Getting Started in GovCon

Getting Started in GovCon

I received multiple questions over the last week on how to get into government contracting (GovCon). My advice is always based on the unique candidate, but I noticed there are similarities to the process that I generally follow. This process can be different for back-office (headquarters support of the company) roles, but is pretty consistent for people seeking project jobs. (Look for future articles on the benefits of a back-office job vs a project job and what to focus on during a recompete from the employee perspective.)

The Resume

A resume for GovCon needs to be a little different than a basic commercial job resume. Government contract requirements are flowed down to candidate requirements. This means that the company can’t hire you if you don’t meet the contract requirements for your position. (There’s a waiver process, but no one likes to do that.) Here the steps I follow to brush up a resume for GovCon:

1 – Certifications go in the title block – Don’t make anyone search for a PMP or AWS certification. Put the initials right after the name. Arn Anderson, PMP, Security +.

2 – Make a statement of interest in GovCon – Resumes that don’t show work on government contracts in the past raise questions…. Will this person like working on a contract and stay long term? Will this person like supporting the government? Will this person be ok with the compliance and reporting aspects of a GovCon project job? It’s common for a non-GovCon experienced candidate to have less time spent on their resume during a review.

My recommendation is to add a statement like, “Experienced system administrator seeking a government contract project role to achieve my career objective of supporting the federal government.” Be obvious about the intent.

3 - ?Add a skills block focused on GovCon terms – I read a lot of resumes that do a great job describing what the candidate did in a previous job. That narrative experience takes a lot of mental effort to crosswalk to contract requirements. Summarizing the job activities into terms that are used in government contracts helps the recruiter (and sometimes the recruiting software AI) to notice the relevant experience.

System Administration????UI/UX???Documentation???Cyber Compliance

An easy to read listing of 12-16 terms can be enough for a recruiter to read a job experience narrative because they now know the candidate has the desired experience. Anyone is more likely to read a narrative if they believe that it is going to be relevant.

The Search

Indeed and LinkedIn are the two most popular job sites for general GovCon. Companies pay thousands of dollars a year to be able to post jobs. Depending on the site and plan, companies pay for job slots (they can always have a certain number of jobs posted) or they pay by the job. Every GovCon is prioritizing their job slots and ad budget. The most difficult to fill roles are the ones that are always posted.

The advice I give is to see what companies are posting the general types of work that the candidate is looking for and trace that back to the company website. Government projects are commonly more than a dozen people, but there might only be one or two of those jobs posted on external sites. Saving a list of government contractors that do the kind of work you’re looking for and following up on their career page weekly has proven to be highly successful in my experience.

The FedTrends Show

Please take a moment to check out my weekly GovCon webshow - look for The FedTrends Show on YouTube. This 5 minute format quickly provides commentary on top GovCon news, shares reviews of GovCon resources, and provides the occasional look into the lighter side of this business.