As you explore a career in becoming a DoD contractor there are a few things you should know that can make your life easier and make you a better job candidate. To begin, as with any career field, there are several terms you will need to learn. The most basic are the definitions of a government contractor and the classifications of prime contractor and subcontractor.
A government contractor is a company (privately owned or publicly traded that produces goods or services under contract for the government.
Prime contractor
A Prime contractor works directly with the government. They manage any subcontractors, and are responsible for ensuring that the work is completed as defined in the contract.
To become a prime contractor, businesses must first register their business with the System for Award Management (SAM). Once registered, businesses search for federal contracting opportunities through Fed Biz Opps (FBO), and GSA Schedules. 1
Sub-contractor
Unlike prime contractors, subcontractors do not work directly with the government, but instead work for prime contractors. Some government contracts require large companies to subcontract with a small business. This creates more opportunities for small businesses to get involved in federal contracting. 1
In layman’s terms the Prime contractor and its staff work directly with the Government customer and they are responsible for meeting the requirements of the contract. Sub contractors are responsible to the prime for the work defined in their subcontract. Also, subcontractors must coordinate all their activities and commutations to the primes’ customers though the prime before speaking directly with the government customer or abide by the Prime’s rules for customer interaction.
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
The principal laws applied to government contracting are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) which is part of the CFR. As a new government contractor employee you may hear references to the FAR as part of your daily work. Also, you will likely have to perform specific FAR compliance training within the first 90 days of becoming a government contractor. This training is to ensure you are aware of and perform your work in compliance with the CFR and FAR.
Contracts
Prior to landing your first DoD contracting interview there are a few more concepts you will want to know about. The first are the types of contracts, durations and options. Most government contracts are broken down into a base period and option periods. The base period is defined as the main time duration the government expects the contractor to complete the work awarded in the contract. The option period(s) are just that options for the government to extend the contract performance period if the contractor is doing a good job. A typical DoD contract can have a base period of 5 years with two 1 year options. This would be referred to as a five plus two contract.
Job Stability
So what does this mean for someone new to DoD and just staring his or her first job. It means that unless you were hired for a corporate job (HR, Finance, IT, Management, etc.) paid for by company overhead versus direct contract funds your job may end at the end of the period of the contract.
However, most likely the company you join will bid for the follow on contract and if they are doing a good job they will win and you will continue your job for the next contract period. If your company should lose, but you are doing a good job, you have kept up on your professional development and are respected by your peers, most likely the winning company will interview and hire your and you can continue working but for another company.
If your company loses and the company is big enough, you will be given an opportunity to move to another one of their contracts, but you will have to interview and be accepted. It is kind of like starting over, but since you have a track record with the company you are usually given preference over non company personnel. This may seem strange or risky to someone who is used to working for the military for their entire career, but it is normal and not something to fear. Over the course of my DoD contracting career I have changed companies five times. Moving companies to follow the work or new opportunities is common in DoD contracting.
Interview Questions
Now that you are armed with this information, when you get your first DoD contract interview you will want to ask the interviewer if the position you are interviewing for is a corporate job or a direct contract job. If it is a direct contract job you will want to ask them is the company performing in a prime contractor role for the contract or as a sub-contractor? Likewise, you will want to ask them what is length of the base period of the contract and how many option years are there. Also, what year of the contract are they in and how well are they positioned for the re-complete?
This concludes part one of this series stay tuned for future articles. If you have any questions or comments feel free to message me.
1Author, United States Small Business Administration. Prime and Subcontracting. Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-guide/prime-subcontracting