No More Skill Codes for Civilian Positions

The Air Force has rescinded the manual used to define skill codes for civilian positions, according to Air Force Personnel Center officials. This is one of several ongoing administrative actions to transform the service’s civilian hiring process, they said in an Oct. 30 release. Skill codes, which were defined in Air Force Manual 36-505, were a foundation of the previous civilian hiring system. Because the Air Force rescinded the skill codes on Oct. 3, the manual became no longer necessary, according to Albert Marshall, AFPC’s classification program oversight advisor. Air Force hiring officials now use applicant resumes, rather than employee career briefs with the skill codes, to make hiring decisions, states the release. Nancy Tackett, AFPC’s supervisory human resources specialist, said this “levels the playing field” for internal and external applicants. That’s because, in the past, “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,” she said. (Randolph report by Debbie Gildea)