Sustainability in Procurement Fellowship (SPF) Program is accepting applications!

GSA’s SPF program is a professional development program that provides federal employees in-depth training on sustainability. The fellowship covers regulatory requirements, industry trends, systems thinking concepts, and provides hands on sustainability project experience. As part of the fellowship, each employee will receive training in relevant sustainability in procurement topics, perform substantive work on sustainability initiatives,Read… Read more »

3 Negotiation Methods: Phone, In-Person and Email

After using all three in a professional setting for a few years, I think these are some general notes that can help new government contract specialists. Phone Negotiations First, I prefer phone negotiations. They’re usually faster than the alternative and don’t give either side much time to delay, meaning neither side overanalyzes its interests toRead… Read more »

No Medical Degree Required for these 5 Hot Careers!

“It’s no secret that careers in health care are booming. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor expects the health care and social assistance industry to add 5.6 million jobs from 2010 to 2020 – more than any other field.” The U.S. Department of Labor projects 68,000 new medical and health services manager jobs toRead… Read more »

Is social media blurring the non-partisan status of appointed public services?

A separation that is widely understood within governments, but often less well understood in the rest of the community, is the separation between politics and public service. Elected public servants, politicians, ascribe to specific political ideologies and policy positions which form the basis of how people select which politicians and parties to support and castRead… Read more »

Leveraging the strengths we KNOW we have instead of worrying about the advantages we THINK others have

I drive a 2002 Kia Rio and over the last few years I have noticed countless others driving the same vehicle. Each time I see a Kia Rio, I cannot refrain from comparing our cars. Is my car in better shape? Does their car come with power windows with extra leg room? Although I continueRead… Read more »

Training the Next Generation of Government Contractors

Right now 1/3 of the federal acquisition workforce has under 5 years of experience on the job. But the University of Maryland is trying to ease the knowledge gap by launching a new program to train acquisition experts. Jacques Gansler is a professor at the University of Maryland. He also served as Under Secretary ofRead… Read more »

What Will You Do in Retirement?

Most fantasize about retirement while working. I recall telling my wife when I was in my mid 20s that I wanted to stay with federal service because I could retire at age 55, which I did by the way. However, we live in the real world and retirement is a HUGE decision that changes yourRead… Read more »

Free Downloads and Guest Post Submission

All Things Sterling now has 4 free downloads on Government Contract Specialist Basics and also has an option to submit guest blog posts. Hopefully these can help those learning and getting into the profession.

Big Data for Workforce Diversity & EEO

Last week the U.S. Census Bureau released the long-awaited data rich Census 2010 EEO Tabulation. This is the closest thing to Big Data available for workforce diversity and equal employment opportunity (EEO). The tabulation is the most comprehensive and unique tool of its kind in assessing EEO nationwide based on a broad range of acuteRead… Read more »

Veterans Seek Federal Career Coaching

This article is published at by Military.com. The emphasis of this article is that veterans can use career counseling and resume writing help with their next career. Excerpt: Career Coaching and Writing Help When John Russo, Ret. COL., Maryland National Guard, began his search for a federal job, he expected good results in short order.Read… Read more »