Personnel Officers

[puma fixer]

Good afternoon.


I'm a serving SNCO Av and considering applying to OASC for commissioning in the personnel branch.


My question is, are there any personnel officers employed on flying squadrons in a training officer role?


Many thanks,


PF (I don't fix Puma's any more!)

[PTC REMF]

Yes, mainly with OCUs.

[Stuff]

Personnel branch now includes what used to be called Admin(Sec), Admin(PEd) and Admin(Trg).

There are some training posts on flying squadrons, usually called Training Design Advisor (TDA). They are responsible for providing guidance on the Defence Systems Approach to Training process to the SMEs who create the training packages on the squadron.

So, yes, there are Pers branch on flying squadrons.

[Fifth_Columnist]

There is certainly a Pers Spt trg officer on 24 Sqn at Brize, so I suspect it may be an OCU thing.

BUT - don't make your career choice based on one job that you may not get, have a look at all the other roles that a Pers Spt officer might be sent to and see if they float your boat too.

[Fareastdriver]

Personnel Branch?????

Haven't they changed it to Human Resources Branch yet?

[Old-Duffer]

Puma Fixer,


Good luck but a word of caution.


As an officer in the ground branches, it is unlikely that you will spend all your time in a single specialisation and, indeed, your advancement and value to the service would probably require you to gain experience in a wide range of appointments.


Old Duffer

[Haraka]

Haven't they changed it to Human Resources Branch yet?

My fear exactly fareastdriver.

Perhaps the increasing odium associated with the "HR" woolly circus of bystanders, second guessers and committee attenders is warning off even the RAF.

Goes well with "Project Progress Managers", "PR Professionals" "H&S Advisers", "Management Consultants", "Community liaison officers" and all the other self-invented pastimes by the less academically disciplined.

[bandoe]

Wishing you all the best Puma Fixer.

I would suggest that you keep a close eye on your CPD path whilst in Personnel Branch, ensuring that you don't finish up on the outside with HR as the only career option.

Google "Urban dictionary: Human Resources" for some thoughts on HR as a career. To some extent a comedy take on the "profession" perhaps, but many of the comments will sadly ring true for those who have worked in the corporate sector on the outside.

Plan your path wisely, all the best.

[Whenurhappy]

I echo the above. Some of you know me as an (old) Admin (Sec) officer, who has managed to do only one full station tour throughout his career (and no 'HR'), yet has served on a number of Ops in varying capacities as well as shorter periods in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, interspersed by a series of 'interesting' tours at Home and Abroad. The Personnel Branch regularly gets beaten up - generally because of JSP 752 Allowances - and has regularly been targeted for undue numbers of redundancies; nonetheless, there is broad scope in the Branch (like most Branches) if you are prepared to stick your neck out and volunteer to move away from the accepted path to greatness. Just don't expect to become great in the process!

PM me if you like.