Alabama Public Television presents in partnership with the State Personnel Department, Alabama Career Connection a unique look at jobs available in Alabama state government.

All coming up right now on Alabama Career Connection.

Hey, y'all.

It's Governor Kay Ivey.

Welcome to Alabama Career Connection.

This program shines a light on the many departments within our state government and the diverse careers available right here in Alabama.

Serving the people of our state is a rewarding experience, offering the chance to make a real difference in our communities.

Whether you're interested in education, public safety, health care, or technology, there's a place for you in state government.

So if you're looking for a career that makes an impact, I invite you join us in building a brand of future for a home in Alabama.

As I always say, let's get to work.

I am Edward Poolos, Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

ADEM's mission is to assure for all the citizens of Alabama a safe, helpful, and productive environment.

It is a mission all ADEM employees are committed to accomplishing.

Alabama is blessed with incredible natural resources and outdoor recreation opportunities.

Whether you enjoy hiking the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, catching fish on one of our treasured lakes, kayaking on a river or a stream, or swimming in the Gulf off our white sand beaches, our state has it all.

Alabama is also perhaps the most biodiverse state in the country, with more native animal and plant species than anywhere else in the continental United States.

Many of those species, in fact, are found only in Alabama.

I get to work with nonprofits, local municipalities, and schools and universities to provide federal funding to do water quality improvement projects.

And that can be anything from renovating a farmer's market to building a park.

Another big aspect of my job is that I get to go throughout the state to each school and educate children about water quality and water pollution and how to reduce that pollution.

In my job, I am able to be a part of monitoring and protecting our streams in Alabama.

One way that we monitor our streams is by collecting mac or invertebrates and bringing them back to the lab to identify.

That tells us a lot of information about the health of the stream, like whether it's impaired or not.

My group regulates the industrial facilities, and we do that by monitoring air emissions and ensure that they're at certain levels that will be protective of the public's health.

We've got a great team atmosphere.

We've always had greatsupervisors, and they allow you to do research and recommend strategies and then your teammates, you can go bounce ideas off of them.

So it's a great work environment where you really feel like your voice is heard and you're allowed to.

So yeah, five years from now for me, I would hope that that means that I am a supervisor by then.

That's an aspiration that I do have to move up.

Since I've been here, I've been here for going on six years now.

And then the next step for me is a unit chief, and then beyond that, section chief, and who knows potentially the branch chief, and then maybe one day I might run the place.

The love of Alabama's great outdoors is why most of our staff here at ADEM chose to serve the public with their knowledge and their talents.

Protecting the state's plentiful natural resources and rich biodiversity, as well as the people of Alabama, is the core of what ADEM does.

To fulfill our mission, ADEM employs hundreds of dedicated professionals.

They include engineers, biologists, geologists, chemists, meteorologists, and others.

They come from diverse backgrounds and work in various capacities to safeguard the environment of the state that we all cherish.

A career at ADEM is extremely rewarding.

We have a place for you.

I invite you to give us a look.

Favorite part of my job is seeing the accomplishments of our students as they obtain different levels of achievement with us, whether it's education, personal job skills that they learn, and we celebrate every small achievement that they have because our kids have not had opportunities really to be successful in their lives, whether it's the school and the community.

And so we like to take opportunities to celebrate everything that they've set a goal and achieve that goal and some of those those are some of the best days I have at work.

Working here at DYS, this job has been very rewarding to me.

I was hired on to start this program.

They're coding using Python, learning the Python language.

They make a game that they built themselves, then they go on to building robots.

Every day here is just trying to instruct these young men to focus on doing good things with their lives through physical education, through physical activity, through fitness.

More than anything, it's just to be here doing what I'm doing with these young men and hoping that I am having an impact on their lives for once they transition out of the Department of Youth Services that they will be better productive citizens in society and in their communities.

My favorite thing is seeing the progress in the young men.

Some of them come in here very skeptical thinking they can't do some of the workload or assignments but once they go through it and they catch on to it, it is their reward just to see the progress they make in the outcome of their success.

It has enlightened me so much to see this part of the society and just the young men working towards something and getting certifications.

There are folks back there who just go way beyond what the job description entails in order to make a difference in a young person's life and the students will be able to tell you that too.

They'll be able to point to the staff that we have back there and how they have helped.

It is very rewarding to be working here with these young men.

I look forward every morning, each and every morning, to get up to come to be with these young men to hopefully make an impact on their lives.

Even throughout the weekend I am thinking about them and I am looking forward to the Monday to get here, to be here, and to help to inspire them to do better with their lives.

If you have ever considered having a career working for an organization that helps troubled youth get back on track, the Alabama Department of Youth Services may have a career opportunity for you.

