CIVILIAN JOBS IN THE ARMED FORCES
Most of the occupations are administered under the federal civil service system. This means that when you apply for a particular opening you must compete with other applicants, and then be evaluated by the Office of Personnel Management (formerly called the Civil Service Commission) or the service in which you hope to work.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) acts as a clearing agency for all other government agencies and the armed services. As civilian vacancies occur, the various agencies request the names of people qualified to fill the positions. The best-qualified applicants' names are referred from OPM lists, and these are considered for the openings.
Whether or not you will be selected depends on your qualifications and the number of applicants for the same job or jobs. It also depends on the salary level you say you will accept and how fast vacancies are occurring. If enough qualified applicants have had their names accepted for the lists, the OPM stops accepting any more names. However, you should bear in mind that although there might be sufficient applicants in one location, there might be openings in another area for the same type of job. It might be worth considering such a position if you are able to relocate.
From time to time the OPM issues lists of job openings within the federal government, including the dates of competitive examinations. Information about these and other job openings is available at local offices of the OPM and usually at state employment security offices. The best procedure is to contact one of the federal job information and testing centers listed in many telephone books under United States Government. If there is no listing in your telephone book, contact the nearest state employment security office, which should have the information. Employment security offices are located throughout most states. If you cannot find the address in your phone book, ask your librarian or postmaster to help you.
To qualify for most federal jobs, you must have the education or experience specified for the grade level or job you want. Some jobs do not have rigid requirements regarding education and experience. For these you need only provide information about yourself. Each job description tells the particular requirements you will need.
Another way to learn about possible civilian openings is to contact the public information office of the Department of Defense service in which you want to work. For your convenience, they are listed here:
- Department of Defense: Chief Staffing and Support Programs, The Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301.
- Department of the Air Force: Public Affairs Office, Department of the Air Force, The Pentagon, Washington, DC 20330-1670; (800) 423-USAF.
- Department of the Army: For employment in the Washington, DC area-Personnel and Employment Service-Washington, Room 3D727, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20310-6800. For employment outside Washington, write or apply directly to the army installation where employment is desired, Attention: Civilian Personnel Office; For employment overseas- U.S. Army Personnel Center, Attention: PECC-CSS, Hoffman II Building, 200 Stovall Street, Alexandria, VA 22332-0300; (800) USA-ARMY.
- Department of the Navy: Navy Recruiting Command, Capital Region, 801 N. Randolph Street, Arlington, VA 22203-1991; (800) 424-8883.
- Marine Corps: Commandant of the Marine Corps, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, DC 20380-0001; (800) MARINES.
- Coast Guard: Since this service is a division of the Department of Transportation, openings are best located through the federal job information centers or consult your state Employment Security Department listed in the white pages of your telephone directory.
The Veterans Administration (VA) is a huge organization that administers benefits to the men and women who have served in the armed forces. It also operates the nation's largest health care delivery system. It has a network of more than 170 hospitals and 200 outpatient clinics. The VA provides hospitalization and outpatient dental and medical care to all eligible veterans. Most hospitals are of the general medical and surgical type with some provision for psychiatric care.
There is at least one regional (benefits) office in each state and Puerto Rico. Here eligible veterans and their dependents may obtain benefits such as compensation and pensions for disability or death, loan guaranty for homes, job training, and educational assistance under the GI bill, insurance, and other related services.
Called the federal government's most automated agency, the VA maintains automated data processing centers to do the record keeping for the various benefits, medical, and administrative programs of this vast organization. The computers operate seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.
In addition, the VA operates and maintains more than one hundred national cemeteries throughout the country. Most are in or near small cities and towns in rural areas; some are located adjacent to large urban areas.
With its many hospitals, the VA requires large numbers of support personnel, principally housekeeping aids and food service workers. Housekeeping aids keep the hospitals sparkling clean. Their duties include cleaning rooms and corridors, stripping and waxing floors, cleaning carpets, hanging curtains and draperies, delivering supplies to the wards, and operating the various machines used in this work.
The food service workers help prepare the meals, make salads and desserts, assemble food on the trays, and deliver them to the patients. They also operate dishwashing machines and do other jobs in the kitchen associated with the preparation of meals and cleaning of dishes, silverware, pots, and pans. At the starting levels for housekeeping aids and food service workers, there are no education or experience requirements.
Maintenance of the large hospitals calls for a variety of skilled craftsmen such as carpenters, plumbers, steamfitters, electricians, masons, painters, and air-conditioning and refrigeration repairmen. In addition to these trained specialists, the hospital staffs include laborers, gardeners, cemetery caretakers, medical equipment repairmen, motor vehicle operators, warehouse employees, and many other specialists. For most of the unskilled jobs which involve helping the craft employees such as carpenters, electricians, or plumbers, there are no educational requirements. Evidence that you have potential to learn and advance is important. To qualify for a journeyman or craft position, you must show that you can perform that particular skill.
Most of the positions mentioned here are in VA health care facilities. Only a few are in the regional offices, data processing centers, or national cemeteries. To learn about openings, contact the nearest federal job information center or the personnel office of the VA nearest you. Also, if you live near a VA hospital or office (consult your telephone book under U.S. Government Veterans Administration), visit the personnel office for information and an interview.
Professionally trained men and women will find good career opportunities with the VA. Some of the many professional job titles for which there are frequent openings include architects, engineers, dietitians, dentists, doctors, audiologists and speech pathologists, registered and practical nurses, and medical technologists.
