Military Contracting: Growth Field For Spouse Careers
By Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer
Fall 2005
Dynamic U.S. government contractor seeking part-time career transition trainers at U.S. military bases in Japan. Trainer will provide 1-2 training seminars per month for military personnel entering the civilian job market. Excellent opportunity for spouses of military or DoD personnel....
This actual job announcement is an example of one path that savvy military spouses consider as they search for a mobile career: working for a military contractor. As more and more military services are contracted, it's certainly worthy of consideration.
Army spouse Karen Ridley has managed to move in her career specialist role with an Army contractor for 14 years. She has progressively moved up without facing job searches or breaks in service with each move. She has worked on the same Army contract, providing job search counseling through the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP), first at Ft. Bragg, N.C., then in Germany and Washington, D.C. Although her actual employer switched from Right Associates Government Services to Resource Consultants Inc. to Serco, she continued her job in a relatively seamless manner.
Ridley's experience in changing employers is common in contract work. Marine Corps spouse Anna M. Jones experienced the same situation as an education program analyst for Headquarters Marine Corps working under two different contractors in a three-year period. "The transfer was almost seamless," she says, "same co-workers, same place of employment - although we did have to renegotiate our salary and benefits."
The anxiety of contract renewal is a challenge for many spouses. Army spouse Erin Melton is an assistant with the U.S. Army Forces Command Family Readiness Group at Ft. Lewis, Wash., currently employed by SRI International. "Waiting to see if your contract is funded for the next year, if the companies change, and adjusting to new rules and regulations was a new experience for me," she says.
Many contracts run for three years, and it's important to know the status going in. Ridley warns to be aware of "contingency job offers," where you are offered a job but it is contingent on the contractor actually obtaining the contract.
Throughout 15 years and 10 relocations, Marine Corps spouse Deborah Mayberry has worked as a government employee and contractor. Her contract positions include career counselor, exceptional family member program coordinator, project manager and program manager for contractors such as ESI International and Zeiders Enterprises. She now operates her own consulting firm which provides project management and strategic planning services to prime contractors.
"Contracting is not the same as government employment," Mayberry advises. "Contractors typically hail from the corporate sector where employment law applies and is different from government HR policies. Whereas government usually has set compensation schedules, contractors may not. A military spouse must be prepared to negotiate pay and benefits."
Army spouse Janet Farley, author of "The Military-to-Civilian Career Transition Guide," "Jobs and the Military Spouse" and the "JobTalk" column in Stars & Stripes newspapers, worked as a career counselor for many years and many moves. She advises spouses to research benefits carefully.
"If you plan to work overseas," says Farley, "make sure you are not subject to host nation taxes and that you are paid in U.S. dollars. If you work for a defense contractor overseas and earn U.S. dollars, you are eligible to earn that salary free of federal taxes up to a certain point."
Contract Positions Can Offer More
Navy spouse Marcia DeFalco is Military Strategic Communications Director for Ceridian, working primarily on the Military OneSource and Military Severely Injured Center programs. She came to the job from a position with another military contractor, Axiom Resource Management, working on its TRICARE contract.
"Some contract positions will offer more vacation more quickly than with the government," DeFalco says. "Some offer lucrative bonus programs and flexibilities, such as telecommuting opportunities."
Army spouse Susanna Meeks is a telecommuter. A Project Control Analyst for Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), she works three weeks a month from her home near Ft. Hood, Tex., and spends one week each month at SAIC offices in Washington state.
"SAIC is very open to telecommunications setups," Meeks says. "With me, they have an official agreement and provide the laptop, telephone and fax required to do your work."
DeFalco points out another benefit to contract work: "If you choose, you can do some moving around based on your skills and interests, often more than on a GS (general services) track."
Marine Corps spouse Mary Craig expands on that idea. She left her position as a section head for Marine Corps Family Team Building at Headquarters Marine Corps (a job she obtained because of several years' experience volunteering for Marine families) and became an independent consultant, currently coordinating military content for the educational materials and website of Military OneSource.
"I needed more flexibility in my life," she says, "and I wanted to focus on the favorite parts of my job." Her work focuses on writing, curriculum development and project management to help military families.
"I've known military spouses who have used working for a contractor to get a NAF (non-appropriated funds) or GS position and vice versa," she says. "The beauty in contracting work, especially if you are the contractor or doing part-time contract work, is similar to volunteer work. There is flexibility in the work you choose, and you can always find work that conforms to the current situation in your life. In both cases, the more different arrangements you try, the better off you are because of the connections you make and the skills you add to your portfolio."
Finding Contract Opportunities
So how do you find opportunities in the contracting world?
For starters, tap into the Internet. A Google search for "top Department of Defense contractors" turns up a list of the top 100 contractors - companies like Lockheed, Halliburton, SAIC, Computer Sciences Corp. and others - with a breakdown by service. Most contractor websites include job listings, often searchable by location and job type.
"Define what you want to do, what skills you want to develop and what field you want to learn about," advises Mayberry. "Then find out what companies hold the contracts aboard your base; the contracting office or business performance office should have this information."
Many spouses turn their interest in helping military families and years of volunteer experience into paid contract work. Melton, for example, credits her volunteer time with family readiness groups in finding her current position. Marine spouse Eileen McCallum is a volunteer program coordinator/trainer in Hawaii, working for Professional Performance Development Group. "I was a volunteer with the program, "she says. "When the woman who held this position PCSed, I applied."
Don't neglect traditional methods in your job search. Once you know the names of contractors, watch for job announcements and job fairs. Meeks found her first job through an ad in the post paper at Kaiserslautern, Germany. DeFalco found hers by noticing the fine print of a "spouses welcome" announcement for a Military Officers Association job fair.
Of course, networking is key. As Craig says, "Continually ask others how they got involved in what they do." Almost every spouse we interviewed mentioned networking as essential for finding additional opportunities and information as you move.
"Research the particular contractor you're interested in so you can better relate how you can be an asset to them," Farley says. "Have a good feel for what they do, how they interact with other agencies in their community and where they are, reputation-wise, in the food chain. How? Talk informally to employees of the company, to those who are their competition for contracts and to those in uniform to get a feel for how the contractor's employer feels about them."
Intrigued by the job announcement at the beginning of this article? Marine spouse Kim A. Ealy landed one of those positions. She cites one additional benefit beyond the flexibility and good pay for part-time work: "It keeps me connected to the working community and current with future job search and employment skills I plan to use full-time once the kids are older."
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Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer are military spouses, speakers and co-authors of the recently released "Help! I'm a Military Spouse - I Want a Life Too: How to Craft a Life for You as You Move with the Military." For more information, visit www.jumpintolife.net/military.html. Both Kathie and Holly have worked as contractors.