A two-man team from the Air Force Personnel Center provided some key insight into career development in the world of Air Force Civil Engineering April 6, 2017.
Members of the 412th Civil Engineer Group at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., packed into the base theater to learn about career management and development during the one-day Civil Engineer Career Field Team Road Show. Topics included basic-to-senior level professional development courses, tuition assistance, career-broadening assignments and how the job-selection process works throughout CE and AFPC.
According to the AFPC presentation, Air Force Civil Engineer has more than 12,500 current civilian employees in more than 130 occupational fields across 114 duty locations worldwide. The workforce provides civil engineering services to Air Force installations to help enable the warfighter to carry out the Air Force mission.
Here at Edwards, there are more than 600 personnel working in the 412th CEG with most of the force being government civil servants. Murray Westley, 412th Civil Engineer Squadron director, said the visit from the AFPC field representatives was informative and constructive.
“It really benefitted the rank-and-file employees,” said Westley. “Not everyone is going to get a master’s degree (to advance in the workforce). “It was very beneficial to show the different career paths available to them.”
He added that the two AFPC representatives made themselves available after the theater session for individual mentoring and advice, which up to 20 people took advantage of.
Attendees were encouraged to take ownership of their careers, set goals and build relationships with supervisors and mentors to help guide them through the proper advancement path if that is what they desire. Additional themes were vectoring people to the correct positions and keeping personnel records and resumes updated.
“It was great to see the developmental opportunities in CE from an outsider. It opened up the eyes of a lot of employees, especially the younger ones,” Westley said.