As your end of service or retirement date looms you will be begin to receive a lot of advice about how to handle your post military job search. Quite often you will receive a recommendation to read WCIYP by Richard N. Bolles. WCIYP is one of the seminal books to help job seekers learn about themselves and what job/career would be the best fit for them.
Many years ago, after I left active duty and completed college, I read the book and found the advice helpful. However, to be honest, I had forgotten a majority of the book’s content and advice. Recently, I began exploring the market for a job change and I have also been mentoring veterans on their job search. As a result, I decided to re-read the book to see if it still held value and was worth recommended to fellow veterans. Luckily for me, my local library had a recent copy.
Introduction
The book was first published in 1970 and has been updated annually since 1975. The 2019 version of the book starts by explaining the current job market and providing statistics for the average job search. According to the book, ~31% of job searchers find employment in 1-3 months. For this population of job searchers, they have done their homework, kept or developed sought after skills and have networked extensively to find their job. Of the remaining two thirds of job seekers, ~19% percent get a job in 3 to 6 months, ~20% take between ~6-12 months to get a job and the remaining 30% take a year or more.
WCIYP Approach to the Job Search
Next, the book compares and contrasts the traditional job search were everyone is a “job beggar” to the WCIYP approach where any company “would be luck to get you”. The book suggests in order to find your dream job, the job you would most love to do, and where your talents can be fully realized you must first do homework on yourself. It goes on to say in order to find out the best companies that will be the best fit for you, you must do “informational interviews.” This is where you go meet with employees and hiring managers at companies and ask them about the job or career you are interested in. The book also gives you strategies on how to locate a “bridge person” to help you set up informational interviews.
A “bridge person” is someone who knows you and who works at the company you are interested in or knows someone who does. They in essence form a “bridge” between you and the company and job you want. They can help set up information interviews or introduce you to people who can.
Best and worst Ways to find a Job
After outlining the WCIYP job search approach, the book ranks the best and worst ways to find a job. As an example, the book says responding to an employer’s job posting on the internet is statistically one of the worst ways to find a job. In contrast, asking for job leads from friends, family or people on your social networks like Linked in is one of the best ways to search for a job.
Discovering Yourself
At the heart of the book is a method to learn about yourself and what your dream job would be. The book devotes two chapters on an approach to do a self-inventory. The method the book uses is to have you create a flower or diamond diagram with seven focus areas. The first being your purpose in life, then defining the work atmosphere you would most thrive in, next identifying your favorite skills and talents that you would excel at doing. After this, you identify the geographical location you would most like to live, followed by defining your most important knowledges and interests you have and then the type of people you would most want to work with. Then your self-inventory completes with you defining the salary you desire. The book guides you through multiple exercises to complete your diagram. When I re-read the book this section took the longest. However, I can honestly say having completed my diagram did help me and revealed a few things about myself that were not obvious to me before reading the book.
Informational Interviews
After you complete your diagram the book encourages you to explore careers or jobs that your diagram points you to. It recommends doing this by seeking out and talking to people who are already doing the job you want. The book again recommends conducting informational interviews. The book states the average job seeker screens a company after they are hired and recommends you do your homework before you are hired. To do this the book recommends you find, you guessed it, a “Bridge” person.
Next the book talks about social media and recommends you Google your name and correct or seek to remove any misinformation that exists about you online. Several companies allow you to opt out of their directories. This section of the book is a little dated as it references Plaxo which is now defunct, but in general the advice is sound.
Interviewing Tips
The following section of the book provides sixteen tips for interviewing. While many of the tips are common sense (mix speaking and listening 50/50), several are relevant and things you will want to abide by (listen to questions to understand what fear about the future caused them to ask you the question). Also, by reviewing the list it can help you build confidence that you will perform well in an interview.
Salary Negotiation
After interviewing tips, the book then provides guidelines on negotiating a salary. For those who have never negotiated a salary the book offers several great suggestions. Items like when asked what your salary desires are, you should always recommend a range vs. a single number. The book also gives tips on how to find out what the employers salary range is and bracket your answer appropriately.
In Conclusion
The book then goes on to provide suggestions on how to deal with handicaps, strategies to change your career and culminates with a chapter on starting your own business if you elect to create your own job. Overall, after all these years, I found the book was still relevant and helpful. For those who are not sure of what direction to pursue after the military, the self-inventory section of the book will probably provide the most value. If you are a transitioning military member WCIYP is still a great book to add to your reading list to help you prepare and be part of the 31% who find their dream job in 1-3 months after leaving the service.
Here is a non-affiliate link to What Color Is your Parachute 2020 version. The 2020 version table of contents appears almost identical to the 2019 version this article was based on. As a result, I believe the main points in this summary are still valid.
Also, according to the latest statistics, each year, nearly 200,000 servicemen and women will separate from active duty in the United States military. If you believe this article would benefit military members or veterans in your network, please share it. – Thanks Ben
Veterans, have you ever wondered if a career in defense contracting is right for you? Throughout your career, have you considered defense work but were unsure? As one of the thousands of veterans who have become a Defense Contractor, this article summarizes my contracting experience. My goal is to give you insight into defense work to help you decide if it is something you want to pursue. This article will be something like “a day in the life of” but only a little longer. Also, my career and experience come from primarily working Air Force contracts. However, the knowledge and insights I provide should apply to most government contracts and salaried contracting jobs.