If you're looking to make a difference in young people, well we're right here at this facility, we work with just young men, this will be a rewarding avenue for you to branch into.

The guys here just need a little love and care and as teachers we also offer that and I just think that if you just want to make a difference in helping them to improve and go back into society with a positive attitude, working here at DYS will be the program for you.

My day-to-day routine varies.

I oversee 12 stores.

I have a newly wholesale-only store that only sell to bars, restaurants, package stores, and nightclubs.

For businesses such as restaurants or maybe convenience stores that want to be licensed, they want to sell maybe wine or beer or spirits, we license them so that they are in compliance with Alabama laws.

I started in the warehouse.

I just got referred from a friend and I was out there for about a year and got the opportunity to come in the office here.

My expectations, I honestly didn't have any idea how much goes on here.

There are many divisions that do many different things.

But for the most part, I come in, I do a lot of sales analysis, see where things need to go product-wise in the stores.

When I first started here on my interview, I was like, "Oh my God, this building is big.

I'm probably going to get lost trying to find the restroom."

But they did.

They made me feel really welcome.

They wanted to know about my kids.

They wanted to know about my home life.

I can tell that they were really interested in getting to know me on a personal level.

The people that I work with, with ABC Beverage, they are friendly, supportive.

It seems more as a family atmosphere instead of a work atmosphere.

People are great.

It's a great atmosphere.

Everybody is working together.

Things change on the daily.

So having to adapt to that, everybody does well.

We're very family oriented.

We celebrate birthdays.

We celebrate big accomplishments.

We do a lot with each other.

It really feels like a family here.

In five years, I like to see myself working here, maybe in a new position, trying to learn something new on the different side of things.

There's a lot of different things to learn in my area here at the ABC Board.

In five years, I would like to see myself in a higher position here.

I definitely think that it's reachable.

You really can advance up here fairly easily if you're doing what you're supposed to do, of course.

Favorite part about being a state employee would be to meet different people, able to grow, develop.

The insurance is also a great benefit.

The pay.

So overall, being a state employee, I think comes with a lot of benefits.

I just applied on the personnel website, and I got quite a few interviews, and this place just felt like home to me.

So this is where I landed.

The advice that I would give a friend about working with ABC Beverage is stability.

My favorite part of being a state employee is that it's stable, and there's opportunity to grow.

If I had someone looking to apply, I would tell them to do it.

It's great.

It's really great here.

They're very welcoming.

The whole building, not just my division, the whole building is very welcoming.

You walk down the halls, you see smiles.

Everyone knows how your day going and all of that.

It's a really good year.

You can go to the state personnel website.

You can fill out a state application.

Once we receive it, we call and set up interviews based on the different areas that you're willing to work in.

I'm Daniel Urquhart, Secretary of the Office of Information Technology.

OIT was formed by the legislature in 2013 to define statewide IT policies and governance across the executive branch of state government.

In 2017, this legislation was amended to include the technical operations for the state network, in addition to the policy and governance function.

OIT employs approximately 150 talented and hardworking people who have an incredibly diverse range of professional backgrounds and experiences to support this agency and its vital work.

Our team, along with several of our managed service providers, work every day to ensure the state network, telecommunications systems, security platforms, and multiple cloud environments remain operational and secure.

Seeing as there's multiple millions of dollars that are going missing on a daily basis.

At a personal level, what happens is whenever your information becomes compromised, it takes up hours and days of your life, and it can affect you for the rest of your life because If someone steals your identity, imagine what happens to your social security number.

It's very important at both a personal level a financial level for people individually and for corporations.

The advice I would give is to be open to any opportunity that comes up because you can get a foot in the door and then see what else is going on and maybe follow a new direction at some point.

One day it can be focusing on writing and making sure policies are published for the state.

They are also the policies for OIT, then the next day it could be dealing with risks that have popped up from vendors to system risks, security risks, things like that.

I love the benefits, and I like the fact that I only have to put in X number of years, reasonable years, and then I can retire.

The perfect employee is someone that's curious.

We can go to college and we can get degrees, but at the end of the day, there's one word that really defines what the person we're looking for is, and they have to be curious constantly and always asking why.

Because whenever you ask why, they say that you ask why five times, you get to the core of the problem.

We have to keep asking why, and that helps us understand what we actually need to protect.

A great employee for OIT is really one that comes in and they want to learn.

They might have a little knowledge, but if they are willing to learn from the bottom up, show some humility, and that nothing is beneath them, they're going to be a great employee.

In addition to our primary mission of managing the state network and telecommunications infrastructure, OIT assists many of the executive branch agencies with their technology initiatives that ultimately provide benefits and services to citizens of Alabama.

And because IT is constantly changing, we're always looking for new team members who can augment our collective agency skillset and knowledge base.

