Overseas Contractor Count – 2nd Quarter FY 2012
This update reports DoD contractor personnel numbers in theater and outlines DoD efforts to improve management of contractors accompanying U.S. forces. It covers DoD contractor personnel deployed in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Iraq, and the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).
In 2nd quarter FY 2012, USCENTCOM reported approximately 153,000 contractor personnel working for the DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR. This was approximately a .6% increase from the previous quarter. The number of contractors outside of Afghanistan and Iraq make up about 16% of the total contractor population in the USCENTCOM AOR.
The 411 on Applicant Tracking Systems and Why You Should Care
To get your resume out of a company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS) – aka “The Resume Black Hole”, and into the hands of a real live human being where it can actually be seen in the light of day, your resume will have to negotiate a digital obstacle course designed to reduce a hundred or more resumes down to perhaps as few as 10 – or less.
Top Reasons Veterans Don’t Want to Work In the Private Sector
Back in October, I was approached to find candidates for three positions. Two of the jobs were with a defense contractor in Guam and the third was with a well known retailer based in the United States. I really thought the latter would be the easy job to fill. Boy was I wrong. I received over 30 resumes for the jobs in Guam but only 2 responses in regards to the stateside private sector job.
I was puzzled so I posed the following question on 50 veteran groups on LinkedIn 2 weeks ago:
“Why do Veterans seem to prefer to work at government or defense industry positions rather than go out to pursue commercial opportunities? “
The response was swift and overwhelming. I received over 200 responses to my question. 95% of respondents had decided to join the government/defense sector while the other 5% respondents had found a private sector job against their will. (Their words not mine!) More than one veteran stated they had no desire to enter or stay in the private sector.
Overseas Contractor Count – 1st quarter FY 2012
This update reports DoD contractor personnel numbers in theater and covers DoD contractor personnel deployed in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)), Iraq, and the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).
In 1st quarter FY 2012, USCENTCOM reported approximately 152,000 contractor personnel working for the DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR. The number of contractors outside of Afghanistan and Iraq make up about 9.6% of the total contractor population in the USCENTCOM AOR.
A breakdown of DoD contractor personnel is provided here:
Educating Veterans for the Middle Class Job of the Next 20 Years
Since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008 and the realization that veterans were out of work at a much higher level than their civilian counterparts, much hand wringing has occurred over what is the root cause of the problem. Non-profits advocating for veterans, government officials and to a lesser extent, the Fortune 500, have bantered about many well intentioned but half -baked solutions. Silicon Valley (well known producer of new jobs) has been mum on the subject to date with the exception of Craig Newmark of craigslist.com fame.
Most of the early discussion focused on the poor translation of military skills to plain English that civilian employers could easily understand. More effort is being put forth educating military alumni on job search subjects such as writing an effective resume, how to do a phone interview, sourcing job leads, dressing for the interview etc. However this only addresses the here and now of the veteran unemployment equation.
Job Search Tips From Special Operations
A few weeks ago I was in the position to play recruiter pro bono for a program manager I know. The program manager was looking for a hand full of former Special Operations professionals with experience in Africa who could advise the new government of South Sudan on force protection issues. After posting the requirements I was astonished to receive over twenty well qualified candidates.
Looking back through the emails I noticed three things this group did well and that any job applicant should replicate.
2011 State of Overseas Contracting Survey Results
Here are the results from our third annual State of the Overseas Contracting Industry Survey. This year 1,263 people took the survey, which is about 100 more than last year. I will be releasing the Advice from Contractors section a bit later after I have finished editing it.
What to Expect When Working with a Military Search Firm (AKA: Recruiter)
In early 2005 I decided to leave the Active Army and pursue a business career. As I began the transition that spring, I really had no idea how to find a job that I was qualified for or would enjoy. Then a fellow officer mentioned he was talking with The Lucas Group. I asked him what the firm did and he mentioned that it was a recruiting firm that was retained by members of Corporate America to hire Junior Military Officers (O-1 – O-3) to fill middle management positions. On occasion, the firm would look to place Senior NCOs (E7-E9) or Field Grade Officers (O-4- O-5) as well.
As I did some further research I found that there were almost ten such firms out there. Over the years I have interacted with Bradley Morris, The Lucas Group, Cameron Brooks, Orion International, SOAR and Defense Placements with generally favorable experiences.
Travel Out of Iraq
I have been in Iraq with my new employer now for 4 months and this last week it was time to put in my request for vacation. As I did so, I had a lot of questions about how I was going to get of the country and back home.
When I was in Afghanistan it was easy. I put in my vacation request per company policy. Once my request was approved, I booked my travel online or through a local representative of Safi Airways for travel between Kabul and Dubai. When purchasing lodging and air fare out of Dubai I used Orbitz, Travelocity, Kayak, Priceline or Hotwire. The morning I was to leave Kabul, I met a PSD team outside the FOB headquarters building, received a convoy brief and was dropped off at the Kabul International Airport for onward movement to Dubai. Total time: 2 hours.
In Iraq, I found this process to be a more difficult multi-day ordeal.
How to find companies with overseas contracting jobs
Here's my latest video about a method for building a list of potential companies for your overseas contracting jobs search. This is mostly for people who aren't members of DangerZoneJobs.com, but you still might pick something up from it. You can see more videos on our DangerZoneJobs youtube channel.