Leaving Active Duty
My story begins when I left active duty Army after spending two years in Bravo Company 4th Bn 31st Infantry Regiment (Pro Patria) and I decided to go to college to get a degree from CU Boulder (Go Buffs).
Calling for Fire
After my enlistment, I planned to leave the Army behind, but Uncle Sam had other ideas. When I was out-processing, one of the last stops on my clearing checklist was the in-service recruiter’s office. What I thought was going to be a quick “check the box” ended up changing my life substantially. Once inside the in-service recruiter’s office, I met your typical “seasoned” senior NCO, who was assigned recruiting duty. It was his job to convince me to continue my relationship with the Army when I thought for sure I was done. After I presented the Master Sergeant my clearing paperwork, he asked me what I was going to do after I left the Army? I told him I was going to use my GI Bill to go to college in Colorado.
Upon hearing this, he spun his squeaky chair around and opened a filing cabinet drawer stuffed with too many folders (this was pre-internet). He shuffled through the files and then stopped on a folder and pulled out a piece of paper and slowly turned back toward me with a hint of a smile on his face. Then he says to me, “I can give you $5,000 if you join the Colorado Army National Guard while you go to college.” Wow, a $5k bonus for joining the Colorado Guard! I had to think about it (this would be approximately $10k in 2019 dollars).
He proceeded to tell me that college is typically four years long and that I would only need to do two more “short” years after I graduate to complete the six-year enlistment to be eligible for the bonus. It did not take me too long to convince myself that $5k would be an excellent boost to help me get started in school. Too bad I didn’t read the small print that said I would be paid half up front and half upon successful completion of my second year. Darn recruiters. Anyway, I signed the paperwork and moved to Colorado and started college. As a side note, my six-year enlistment with the Colorado National Guard culminated in a 30-year military career, but that is a story for another day.
College Experience and First Job
Being new to college, I did not understand the importance of getting real-world experience in my chosen career field while completing school. As a result, during my summer breaks I did several Army National Guard short tours to make extra money. While this helped my Army career, it did little to help me with my future civilian employment. Had I known better, I would have looked for internships, especially with local defense contractors, so I could get work experience while I was going to college. Several of the leading Department of Defense (DoD) contractors were right in the Boulder / Denver area (Martin Marietta now Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman and Ball Aerospace, to name a few).
Soon enough, four years passed by, and I graduated with a degree in Information Systems and began looking for a job as a computer programmer. Remember how I said I only did Army tours during my college summer breaks, now this came back to haunt me. The thing was, the only real computer programming experience I had was my college projects. Without any practical experience my job prospects were limited.
After three months of job searching and a favor called in by a recruiter I befriended, I was able to land a job with a company called Michael Ricker Pewter. Michael Ricker was a retail artist, and serendipitously his company built their point of sale system with the same programming language I used for my college senior project. A long story short, I worked for Michael Ricker for three years, upgrading his point of sale system and developing several other software applications for the business. Then one day, I was called into Michael’s office, and he told me my computer programs were working well and he thanked me and told me he no longer needed my services. Wow, just like that, I was laid off. Up until then, the only full-time jobs I had were the Army and Michael Ricker. I was new to the civilian job world and did not know how hard it was going to take to get a new job.
First Defense Contracting Job
As fortune would have it, I found a job posting on Compuserve (again pre-internet) for a job with Lockheed Martin in Colorado Springs. As luck would have it, Lockheed had developed a logistics tracking program for the Air Force using the same programming language I used for Michael Ricker. Within three weeks of losing my job, I started as a software engineer for Lockheed Martin with a $7k increase in pay, sweet!
I had never worked as a Defense contractor before, so everything was very new to me. To begin, I received a very good benefits package that included vision, dental, medical, 401k with 4% matching contributions, two weeks vacation, one-week sick leave, 100% tuition reimbursement for additional education as well as corporate discounts for cell phones and a variety of other items.
Also, I discovered Lockheed Martin and many other DoD contractors offer excellent in-house leadership training and they can be quite generous in sending you to commercial professional development training. Moreover, throughout my many years of defense work, my experience is that most DoD contractors provide above-average benefits.
After starting work, I learned defense contracts had an organizational hierarchy similar to that of the military. On large contracts the program manager is like a battalion commander, the section managers (Engineering, Finance, Projects, HR, Finance) are like company commanders, the sub discipline managers (Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, etc.) are like platoon leaders and team leads are like squad leaders. While this structure is not universal it does apply to a lot of contracts. I also discovered a lot of veterans worked as defense contractors. Having an organization structure similar to the military made the job environment familiar, and it was good to work with veterans as we had a shared military experience regardless of branch of service.
