IN THIS ISSUE:

	Government Support: Running Strong in a Weak Economy
	3 Tips for Finding The Right Government Support Job

JOB SEEKERS

• The top 20 Federal Prime Contractors have approximately 34,000 open positions available at any given time

• Each year, over 1 million people either take a new job with a company that supports the Federal Government or change jobs within the industry

• 10.5 million people are working for Federal Government Support Contractors

FIND YOUR DREAM JOB!
www.GovernmentSupportJobs.com

EMPLOYERS

Your search ends here! Our unique tool and extensive industry experience delivers exceptionally qualified candidates every time. We eliminate frustrating keyword searches and irrelevant results. Most importantly – you only pay us when you find a qualified candidate.

We also provide pre-screened Key Personnel candidates for new business opportunities, on-going contracts, or internal requirements

Specialized Services -- need extra attention finding your perfect candidate? The Government Support Jobs specialized service option gives you just that.

Government Support: Running Strong in a Weak Economy

The bad news has been all around us the last few months – rising unemployment with more lay-offs on the way, plummeting real estate markets, a banking system in crisis, falling stock prices. Are there any safe havens of stable employment for the average American family among all the chaos? According to several leading economists there are: the health care, education, and government sectors continue to show strong growth.

The government support industry (also known as government contracting), is a relatively unknown, but important component of our economy. Currently, there are approximately 10.5 million people employed by government contractors. For comparison, the Federal Government employs approximately 3 million military members and 1.8 million civil servants. As you can see, many more people are employed by government contracting companies than the Government itself. These personnel work in jobs ranging from high technology research to grounds maintenance and everything in between.

Each day there are tens of thousands of job openings left unfilled in this industry. These job openings can be attributed to growth in the Federal Sector as well as normal employee attrition. As you can see, there are a multitude of job opportunities out there right now. I can tell you from my experience as a company executive and business owner that finding qualified people is the number one business challenge for many Government Contractors. These companies are actively hiring. In addition, President Elect Obama has indicated that he intends to stimulate the economy through government works projects. Since the Federal Government has no capability to execute these projects, his proposed stimulus package will result in massive hiring by Government Contractors.

The Government Support Industry is hiring now, with excellent prospects for future growth. So if you are looking for a job, or seeking a better job, now is a great time to look within this industry.

3 Tips for Finding the Right Government Support Job

1. Understand How Government Contractors Hire.

The majority of the people hired by Government contractors directly support government projects or contracts. Many times, these contracts define the minimum acceptable education, experience, skills, certifications, and security clearance for each position. For example, a contract may specify that an Engineer must have a Bachelors degree in engineering, four years relevant experience, and a secret security clearance. Why is this important? Because companies do not have the latitude to hire candidates who do not meet the minimum requirements. So, take a few minutes to evaluate the job requirements before you apply for a position. If you don’t meet the minimum requirements, move on to another opportunity.

So now that you’ve determined that you meet or exceed the minimum requirements for a specific position, how do you maximize your chances of being considered for that job? If you are submitting a resume, make sure that it clearly specifies your education, experience (with dates), skills and certifications, and security clearance level. I recommend using a chronological resume with dates so that potential employers can quickly scan your experience. Functional resumes aren’t well suited for this business because it’s too hard to determine if you meet the experience requirements. If you use a cover letter, make sure you briefly and clearly show how you meet the job requirements (education, experience, skills, certifications and security clearance). An alternative to submitting resumes directly to companies is to use a career service such as www.governmentsupportjobs.com that is specifically tailored to the government support industry.

Companies in this industry advertise for both current job openings (funded positions) and projected openings if they win new business (contingent positions).  Why do they advertise for future jobs? Sometimes, it’s because they will need to start work quickly once the contract is awarded so they need to line up qualified candidates in advance. Other times, they need to prove to their Government customer that they have the ability to staff the contract with qualified personnel in order to win the contract. Should you apply for contingent positions? By all means, do! Often times this is a way to get a better job. But you should understand that it could take as long as 8 months until the company can actually hire you. Ask the company recruiter if it is a contingent position and what are the expected timelines. If it is a contingent position, and you need a job soon, continue your job search while that job is pending.