The Air Force, in an attempt to speed up the federal hiring process, has begun urging its hiring managers to start the process for recruiting to fill a vacancy even before the departing employee has left.
It says that officials are authorized to start the process by submitting a request for personnel action while the current employee is still on the job, so long as the position being vacated is deemed to be funded and properly classified. Local civilian personnel offices are to provide guidance on any issues with what the Air Force calls "advanced recruiting" such as the use of various hiring authorities.
Other initiatives designed to improve the hiring process include establishing individual announcements for most job vacancies, extending the "internal" candidate pool to include most Department of Defense civilians, the recent launch of the Air Force Civilian Service website at www.afciviliancareers.com, and the expanded use of Schedule A hiring authority for certain cyber security positions, the Air Force says.