Concerning the work, and types of projects defense contractors support, I soon found out defense work spans the spectrum. Contracts can have jobs for mechanics, truck drivers, and field support technicians, as well as programmers, scientists, and engineers. Most jobs are focused on building and sustaining very complex military systems (aircraft, ships, radars, satellites, lasers, missiles, etc.) that directly support our nation’s defense. While some civilian companies work on similar types of large scale and complex systems, I have found working for companies and projects that support our nation’s defense to be very rewarding.
Personally, over my career, I have been able to work on large scale enterprise resource planning, product lifecycle management, and command and control systems. Likewise, I have worked on programs managing information and systems related to satellite tracking, nuclear and conventional weapons effects, and systems supporting the building and launching of rockets, and most recently missile defense.
Defense Contracting Work Environment
I have also learned that a lot of people who take up a career in Defense contracting find a good program and associated contract and stay with it. Some people stay on the same system for the rest of their careers and migrate from one support contract to the next. The work environment on large programs is similar to a small town, and a core cadre of people become experts on the systems. These people provide exemplary service for their companies and the nation. One caveat is sometimes veteran employees get stuck in their ways and are resistant to change. This can be a detriment to the contract and new employees with good ideas. I imagine jobs in the civilian sector experience this too, but I thought it was worth calling out. Now back to the positive aspects of working on a large, multi-year contract. On these types of programs, a big part of the team becomes like your family, and it is great to see them and work with them day in and day out to achieve the mission of the contract.
Early in my career, this happened to me, and I spent fourteen years on the Depot Support II contract, and its follow on the Satellite Control Network Contract. After several years in Defense contracting with one company, I moved contracts to take on more responsibly and try new things. The good thing about Defense contracting is once you learn the culture and fundamentals of your job, it is relatively easy to change companies to explore new career opportunities.
Period of Performance
Now back to my first DoD Contracting job, soon after starting, I learned the contract I was on was a Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) contract with a three year period of performance (PoP). See my article “Veterans – Do you understand the fundamentals needed to succeed in a DoD contracting job?” for details on Cost Reimbursable contracts. I asked what a three-year PoP meant? My manager told me that in three years, our company would have to recompete to win the right to continue supporting the Air Force systems we were sustaining and evolving.
I must admit this made me nervous. In the Army, I had a job for the term of my enlistment. Having the chance of losing my job every time a contract came up for re-compete was a little unsettling. Luckily for me, I had a good manager, and he explained if a DoD contractor is performing well, they usually win the follow-on contract. When this happens, everyone usually stays on the contract and continues doing their job. If a DoD contractor loses a contract, the winner usually hires over half of the incumbent team, and people switch companies and continue with their job. This advice has played out accurately over my career as I have stayed on winning contracts and changed DoD contracting companies several times.
I now provide the same guidance for people I mentor, but I also add there may be times in your DoD career where your company does not have any openings for your next career advancement position and you should not be afraid of changing DoD contracting companies to continue to move up the career ladder or seek new challenging opportunities.
If you are a person who does not like uncertainty related to your employment and the prospect of having to change jobs every three to five years seems untenable then a career in DoD contracting may not be a fit for you. However, given the volatility of the civilian job sector it is not unlikely that even with top name companies you may have to change jobs within three to five years. Companies like Leeman Brothers, Sears, and Kodak are just a few examples where employees thought they were set for long term employment, but it did not play out.
Compliance Training
Going back to my first month on the job as a DoD Contractor. One of the first things I discovered was there were a whole lot of new acronyms to learn. In my new hire orientation, I was advised of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and how there were multiple rules defense contractors had to abide by to ensure their companies remained compliant with the law.
After the general FAR overview, I took a class on time tracking and learned how to track and charge my daily work time in 6-minute increments. In DoD contracting, charge numbers are assigned to all the work you do, and you must charge your time correctly. The phrase “charge what you work, and work what you charge” was drilled into me. After timekeeping, I was given several other corporate compliance classes with topics covering conflict of interest, safety, security, handling classified information, purchasing, sexual harassment, etc.). It took 2-3 days of death by PowerPoint before I was introduced to my team and started working. I soon learned that the initial time you take the corporate compliance training is the most time-consuming. After that, you only have to do it annually, and the refresher training is much shorter. Nowadays, corporate compliance training is all web-based, but it still takes a couple of days to complete the first time you do it.
Processes and more Processes
After finishing my compliance training, my team leader introduced me to my team. I was eager to start programming again, but then my team lead told me I had to learn about a new process framework called the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) from Carnegie Mellon University. CMM is a process framework for doing software development, and the DoD had adopted it to help ensure contractors provided quality and timely software to the Government. The model has since evolved into CMMI, and the I stands for Integrated. The model is now expanded to cover both hardware and software development.
The DoD contracting world is big on process standards. In addition to CMM, I also completed training in ISO 9001. ISO 9001 is an international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS)1. DoD contractors use ISO 9001 to demonstrate their ability to consistently deliver high-quality products and services. Likewise, I took training on Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a methodology based on statistical analysis rather than guesswork to improve processes with unknown problems2. I also learned Earned Value Management (EVM). Earned value management is a project management technique for measuring project performance and progress.3
My training in these standards did not all occur during my first month on the contract but was spread out over several years. As mentioned, DoD contractors are good about sending their employees to professional development training, and these classes have served me well throughout my career.
