My niece wants to join the Air Force. MOS recommendations?

2014-02-05T00:38:23-05:00

Response by SSgt George Brown made Feb 5 at 2014 12:41 AM

2014-02-05T00:41:59-05:00

what are her skill sets?

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 13 at 2014 3:26 PM

2014-03-13T15:26:45-04:00

How can you ask this question? Why doesn't she decide what path is right for her? I understand you intentions to this question, however what works out great as a career path for one doesn't mean it will for the next. The fact that she wants to join the military is the first priority which it sounds like she does. From there she needs to sit down and find out what she is qualified for through the ASVAB, physical and the rest of the screening that is done. Find out what MOS fields are open at that time and look through ALL of them. Have her decide what she wants to do before she even looks at jobs. Meaning, does she want to work with electronics, mechanics, engineering, adminstration, etc. Overall make sure she decides on something that is up her ally and she can see herself doing. Again the biggest thing is she wants to join, the job is second.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 25 at 2014 11:35 PM

2014-03-25T23:35:56-04:00

What does she enjoy? I think she needs to figure out what she would enjoy doing the most. There are going to be parts of every job that suck, but if you are satisfied with what you do overall, then it will be worth it. Personally, I would recommend she do a job that is highly technical and/or that has a TS/SCI security clearance. Unless she has a passion for doing something else, doing something in the Intel field, especially if she becomes a military linguist, will open up many doors for her in the future. I would also caution her to think long and hard about it too, because it can be difficult to change paths once you start getting invested in what you do.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 26 at 2014 8:38 AM

2014-03-26T08:38:21-04:00

The funny thing about the Air Force is you can only chose from what MOS she qualify for. Did she take the ASVAB yet? that is the only way you can know what MOS she qualifies for. And even then you don't get the MOS you choose it is an open contract. Only the Army offers guaranteed contracts.

Response by TSgt Kevin Buccola made Mar 26 at 2014 12:18 PM

2014-03-26T12:18:16-04:00

The Air Force version of MOS is Air Force Specialty Code - AFSC...Depending on what her ASVAB test scores are - Admin, Mech, Gen, Elec. What is her interests?

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforce/l/blafscquick.htm

http://www.airforce.com/

Air Force AFSC (Job) Listing -- Enlisted

electronic warfare systems, air force afsc, cryptologic linguist, space systems operations, avionic systems, air traffic control, intelligence exploitation, aerospace control, signals intelligence, ae...

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2014 8:44 PM

2014-09-18T20:44:01-04:00

I agree with MSgt Keller picking the appropriate job is extremely important. As a veteran of both the Army and Air Force my advice would be to pick something that she enjoys as well as something that is marketable. I remember having a hard time finding a job when I left the Army. I would not wish that on anyone leaving the service to experience.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Sep 18 at 2014 9:20 PM

2014-09-18T21:20:51-04:00

Things you may want to consider MSG Private RallyPoint Member:

1) What interests her?
2) Are her interests related to a college major? - whether or not she has attended yet.
3) How strongly does the Air Force Specialty Code (Thanks TSgt Kevin Buccola for the translation) tie to a civilian career/skillset?

My kids are still young but this is what I would look at to get the best bang for your service bucks.

Response by CMSgt Blaine Means made Sep 20 at 2014 12:30 PM

2014-09-20T12:30:56-04:00

I will have to agree with SSG Mills in part because I don't know about the guaranteed contracts in the AF now. I will say that if she has a choice and she likes to fly that she should become a Loadmaster, not to good if she has a family or wants to have children. After separation jobs are not plentiful for Loadmasters but can be found. Hope this helps you Craig.

Response by MSgt Guillermo Ybarra III (HVAC Recruiter) made Sep 25 at 2014 10:51 AM

2014-09-25T10:51:47-04:00

Intel or Air Traffic controller would be the jobs that I would get a guarantee for if I had to do it all over again!

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2014 2:06 PM

2014-09-25T14:06:55-04:00

SFC Thibault,

With force management programs in play, I would look at her interests/eligibility/ future plans and match it up to some of the critically manned AFSCs to reduce her risk of being cut in a few years because of overages. Comm and intel are always good secure jobs with chances for TS clearance since we do so much more cyber and recon type stuff now compared to previous years. Just don't let her go in "open general" or anything since then they can place her in any AFSC within that domain.