20,000 Civil Service Jobs Expected In The Next 5 Years
Over the next five years, Air Force officials plan to hire
20,000 more civilians into civil service. To help bases better
market civilian job openings and recruit qualified applicants for
current and future jobs, Air Force Personnel Center specialists
will roll out the "Your Future" marketing and recruiting campaign
in September.
"The overall strategy of the 'Your Future' campaign is to help
market and brand the Air Force as a premier civilian employer,"
said Shirlene LeBleu, AFPC's Civilian Force Integration
Directorate's Force Renewal and Development division chief. "The
initiative, once released Air Force-wide, will help fill civilian
vacancies more quickly by targeting qualified, local candidates, as
well as increase employment opportunities for military
dependents."
The campaign, which was piloted in March at 14 Air Force bases,
provides marketing and recruitment tools to civilian personnel
offices and installation managers to target military spouses and
external candidates.
"The purpose of the pilot was to get feedback on the marketing
toolkit and adjust, if necessary, for the Air Force wide roll-out
this fall," said Pat Stokes, a marketing specialist in AFPC's
Civilian Force Integration directorate. "This campaign was
developed to ensure the bases have the tools they need to reach the
right people, and the feedback from our test bases was
monumental. On average, (there was) a 25 percent increase of
civilian applicants across all the pilot bases."
Overseas bases using the marketing toolkit drew an even higher
increase in civilian applicants.
"In the first half of the campaign, Spangdahlem (Air Base,
Germany) had a 58 percent increase in telephone calls about
civilian jobs and a 200 percent increase in walk-ins to their
civilian personnel office," Ms. Stokes said. "Even at Fairchild (An
Air Force Base in Washington State) ... they had a 44 percent
increase in telephone calls, walk-ins and emails about civilian job
openings during the campaign."
"There was a definite correlation in the amount of tools a base
utilized from the marketing toolkit to the increase in applicants
received. The more tools used, the more civilian applications
they received," she added.
Items in the marketing toolkit include base exchange radio
spots, public service announcements for local radio and television
stations, videos and briefings to take to chambers of commerce and
to use during commanders' calls, flyers, brochures and a
comprehensive marketing guide. The guide also includes templates
for posters, stickers and letters bases can tailor to fit their
needs," Ms. Stokes added.
Ultimately, the marketing guide helps local base officials
identify who to contact to help with recruiting efforts, and
includes a step-by-step process on how to use the tools in the
toolkit, the tools themselves, and newcomer information to share
with Airmen and Family Readiness Centers.