During my first month on the job, on top of reviewing and receiving training on CMM processes, I learned about DoD standards for system sustainment. I learned what Systems Requirements Documents (SRD), Operational Requirements Documents (ORD), Statement of Work (SOW), and Task Orders (TO) documents were. Likewise, during my first month, my team lead showed me the requirements documents and the Contract Deliverables (CDRL) and associated Data Item Descriptions (DIDs) related to our work.
My boss also introduced me to the DoD System Development Lifecycle (SDLC). The DoD SDLC is a process framework that breaks down engineering work into discrete phases. It starts with a Systems Requirements Review (SRR) and then proceeds to a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) followed by a Critical Design Review (CDR) then a Build, Integration, and Test phase (BIT) concluding with a Test Readiness Review (TRR) before going to a Factory / Final Acceptance Test (FAT) and in some cases a Site Acceptance Test (SAT). This process is still used today and is sometimes referred to as a “Waterfall process,” meaning it is done serially one step after the other. There are newer Spiral Development and Agile processes, but those came later.
Sustaining Air Force Mission Systems
I also learned about the sustainment of Air Force mission systems. Mission Systems usually have formal specifications and are modified following formal Air Force sustainment / modification processes. The processes include detailed Engineering Change Proposals (ECP) to capture all change requirements, and depending on the magnitude of the change, changes are classified as major modifications or minor modifications. Software requirements are captured as Deficiency Reports (DR) or Change Requests (CR). Next, I learned that most Air Force Mission systems follow a formal test control process. This process categorizes defects into three categories CAT I, CAT II, and CAT III, each with associated remediation rules. Lastly, for some large and complex systems I learned that they require independent test validation by specialized Air Force Test Squadrons.
As mentioned earlier, DoD contracting is big on process and standards just like the military. If during your military career you felt stymied by all the rules and regulations, then you may want to consider a different career sector than DoD contracting. Government rules and the FAR also can inhibit rapid solutions and moving at the speed of the market. So just like the military there are a lot of times in DoD contracting where you have to “hurry up and wait.” For some people, the inflexibility of the FAR and the speed at which certain work items can get done is very frustrating. As a result they usually change careers outside of DoD after a few years.
Government Contracting Business Lifecycle
Now back to my initial DoD contracting job, after my training I finally received my initial work assignments. Then one of the cool things I discovered about doing software development as a contractor is we got to use all the latest software development tools. Open source software was not as prevalent at the time and in my prior company we had a very limited software tool budget. Next, I learned that my team was on a six-month release cycle. This meant we coded for three months and performed system testing and documentation for three months. We followed a Microsoft Project schedule that guided us through the SDLC and completed it with a Final Acceptance Test (FAT). Upon FAT completion, we delivered and installed the software on the Government and end user’s computers. Then after each delivery the process started again. As I am writing this, I feel like a dinosaur as current standards in software development are to get as close to continuous delivery as possible.
Anyway, after my first month on the job I settled into the normal work rhythm of a 42-45 hour workweek with occasional evening and weekend work. I also became aware of the Government contracting business cycle. Daily we would do our work and log our time in our timesheets. Weekly we would meet with our customer to review our project progress and address any issues. Then at the end of the week we would summarize our weekly work activities and accomplishments and submit a Weekly Activity Report (WAR) to our manger. Then every three months, we would provide updates to our manager as input into the Quarterly Program Management Reviews (QPMR) with the customer. This process would repeat each quarter. Then at the beginning of the fiscal year on 1 October, the majority of the annual task orders were renewed for another year. As a result, the last few months of each fiscal year was always a very busy time, and we worked very hard to get everything done by September 30th.
Next, because we were an award fee contract, we submitted our award fee comments twice a year in March and September. In May, we started planning the task orders for the next year. Every year there were threats of funding cuts. As a result, we often wrote mission impact statements to detail what would occur without full project funding. In July and August we would review our budgets and our material needs with our Government project officers and get approval for annual hardware and software procurements. Then the cycle would start again. Presently most DoD sustainment contracts follow a similar business lifecycle. While this business lifecycle may seem routine, every week, month, and year had its challenges and rewards. The familiarity of this lifecycle makes it easy to focus on the work and the mission.
Conclusion
Over the course of my DoD contracting career I have contributed to hundreds of software releases, system upgrades, datacenter upgrades, and system deployments. Each of the projects I have been blessed to work on have contributed in some fashion to our nation’s defense. Along the way I was fortunate to work and make friends with some amazingly talented people. I have also received industry leading professional development training and obtained a master’s degree all paid for by the companies I worked for. Presently, I continue to work as a DoD Contractor and really enjoy the DoD contracting atmosphere and the work.
