Understanding the 8(a) Business Development Program

There is a wide spread misconception that if you are a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) you are also considered to be an 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business. First, there is no such designation as an 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business and second, the SDB designation is now a “self certification” through your Central Contractor Registration. The SDBRead… Read more »

How do you respond to “How’ve you been”?

How many times this week have you been asked the question, “How’ve you been?” or its cousin “How are you?” We’ll venture a guess that if you really sat down and counted, that number could be in the hundreds. Now, how many of you have answered with a “Fine, how are you?” Was the responseRead… Read more »

Earmarks, Facebook, super PACs, and issue advocacy in political law links for today

WHAT IS AN EARMARK? That’s the topic of this Hill report. “‘One of the questions that will be worked out over the next year is the question of “what is an earmark,”‘ said Matt Dempsey, Inhofe’s spokesman. ‘Sen. Inhofe has been strong in saying that as long as something is authorized and appropriated, it’s notRead… Read more »

Can Improved Internal Transparency Reduce Stress from Inevitable Federal Staff Reductions?

In Preparing your agency for big cuts ahead, Tom Fox wrote this about the coming Federal agency staff reductions: Kill the rumor mill. Agencies have well-developed rumor mills, and I’ve heard from many federal employees that the anxiety and frustrations associated with the budget uncertainties is high. While water cooler gossip is inevitable, as aRead… Read more »

Handling illegal interview questions

One of my job-seeking clients recently had an interview in which the employer asked her a question about her race/ethnicity. It was for a position that required a lot of cross-cultural understanding, and my guess is that the employer wanted to know whether the candidate had the cross-cultural skills needed for the job. However, employersRead… Read more »

AContent Best Educational Content Authoring Tool

Dr Lachlan Blackhall presented a free seminar on “Educational Content Authoring Tools” at the Australian National University in Canberra today. He reviewed tools which might be suitable for the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science and concluded by recommending AContent.I had not heard of AContent before. But it is sponsored by The Adaptive TechnologyRead… Read more »

Your Accomplishments + Stories = Credibility

How do you establish your credibility? How does someone know the ‘real you’? On a professional basis, how can you demonstrate you have experience, get results, are competent? Traditionally this knowledge comes from the individual knowing you over time and seeing how well what you say and what you do match up – from workingRead… Read more »