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IN THIS ISSUE:
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Department of Defense Proposes 2010 Budget |
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Understanding the Government Contracting Market |
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| 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!
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Featured Government Support Jobs:
Construction Surveillance Technician Trainee
Systems Engineer, Software Quality
Organizational Role: Individual will support Missile Defense Agency mission and quality assurance by participating in multi-disciplinary teams conducting quality and mission assurance evaluations, audits and assessments for proposed and existing missile defense components and architectures. Provide technical expertise in software quality to Mission Assurance Management in performing oversight of design and development efforts, responding to design and development concerns, supporting failure review boards/investigations, and aiding in the implementation of CMMI processes. The successful candidate will act as an integral part of the team to ensure the delivery of products and services that always meets and usually exceeds customer expectations.
View more at http://www.governmentsupportjobs.com
/Jobs/2276/Systems-Engineer-Software-Quality-in-Huntsville-Alabama.aspx
Be sure to check out these sites for valuable information on upcoming government contracts:
Operations, Planning, Training, and Resource Support Services
www.optarssjobs.com
Obama Stimulus Package Jobs
www.2009stimulusjobs.com
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Department of Defense Proposes 2010 Budget
Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced his proposed 2010 defense budget and unveiled plans to reform the DoD acquisition system. While Secretary Gates’ plans may result in the scaling back or cancellation of several major weapons systems programs, there is significant opposition to the cuts in Congress, especially at a time when the Obama Administration is focused on job creation.
Secretary Gates’ plan calls for the hiring of 9,000 government acquisition officials by 2015 – a much needed injection of human capital into this critical area. The aging of the DoD’s acquisition workforce has been well documented, with over 60 percent of the workforce eligible to retire over the next decade. This potential exodus of experienced personnel from the government could leave a potentially crippling vacuum in the DoD’s procurement system. Secretary Gates’ call to hire 4,100 acquisition professionals in 2010 and an additional 5,900 employees by 2015 is a much needed step in the right direction.
Mr. Gates also wants to convert 11,000 contractor personnel to civil service personnel. At first glance this may seem like a net loss to the defense contractor community; however, we believe the long term result will be an increase in the federal contractor workforce. While the Office of Personnel Management has launched a series of initiatives aimed at expediting the federal hiring process, streamlining job announcements for entry-level positions and modifying selection methods for entry into the Senior Executive Service, it still takes a considerable amount of time to hire personnel into the civil service. In most cases, contractor support will continue in these areas while the Government recruits, selects, and hires personnel. In addition, the additional contracts resulting from the economic stimulus plan will significantly increase the overall federal contractor workforce over the next few years. The bottom line - now is a great time to look for either a civil service or government contractor job.
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Understanding the Government Contracting Market
The federal contracting market has a diverse set of federal clients and contractors who support them. Further, the market itself is heavily influenced by domestic and international politics, economic climate and environmental trends of the day. Keeping tuned in to this market will provide you with knowledge of new opportunities and the companies who will capitalize on those opportunities.
This is part IV of a V part article on the basics of the federal contracting industry which is important to both veteran and newcomers to this job market. In part I we covered the four basic knowledge areas that are important for a job seeker to understand to focus their job search and be prepared for that all important interview. In part II we took a look at “Knowing the end customer” and in Part III we discussed “Understanding Federal Contracting”. In this article we discuss “Understanding the Market”.
Understanding the market will improve your ability to find job opportunities of interest to you and improve your ability to communicate current topics in the industry that may come up during interviews. We will cover several key resources that are available to you to develop and maintain this market understanding that include media sources and associations.
The Federal Government industry is media-rich in terms of the number of magazines, online news resources, and newsletters. I have listed a few of the resources that I turn to on a regular basis to maintain currency in the government support market.
Associations are both a great resource for market knowledge as well as a wonderful conduit to building a professional network within an area of interest. I highly recommend getting involved in a professional association that is relevant to your professional career path. More often then not you will find your next career move from someone in your professional network. Below is a list of just some of the associations available.
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Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) International, established in 1946, is a non-profit membership association serving the military, government, industry, and academia as an ethical forum for advancing professional knowledge and relationships in the fields of communications, IT, intelligence, and global security.
http://www.afcea.org/ |
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The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) is America’s leading Defense Industry association promoting national security. NDIA is proud to provide a legal and ethical forum for the exchange of information between Industry and Government on National Security issues. Our members foster the development of the most innovative and superior equipment, training and support for our warfighters and first responders through our divisions, local chapters, affiliated associations and events.
http://www.ndia.org |
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Professional Service Council (PSC)’s mission is to be the leading advocate and resource for protecting, maintaining, and expanding the federal government professional, engineering, and technical services industry.
http://www.pscouncil.org/ |
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The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) is the premier high-tech industry association working to maintain America’s role as the world’s innovation headquarters. ITAA’s mission is to represent and enhance the competitive interests of the U.S. information technology and electronics industries. The Association provides leadership in business development, public policy advocacy, market forecasting and standards development to more than 350 corporate members. Its members range from the smallest start-ups to industry leaders offering services, system integration, Internet, telecommunications, software, electronics and hardware solutions to the public and commercial sector markets.
http://www.itaa.org/ |
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The Society for International Affairs, Inc. (SIA) is a volunteer, non-profit, educational organization that was jointly formed in 1967 by US Government and Industry. SIA provides a forum for the exchange of information related to export and import licensing. SIA interests cover the entire spectrum of licensing issues pertaining to the Department of Commerce, Defense, State and Treasury.
http://www.siaed.org/ |
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SOLE - The International Society of Logistics is a non-profit international professional society composed of individuals organized to enhance the art and science of logistics technology, education and management.
http://www.sole.org/ |
There are other resources available to gain more insight into opportunities and market trends. Many of these services are available on a subscription basis but are too costly for an individual to purchase. Most companies in the government support market have subscriptions to these services that include but are not limited to;
Input, http://www.input.com
Fedsources, http://www.fedsources.com
Epipeline, http://www.epipeline.com and
Onvia, http://www.onvia.com.
If you have access to these services through your employer, use them to stay on top of current trends and top opportunities in the Federal Government.
Part II of this article discussed Federal Agency websites that provide insight into the government customer. One government resource that provides a broad array of resources that can be used to stay on top of the market is the Government Printing Office (GPO) at http://www.gpo.gov/.
Whether you are new to the government support market or a veteran it is important to establish an understanding and maintain your currency of the market. The resources provided above are just a few that you can use to stay current with the market, identify new employment opportunities and discuss the market with more confidence.
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