While DoD contracting may not be for everyone, I sincerely hope my career summary provided you some insight into what a DoD contracting career can be like and the pros and cons of being a DoD contractor. If you are a veteran, who has successfully made the transition to becoming a DoD contractor, feel free to advise of any additional insights positive or negative on your contracting career that may be helpful to other veterans.
Also, according to the latest statistics, each year, nearly 200,000 servicemen and women will separate from active duty in the United States military. If you believe this article would benefit military members or veterans in your network, please share it.
On the surface, this seems like a reasonable question to ask for someone starting their job search and reaching out to their network. Quite often, this is one of the first questions transitioning military members post on LinkedIn or other military job forums.
Unfortunately, the question as written severely limits the referrals or leads your network can provide. In this article, we will review a few actions you can take to improve the questions you ask and the results you get when reaching out to your network for job leads.
Introduction
To begin, when asking for help, it is advisable to introduce yourself and provide a little background of your situation. For example, it would be helpful for people to know if you are transitioning in six months or one week.
To help you with your introduction, think about if someone approached you for advice on joining the military. What questions would you ask to help you give them good advise? You would likely want to know why they wanted to join the military and what their goals are? Information about the type of jobs they are interested in and what their strengths are would also be helpful.
With this thought process in mind, the same applies to you and your job search. Perspective respondents to your request for job leads will want to know more about you and your job/career desires so they can provide you the best responses and ultimately job leads. Also, everyone is usually very busy, so being short and precise in your request is also advisable.
The first part of your request would be an introduction and a statement of where you are in your job search. For example, “Hello all, my name is [John Doe], and I will be retiring/separating from the service within [##] months.”
Career Interests and Experience
After this, letting people know what jobs or careers you are most interested in would come next. “I am looking for leads related to [entry, mid, senior] level [job title] jobs related to the [XYZ] industry. Remember, the more specific you are, the better your network can help you.
Next, consider adding information to establish your credibility in your desired career field. “I have [##] years of [XYZ ] industry experience.”
Following this, you can list any additional skills, certifications, and experience that employers in that industry find beneficial. “I maintain a [XYZ] clearance and have achieved [XYZ] certifications.” I also have [##] years of experience doing [XYZ] work.
After clarifying the proceeding items, you can identify the size and names of the companies you want to work for. These would be your dream companies. “I am most interested in leads or insights from veterans with experience working for [small, medium, large] companies like [Google, Northrup Grumman, Disney, etc.].”
To wrap it up you can specify your desired work locations and the best method to contact you. “Any leads in the [XYZ] area would be most appreciated.” My LinkedIn profile is up to date, and my resume is available for download. Thanks in advance for any assistance or leads you can provide.
Putting it all together
In conclusion, when you put all this information together your request for job leads would look something like this.
“Hello all, my name is Jane Doe, and I will be retiring/separating from the service within six months, and I am looking for leads on senior level Project Management jobs related to the aviation field. I have 20+ years of aviation and airfield operations experience and maintain an active military clearance at the secret level. I am a certified PmP and have successfully led 10+ aviation-related projects valued at $10M+. I am most interested in leads or insights from veterans with experience working for large companies like Lockheed Marin, Boeing, Northrup Grumman or similar airlines or aviation companies located at the in the Dallas Fort Worth area. My LinkedIn profile is up to date, and my resume is available for download. Thanks in advance for any assistance or leads you can provide.”
If you are a transitioning military member or veteran, thank you for your service, and I hope you found this article beneficial. If you are a veteran who has successfully made the transition, please advise of any additional tips that have worked for you when reaching out to your network. Also, if you believe this article would benefit veterans in your network please share it. According to the USDA, each year nearly 200,000 servicemen and women will separate from active duty in the United States military.
Career Overview: Within DoD Contracting one of the most visible, challenging and prevalent careers is that of a Project Manager. Project Managers come from many different educational and career backgrounds. The main objective of project managers is to lead a team of matrixed resources in the accomplishment of program objectives classified as a project. Project durations can span in duration from months to multi-years. Most projects are accomplished in a year or less, have a specified start and stop date, and are established to deliver a specific outcome. Project examples include upgrading a major software system, updating a radar system, deploying a new satellite, and overhauling a fleet of military vehicles to name a few.
Project management requires excellent leadership, communications and people skills. Most successful project managers have held leadership positions in their career (team leader, shift leader, squad leader, platoon leader, etc.) Likewise, it helps if the project manager has technical knowledge relating to the projects they are leading. For example, for large software systems upgrades ideal project managers would have a background in software systems development, support or migration. Similarly, for projects related to fielding a new radar system, project managers with a background in radar systems would ideal candidates to lead these types of projects.
In addition to having domain knowledge of the projects they are leading, project managers also require education and experience with several supporting disciplines to include, contracting, purchasing, procurement, vendor relations, budgeting, systems engineering, and systems testing to name a few. Also, Project Management requires excellent leadership skills, strong emotional intelligence, and an ability to deal with dynamic and changing business environments and still deliver quality, on time and on budget projects.
Career Path: Entry-level project managers usually have a background in the career field of the project they are assigned to lead and start out running a single small, less complex project of about $100k to $300k in value and three to six months in duration. After a project manager proves themselves they are given larger more complex projects to lead or multiple smaller projects to lead concurrently.