OIT is honored to be a part of this important work, and we invite others to join us in our mission to serve the state of Alabama, its executive branch agencies, and its citizens.

We have a team that is really varied across four major programs.

We serve infants and toddlers with developmental delays in our early intervention program.

We serve children with special health care needs in a medical type setting in our children's rehabilitation program.

Our largest program is our vocational rehabilitation program.

We help folks with disabilities come out of high school settings and go into workforce training and get into the workforce.

And then we have our state of Alabama independent living program where we serve people with more significant disabilities who would be otherwise considered eligible for nursing home care.

And our goal is to try and help them remain in their community and in their homes and as independent as possible.

There's just a lot of rewarding moments just getting to enable people to see them perform in the workplace or attend school and achieve a degree or whatever they might be pursuing or even if it's just a modification in their home.

It's a very rewarding feeling and it's nice seeing people accomplish their goals.

For the state, I get to help the family and we, you know, figuring out policy, figuring out grants, figuring out whatever it takes to help a family do what they need to do or be able to function and safely do what they need to do.

I'm working for the family and not for insurance.

You have to have a passion for working with people, for helping people.

If you don't have that passion, I would not say this is the job for you.

You're dealing with people that are in the most vulnerable state that need help.

If you're willing to see your part as an advocate to make a difference in the life of a child and willing to go the extra mile for the client and for the family, the rewards are there.

Knowing that you've done your best and the families, a lot of times we get good feedback regarding our families, regarding the services we provide.

They're very appreciative and even in legislatures have made comments about those services that we're providing as helping the families and their areas.

In addition to our four major programs, we have needs across the agency in our shared services divisions.

That's what most people would call administration.

We always have staffing needs across those programs as well.

Unequivocally, it's the best state agency to work for.

It's a great team, it's a great group of people, not just my fellow employees that I get to work with, but the individuals that we get to serve.

You get to see where working with them takes you and takes them.

It allows me to be able to be an employee but also be there for my family.

I don't have to work on the weekends.

I get vacations that align with my children.

I earn sick leave and annual leave to be able to be home with my family and be able to have that time.

What's neat about this agency, I think unlikeot of places, is our administration has also bought in to our mission.

If you want to work for the Department of Rehab Services and you have an interest in serving Alabamians, I would say absolutely apply.

You get to work with the best individuals, the best coworkers.

It's a great environment here, but you also get to meet a lot of interesting people.

Hello.

Welcome to Alabama State Parks.

What we do here in the Department of Conservation is great for the quality of life in Alabama.

Between our state parks, the management of the deer and the turkey and the freshwater fish and the saltwater fish and the Forever Wild lands so that people can just get out and enjoy the beautiful state that God has originally blessed us with.

The 1,100 employees that we have in the Department of Conservation contribute to that great quality of life in Alabama, and it's really a rewarding place to work.

Well, there is never a standard day for me.

I can be out in a park looking and inspecting things, just checking up on our team.

It could also be office work, trying to get contracts.

My job is really just to, how can I best help and support our team.

There's something different happening every single day, every single weekend.

It's never the same.

There's something unique and different happening all the time, so you just never know what's going to happen.

For me personally, that's a very exciting element of my job.

I hear all the time that our guests have these incredible connections to the parks that they visit.

They take such ownership in the parks that they visit, and to be even a small part of those memories that they make is really precious to me.

It's a great place to work.

If it's somewhere you're looking to settle down for retirement, it's an awesome place to work.

If you want to do where you want to meet friends that's like family, the state park is that place.

The insurance is top tier.

Retirement is top tier.

It's what attracts a lot of people to these park jobs, our state jobs altogether.

Really, they look towards your future.

Just to think about the legacies that the men and the women that built some of these parks back in the Great Depression, and that we're now adding to the next layer in restoring these parks and keeping them up for the public, it's very rewarding.

We have people from high school students that are out of school for summer, to retired employees that come back to work at the State Parks.

There's a range.

I have an employee that's 88 years old.

Anyone can be a perfect employee.

Absolutely.

Typically, what I think is what makes the best employee is someone that wants to do something more than what just they are.

It's about leaving a legacy.

If you want to fulfill a greater purpose, Alabama State Parks is a perfect location for you, and we have something for everybody.

That is one of the most exciting things about working in State Parks is that we have the opportunity to come and work our passion every single day.

We get to tap into the most exciting parts of being in these beautiful natural resources and spending time with these incredible guests and amazing coworkers that we have.

It is the most rewarding job you will ever find.

We're always really excited to come to work every day.

At Alabama State Parks, we have something for everyone.

It can be a flex time, it can also be an hourly Seasonal employment.

We just want you all to come out and explore what we have to offer for Alabama State Parks, and we could really use the help.

