LURITA DOAN ⋅ Great Falls , VA U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ⋅ 20 years experience

Dear Mr. Jackson,

You seem to have many attractive professional qualifications and the metro DC area is an excellent location for a job search. If you are interested in public sector jobs-- consider going to www.usajobs.gov -- under keywords, enter "contracting" and "Washington,DC" as the location and several (over 50) contracting positions, at all levels of experise, will likely appear. As a veteran (?) you will also benefit from the government's regulation for hiring preference for veterans.

If you are interested in private sector employment, several of the large, government contractors have job fairs in the metro DC area during the year and contracting knowledge/expertise is always on the list of skills for job applicants.

To keep your knowledge up to date, at little or no cost, consider the SCORE (Society of Retired Executives) www.score.org -- which offers both online and local workshops on a variety of contracting and business topics.

In addition, the National Contract Management Association (www.ncmahq.org ) offers up-to-date articles and discussion of contracting issues/rules/proposed regulations. However, NCMA does have a membership fee, ranging from $25 to $150, depending on your work status, but this organization also provides a variety of learning opportunities, both free webinars as well as various fee Contract Management certification programs.

Rashid Hill, MPM ⋅ San Diego , CA United States Navy ⋅ 33 years experience

Mr Jackson. I hope that you got some help with these answers. I have a good friend that might be able to use your contracting knowledge. Possibly hire you for a project.

Let me know if you are interested in some freelance work.

Rashid Hill

DF Jackson ⋅ Washington , DC U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman ⋅ 4 years served

Thanks Frank, The GW program, I believe, is an LLM. Tough to get into. I tried. So i settled for a Masters at Univ of Maryland instead. Not as prestigious, but the best I can do. THanks again.

Frank Aburto ⋅ Jersey City , NJ U.S. Army, Captain ⋅ 6 years served

Darryl,

This might not be really helpful, but a distant friend of mine who wanted to work in what sounds like a similar field left his law firm and went to GW for a masters that specifically dealt with government contracting. I did a quick Google search and found this. If you are in DC anyway and already have your JD/MBA, this looks like an extra 36 credit MS that might help with job hunting.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/print-edition/2012/02/10/george-washington-university-testing.html?page=all

Hope this helps,
Frank

DF Jackson ⋅ Washington , DC U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman ⋅ 4 years served

THank you Chip for your advice. However, the CPM certification requires 5 years experience according to my internet research:

To meet CPM certification requirements, you are required to have at least five years of full-time professional purchasing and supply management experience. You can substitute work experience with a four-year degree from an accredited program and three years of full-time purchasing experience. Documentation of work experience is required in one of the following ways: a letter from your supervisor; a signed job description from the company's human resources department; a letter from a co-worker; a letter from a supplier you worked with; or verification from your most recent employer concerning your past work history.

Read more: CPM Certification Requirements | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7425408_cpm-certification-requirements.html#ixzz1zrkMjPiD

But I will look around at other possible certification options along with trying to obtain a junior position. Thanks again Chip. Appreciate your advice.

Chip Brown ⋅ Cary , NC IBM ⋅ 14 years experience

Hi Darryl,
Thank you for your service. I work at IBM and lead a team that does Contracts & Negotiations for our Federal Research group and we work with FARs/DFARs. (FARs DFARs are EXTENSIVE flowdowns and take YEARS to fully KNOW all the complexities). You should have no trouble handling them. Any certification you get can enhance your options however if a perspective employer does not feel it necessary then what is your rationale. Do you want to work on the Prime Gov't side, Commericial side, Eductional Inst. side? As an example you can get a CPM to enhance your supply chain options but is it necessary for the job you want or for someone with a JD/MBA? I would suggest that your JD is more important. Having done FAR / DFAR related work for over 4 years, I would study up on IP issues becomes that is generally where there is the most friction especially with a Corp. that has freedom of action. I'd try to set up an information interview with a base Procurement professional and seek out other Supply chain and C&N professionals.