Mid-level project managers are usually assigned multiple complex projects from $1-$10M in value to run and Senior level project managers compete for and are assigned the largest or most complex projects to run $10M- $50M+ in value. Likewise, Senior Level project managers are sometimes assigned Entry Level and Mid-Level project managers to help lead large complex projects. The project sizes here are just estimates, but should provide a general guide of the responsibilities of project managers.
Career progression for project managers beyond Senior-Level project manager includes Project Management Organization (PMO) manager or leader or often times project managers are promoted in to Program Manager positions.
Salaries: Project Manager salaries vary by region and project complexity, but start around ~$60k for entry level project managers and can be in excess of $150k for Senior level project managers.
Professional Organizations: The Project Management Institute (PMI) is one of the leading professional organizations for Project Managers
Training & Certifications: For project managers the main civilian credential that aids career progression and is often a requirement for defense contractor project management jobs is the Professional Project Manager (PMP) certification.
Eric A. Wright, Ph.D, PMP is founder and CEO of Vets2PM and has created a 35 hour program and course to help veterans convert their military experience to civilian project management experience and to study for and pass the PMI project management Professional exam to obtain the PMP certification. The program also provides students with multiple other benefits such as resume help and interview skills workshop. Check out the VetstoPM resource for more information.
Additionally, formal training in Earned Value Management System (EVMS) from companies like Humphreys & Associates or available via the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) is invaluable. Likewise, while not required, but very helpful is the completion of the Defense Acquisition University Program Management training offered to Military and DoD civilian workforce. Similarly, most large DoD contractors have their own internal project management training course that is provided to new project managers or promising project management candidates.
Education: Most project manager positions require a bachelor degree, but there are many that do not. In my experience, having a bachelor degree in a related discipline for the projects you want to lead will help candidates be more competitive when competing for project manager jobs.
Job Search: To review currently open project manager jobs that DoD contractors are actively hiring for I recommend going to the career page of several of the DoD contractors profiled on Defense Careers HQ and searching for jobs with the titles “Project Manager” or “Project Engineer” and review the jobs and job requirements that come up.
If you found this article beneficial and would like to be notified of other articles and content related to finding and excelling in a job as a DoD contractor please sign up for my newsletter. Cheers – Ben
As you explore career options in becoming a DoD contractor there are a few more things you should know, namely the concepts of Firm Fixed Price and Cost Reimbursement contracts. Understanding these concepts will make you a better job candidate and contractor employee.
Now that you are familiar with the definitions of a prime contractor and subcontractor and have a basic understanding of contract durations we are going to review the concepts of Firm Fixed Price and Cost Reimbursement contracts. If you did not read Part I of this series I encourage you to do so before proceeding.
When the government issues a contract for goods and/or services they have several contract types to choose from. These contract types are grouped into two categories: fixed-price contracts and cost-reimbursement contracts. With fixed price contracts the contractor has full responsibility to control costs and achieve a profit (fee) or minimize losses associated with performing the contract. Under cost reimbursement contracts the contractor has minimal responsibility for the costs associated with contract performance and the negotiated profit is fixed.
Within both of these models the government has a variety of incentive models to use to tailor the contract type and incentivize contractors to control cost or achieve performance targets. Key drivers for the type of contract the government issues is risk and cost control. In general Fixed Price contracts are the least risky to the government and cost contracts are more risky.
Within both of these models the government has a variety of incentive models to use to tailor the contract type and incentivize contractors to control cost or achieve performance targets. Key drivers for the type of contract the government issues are risk and cost control. In general Fixed Price contracts are the least risky to the government and cost contracts are more risky.
Knowing about these DoD contract types will provide you a basic understanding of how the government uses them to incentivise contractors to get work done. It will also give you information on how to best support your company maximize profit. With these goals in mind, let’s review a few of the more common fixed price and cost reimbursement contract models.
Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contracts
The most straight forward and less risky for the government are Fixed Price contracts. A Firm Fixed Price contract provides for a set price that is not subject to any change resulting from a contractor’s cost in performing the contract. This contract type places maximum risk and full responsibility for all costs and resulting profit or loss on the contractor. It provides maximum incentive for contractors to control costs and perform effectively and imposes a minimum administrative burden and oversight responsibilities for the government. 1
The contractors who bid Firm Fixed Price work have to be sure they can provide the goods or services requested for the price negotiated and still make a profit. This type of contract puts the majority of delivery risk on the contractor.
To provide an example, consider if you were in business as a fence builder and you build fences in your county in the summer for homeowners. Your company name is ACME Fence Builders LLC. Under a FFP model when you bid new work, you would do a location survey, calculate your material needs and profit and provide your customers a firm fixed price bid for the work.
Since you have been building fences in your county for years you know the land and soil types, the weather conditions, what permits you need to get, and the cost of labor. As a result you can create a FFP bid and be confident you will come in very close to your estimate and make a profit.