It is an incredible honor to serve as State Personnel Director.

It starts with a faith that the State Personnel Board has placed in me to lead this agency full of wonderfully dedicated employees who truly do care about what our mission, that is to serve the state agencies who serve the state of Alabama.

I think favorite part of my job is that, you know, the people that work at the different agencies, they all make big contributions every day to their agencies.

But in my specific role, I'm so fortunate that I get to have a little peace in all the different agencies.

I get to either help train them or help find, you know, attract top talent while we're trying to identify Alabama's employer of choice.

I get to help them in any way that they need and that is just very intrinsically motivating.

I love it every day.

I'm the manager of our examinations division and what we do is help ensure that state employment is fair and competitive.

The largest part of our job is reviewing applications.

We receive about 70 to 80,000 applications a year.

Our process starts with a job analysis study where we develop minimum qualifications and then we develop and administer employment examinations.

Every day really it's making sure everything is running properly.

We support both the hardware and software that the department for recruitment and providing information through our website.

Our state benefits are unmatched.

That is my strongest component when I go out on the recruiting trail.

You know, people, that's what they want to hear.

For the most part, that's what attracts people to state government, talking about that total rewards package.

Working for the state, it's not always an easy job.

It can be challenging, but it's a fulfilling job.

So you know, if you're looking for something where you feel like you're making a difference in really serving the state, my favorite part about working for the state is the people, the people that I work with.

We have a team here that's motivated.

They're hardworking.

They're a fun group to work with and really just we enjoy serving the people of the state of Alabama.

They truly are like a second family.

Everyone says they have the best employees.

We really do though.

It's just stellar.

Our director is phenomenal.

We work together.

We have common goals.

My philosophy is always to hire good people.

Surround yourself with good people and stay out of their way and let them do what you hired them to do.

And I think at this point in time over the last five years, I've assembled a team that is next to none.

We have a website that is packed full of information.

It's personnel.alabama.gov So if you'll go to our website, there's tons of resources there for you to see the different job openings that we have along with salary ranges, different job locations, all kinds of different job purposes.

So go to our website, look for the jobs.

We can help you set up an online profile.

Then you can just click apply online.

You don't ever have to touch a pen or a piece of paper.

It's super easy and you can apply for any job that you see.

We have an incredible team.

Everybody's kind of passionate about the game of golf, whether it's working with a beginner golfer, working with our operations department, and working alongside our maintenance team.

Anything green.

That's under our purview.

We mow greens, mow tees, mow fairways, prepare the golf course for play, anything that's having to do with the greens and grounds.

I'm a player assistant and it involves two jobs, either starting people at the tee box or being out here on the course, just monitoring play and helping out where we can help.

I fell in love with the place quickly.

That was no problem.

And I've been here a long time since and I enjoy it as much today as I did 25 years ago.

Wow, there's so much passion there.

A lot of energy, which we need, whether it's a weather challenge, whether it's early mornings, late nights, we have to have some energy.

It's all about the guest experience.

There's 10 sites from Muscle Shoals down to Mobile.

We usually have openings at any one of them.

All of them are fantastic locations, depending on your location, where you want to be.

Most of the time I'll come in in the mornings and get the senator set up so I'll cut a new hole location on the greens, move the tee boxes around, sand, any divots, pick up tees on tee boxes and just get the course ready for the daily play.

I'm a golfer, not a good one, but I'm a golfer.

A friend and I came out shortly after it opened and the starter at the time said we need some marshals out here.

So my friend and I signed up.

It's a great place to work, a lot of good people.

If you enjoy the game of golf or just being outdoors, it's awesome.

I love working here, working for the trail.

I get to meet a lot of wonderful people, not just the people that work here, but the patrons and customers that we have coming from all over the country, and pretty much all over the world here to play our side and then just to visit the trail.

I love being with people.

I think the best thing that I can do anytime, any day, is try to make every person I meet feel a little bit better, make their day better.

If I'm not playing golf, it's doing just exactly what we're doing now.

Out on the golf course with nature, you can't beat that.

We have passionate people.

We have people that have high energy and enjoy what they do.

If you like being outdoors, if you like working with people and finding new experiences and creating memorable experiences for others, it's the job for you.

The favorite benefit of being a core superintendent anywhere is this is my office.

I get to work outside.

I get to work with a bunch of really good people.

If you're interested in being part of a great team, I would recommend coming out to the golf course or you can go online and get the information to apply.

One of the best things about working out here is that they make you feel like you're part of the team and they truly appreciate what you do.

Join us for Alabama Career Connection, an in-depth look at career opportunities available in Alabama state government.

Alabama Career Connection, Sundays at 1pm on Alabama Public Television.