to fulfill their service commitment with the Guard and Reserve, said Senior Master Sgt. Carieanne Melnik, who helps oversee the program at the Personnel Center’s Separation Branch.

For each year of an active-duty service commitment, an airman must serve three years with the Guard or the Reserve, Melnik said. Airmen need Air Force approval to enter the program.

Annually, about 1,270 officers and 180 enlisted airmen enter Palace Chase.

The Palace Front program is aimed at airmen who want to join the Guard and Reserve once their active-duty service commitment ends.

The Guard and Reserve have been meeting their recruiting goals, though the number of new members with prior service experience has fallen.

About 65 percent of Reserve members have prior service experience, down from the usual 85 percent, according to Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, commander of the Air Force Reserve, who cited the figures in a September interview.

Specific details about the Palace Chase and Palace Front programs depend on your rank and career field. The best place to get the details is from your local Guard and Reserve recruiters.

If there is a Guard or Reserve unit at your base, there should be a recruiter.

Going green

Since 2005, the Army has welcomed about 150 airmen a year into its ranks.

The Blue to Green program allows airmen to become soldiers without a break in service, Melnik said.

Airmen, though, must get Air Force approval to make the switch because the service doesn’t want to lose anyone from its undermanned career fields, Melnik said. The review process takes four to six weeks, and it could take as long as six months to report for duty with the Army.

Airmen with existing service commitments will have those commitments transferred to the Army. If an airman accepted a retention payment, such as a selective re-enlistment bonus, he doesn’t have to pay back the Air Force. However, the airman won’t receive additional SRB payments after he joins the Army.

Most airmen making the move retain their grade and date of rank. The Army also tries to assign former airmen to jobs that match their old Air Force Specialty Codes.

Airmen don’t go through Army basic training. They attend a four-week Warrior Transition Course at Fort Sill, Okla., with members from other services also going green.

The Army offers faster promotions to retain soldiers with the additional money and responsibility that comes with higher ranks. For example, it takes an airman 9.4 years on average to become an E-6 technical sergeant while a soldier typically makes E-6 in six years.

There is a downside to going green: Army deployments last 12 months with at least a year between tours. Most airmen are vulnerable to deployment for four to six months every year to 20 months.

Details on the Blue to Green program are on the Army’s recruiting Web site, www.goarmy.com.