In this situation your company takes on all the risk that your assumptions and bid are valid. If the price of redwood spikes two days after your customer signed your contract then your business would have to cover the price increase out of profit.
This is the same scenario for government contracting. In FFP contracts the DoD contractor takes on all the risk that they can deliver the product or service for the set price.
Cost Reimbursement Contracts
When the government releases a Cost Reimbursement contract, they will release a Request For Proposal (RFP) to industry to bid on using one of several cost contract types (Cost Plus Incentive Fee, Cost Plus Award Fee, Cost Plus Fixed Fee, etc.). Cost-reimbursement contracts provide for payment of all allowable incurred costs as prescribed in the contract.
Cost contracts, result in the government taking a majority of risk as they are obligated to pay all contractor costs related to performing the work and provide fee (profit) as well. Also, cost contracts provide minimum incentives for contractors to control costs and imposes a maximum administrative burden and oversight responsibilities on the government.
Cost contracts are most often used when circumstances do not allow the agency to define its requirements sufficiently to allow for a fixed-price type contract or there are uncertainties involved in contract performance that do not permit costs to be estimated with sufficient accuracy to use any type of fixed-price contract.2
To continue with our an example, consider your business as a fence builder and you get a request to build a fence in a new state and the customer needs the fence built as soon as possible without giving you the time to do a proper site survey, review local building codes or do a thorough analysis of local labor costs. Let’s say your company really needs the work so you do your best and estimate the work based on your experience building fences in your state and local county and submit a bid. Also, for sake of example let’s say the customer accepts your bid and awards your company a cost reimbursable contract for the fence.
As you began work you discover the soil in the new location is twice as hard as your local location and the drilling of fence post holes takes twice as long and doubles the labor for that part of the job. Under a cost reimbursable contract the customer would cover the additional cost associated with the extra time required to drill the post holes. Thus for cost reimbursable contracts the majority of cost risk falls to the customer.
This is the same scenario for government contracting. Under Cost Reimbursement Contracts the Government takes on the majority of risk that the product or service can be delivered for the negotiated price. Keep in mind this is just an example to explain the basics of Cost Reimbursement Contracts and there are rules and regulations associated with allowable increased costs versus unallowable costs.
Now that you have a basic understanding of Cost Reimbursement Contracts let us briefly review the three most common types of Cost Reimbursement Contracts. These include Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF), Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) and Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF).
Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF)
Under a Cost Plus Incentive Fee structure the government provides for an initially negotiated fee (profit amount) to be adjusted later by a formula. The formula is usually comprised of performance goals and cost goals. At the end of the incentive fee period a contractors profit is calculated based on the performance target score and the relationship of total incurred costs to total target costs.3
The potential to earn more fee based on performance is intended to incentivize contractors to manage the contract effectively. Cost Plus Incentive Fee contracts provide incentives for contractors to control costs and maximize profit.
Going back to our fence example let’s say as part of the contract the customer indicates they will pay you a flat 3% profit for building of the fence. Also, if you can complete the initial permitting, site survey and get all of the posts dug and set within between 51 and 60 days after contract award you can earn an additional fee of 2%. If you get the posts set after 60 days but before 90 days you get 1% additional fee and if you are greater than 90 days late you 0% additional fee. Likewise, if you complete everything in 50 days or less you get 3% profit. Also, if you can complete the total job at 80% of the negotiated labor cost you can earn an additional 3% percent profit.
Using this example, let’s say your company gets the initial work done in 65 days and completes the work for 79% of the negotiated labor estimate. Using the agreed to incentive fee plan you would earn your flat 3% for the base work, an additional 1% for getting the initial milestone done before 90 days and an additional 3% profit for coming in under total labor costs. Your total profit would be 7%. See table below.
Incentive Fee
Posts set 61 -90 days 1% fee
Posts set 51-60 days 2% fee
Posts set 30-50 days 3% fee
So if you get a job as a government contractor and you are working on a CPIF contract then you would want to be sure you knew the basics of the incentive fee plan. By knowing the basics of the plan you can ensure you align and perform your job in a manner to help your company maximize profit.
Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF)
Cost plus Award Fee contracts are a type of incentive contract. Under this type of contract the government pays the contractor’s costs for providing the services in the contract and allows for a base fee (profit) amount. Then at the end of the performance period the contractor can earn additional “award fee/profit” based on their performance against a preset list of award fee criteria.4
Under a Cost Plus Award Fee structure the government establishes an initial Award Fee plan. This plan outlines the award-fee evaluation criteria and how they are linked to government objectives which are defined in terms of contract cost, schedule, and technical performance objectives. The award fee criteria is designed to motivate contractors to enhance performance in the areas rated, but not at the expense of at least minimum acceptable performance in all other areas. Also, award fee shall not be earned if the contractor’s overall cost, schedule, and technical performance in the aggregate is below satisfactory.5
Returning to our fence example, let’s say the customer awarded your company a cost plus award fee contract to build a fence in four months. Under this model the customer will pay all your company’s costs in building the fence and a set fee of 4% profit. Additionally, your company can achieve upto 6% additional profit if you achieve maximum award fee scores for product quality as defined in the Award Fee Plan. Also, the award fee plan will be assessed in two periods (two months after award and at completion.) Accordingly, if your company finishes the fence and receives max award fee during both of the rating periods you would earn 10% profit, 4% on the base work plus 6% award fee.
The following example uses a modified excerpt from Appendix D – Sample Evaluation Criteria from the Department of the Air Force Award-Fee Guide October 2008. Also, to ensure consistency in product and service quality most government contracts require contractors to follow industry standards. The example below cites ISO 9001 as the governing quality standard.
Sample Award Fee Plan for ACME Fence Builders
Product Quality (PQ): (Specific areas of interest: ISO 9001 (or equivalent) compliance & minimizing material/workmanship defects)
Unsatisfactory: PQ program is not compliant with standards for ISO 9001 (or equivalent) and initial quality of products fails to meet baseline standards. Fee 0%
Satisfactory: PQ program is compliant with standards for ISO 9001 qualification (or equivalent) and initial quality of products meets baseline standards. Fee 3%
Excellent: PQ program significantly exceeds standards for ISO 9001, reducing material/workmanship defects; implements some process improvements. Fee 6%
Using these definitions and our example scenario let’s say the customer assigned 0% additional fee if any part of the fence is rated Unsatisfactory and fails to meet ISO 9001 standards for quality. Accordingly for Satisfactory PQ the customer assigned 3% additional fee and Excellent PC the customer assigned 6% additional fee. Also since the customer stated it would be assessed in two periods you would be able to achieve 1.5% fee for satisfactory and 3% fee for excellent for each assessment period for a total of 3% for satisfactory and 6% for excellent respectively. See table below.
Award Fee Plan Criteria
2 Month Inspection
4 Month Inspection
Total
Unsatisfactory PQ
0%
0%
0%
Satisfactory PQ
1.5%
1.5%
3%
Excellent PQ
3%
3%
6%
Under most CPAF contracts there are multiple Award Fee Assessment periods and multiple categories are used. I only used one here to keep the example straight forward. As with the CPIF example, if you are working on a CPAF contract you would want to have knowledge of the Award Fee Plan and what the criteria are so you can align your work to support helping your company achieve excellent scores and maximum profit.
Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)
Under a Cost Plus Fixed Fee structure the government pays a contractor’s allowable cost for providing services and payment to the contractor of a negotiated fee that is fixed at the inception of the contract. The fixed fee does not vary with actual cost, but may be adjusted as a result of changes in the work to be performed under the contract. This contract type permits contracting for efforts that might otherwise present too great a risk to contractors, but it provides the contractor only a minimum incentive to control costs.6
Going back to our fence example, under a CPFF contract the customer would pay your fence building company all costs associated with building the fence and fixed fixed fee of 8%. This would be a guaranteed profit provided you completed the fence per the requirements of the contract. Also, you get no additional fee for finishing early. Likewise, the fee is the same if you get the job done but it is late.
Time and Materials (T&M)
Under a Time and Material structure the government pays a contractor’s allowable costs for all “Time and Materials” supplied in the performance of the contract. “Materials” means those materials that enter directly into the end product, or that are used or consumed directly in connection with the furnishing of the end product or service.
A time-and-materials contract provides for acquiring supplies or services on the basis of (1) Direct labor hours at specified fixed hourly rates that include wages, overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit; and (2) Actual cost for materials.
A time-and-materials contract may be used only when it is not possible at the time of placing the contract to estimate accurately the extent or duration of the work or to anticipate costs with any reasonable degree of confidence.7
Going back to our fence example, under a T&M contract the customer would pay your fence building company all costs associated with building the fence based on a fixed hourly rate for your companies labor costs and the actual cost of materials. To be successful at T&M contracting your company would need to ensure your labor rates were competitive to allow you to win work, but also high enough to provide you profit. Under this scenario your company is not incentivized to finish early as you would get less fee. Likewise, to protect the customers bottom line they usually stipulate a not to exceed (NTE) clause in the contract to preclude unscrupulous fence builders from stretching out the work to make more money.
Summary
In summary, you now have a general understanding of fixed price and cost reimbursable government contracts. You also have a broad understanding of Cost Plus Incentive Fee, Cost Plus Award Fee, Cost Plus Fixed Fee and T&M contracting models. When you land an interview with a defense contractor you can inquire if the position you are interviewing for is on a fixed price contract or cost reimbursable contract or if the contract supports a mix of contract types. Likewise, if the contract is a cost reimbursable contract you can ask if the contract is an Incentive Fee or Award Fee contract and if the position you are interviewing for has any areas that allow you to directly or indirectly contribute to maximizing profit for your company.
This concludes part II of this series stay tuned for future articles. If you have any questions or comments feel free to message me or comment on the article. To learn more about DoD Contracting job and career opportunities visit my website Defense Careers HQ.
4 Author, United States General Services Administration. 16.405-2 Cost-plus-award-fee contracts. Retrieved from https://www.acquisition.gov/content/16405-2-cost-plus-award-fee-contracts
