Any word on DCSA opening up job availability to contractors?
Meaning? The NBIB contractors are following NBIB to DoD.
Good luck. Rumor on federal side is we are days away from āinvoluntary leave without pay.ā
No idea where it came from but spreading like wildfire.
Doesnāt seem likely, especially with the General Dynamics fiasco.
Does anyone think itās crazy that no one knows whatās going on??? I mean itās 9/16, and companies are still wondering about the program!
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I would say that is not a good sign.
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I wasnāt specificā¦ Meaning, will DCSA extend an invitation to current contractors to become govt employees?
Oh weāre already on mandatory leave without pay. Itās a whole ā ā ā ā show waiting to see what happens come 10/01. Weāre directed to follow through with the return process of our NBIB creds followed by the new DSS/DCSA creds being shipped first week of October.
Even with that in the works, I can never trust these contract agenciesā¦they can pull the rug right out from under us within seconds.
I suspect the companies have plenty of information about the transition - itās just that YOU donāt know whatās going on. Neither do I. Not unusual in any organization for field personnel to be poorly informed. But itās especially prevalent with NBIB contracting - every bit of information is cloaked as proprietary or worse because of the triple-top-secret nature of the work and also because the various contracting companies are guarding their business positions. It would be great to be kept better informed, but realistically my company (er, ābusiness partnerā) regards me and all other contractors with disdain or contempt. If they could save a nickel by replacing me with an algorithm they would.
As a contractor for one of the big companies I still have plenty of work, and allegedly the new DCSA creds are being shipped out now. But I harbor no illusions. Another investigator wrote āthey can pull the rug right out from under us within seconds.ā Exactly right.
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BI jobs for one of the contracting companies, be it a full-time job or as a 1099 contractor, are not posted at USAjobs. Thatās the whole point - these are not GS positions, and the contracting companies can add or drop investigators easily as mission needs dictate.
I have no knowledge of the GS side of the NBIB house, but Iād be surprised if they are hiring right now given the turmoil of moving from OPM to DOD. As a contractor, candidly, this move wonāt impact me much in the short term. New creds, new flag. Thatās it. But for the career GS employees itās a huge upheaval. New HR procedures, time off, retirement, etc. Adding personnel is the last thing that I would expect at the GS level.
Yes, that was my question. Iām a full-time investigator for a contracting agency but kept in the dark about the stability of my job just like everyone else. Hoping DCSA realizes itās ideal to hire experienced investigators already on the contract as opposed to posting openings on USAJOBS - if thatās the route theyāre looking at. But I know a lot of politics go into that ideaā¦
Would be nice to get in on the Fed side. Iām tired of being at the mercy of these contract agencies.
They used to post jobs for OPM investigators on USAJobs maybe once, twice a year. Iām sure that of all the processes that are on hold or up in the air with the transition to DSCA, hiring has to be one of the most impacted. I have no specific knowledge of this transition, but I will bet you dimes to donuts (an old phrase but it popped into my head) that OPM is going to pull whatever bureaucratic shenanigans they have to in order to hold on to as many NBIB billets as they can. Not field investigators, of course, but more senior billetsā¦They might even try some scheme where people remain OPM employees for a time but are ādetailedā to the new agency.
Again, no inside info here but Iāve seen it in the past, like when they created NIMA (now NGA) and the DNI organizationā¦
PS Donuts have gotten a lot more expensive but a dime is still just a dimeā¦
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There were many, many BI openings for NBIB posted throughout 2018 and I had applied to each one regardless of location. I received a lot of referral notices to the BI positions I applied to but never heard anything from them since. We likely wonāt see any BI openings for DCSA until after 10/1
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I donāt want to destroy anyoneās hopes but unless you are former .gov or .mil with points, then the chances of getting one is pretty slim. I used to see them posted as āopen to publicā. I donāt believe I have even seen one of those since 2017 maybe early 2018.
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jeesh - our work picked up and I have a months worth of EMH still on my units assigned - so do my other team members.
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Itās the law to post them on USAJOBS. The site was supposedly designed to get rid of the good ole boy system. It has not.
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I am prior military with points but that definitely hasnāt helped any, I also have just about 2 years experience on the contract so far
That is true but they can still game the system. Not for NBIB but some LE type jobs, they hold these hiring events and tell applicants, the position will open on such-and-such a day for one day, be there. Another guy told me he went to a hiring event and was told to include some number in his resume which meant he had been pre-screened. So yeah I think everything get posted on USAJobs but they can be tricky.
Many of the Fed Agents in my area are military veterans that were previously OPM Contractors (to include several SACs). Each opening has an overwhelming number of qualified applicants.
It is hard to get on the short list for most areas.
So after doing some digging, have heard the rumor about involuntary leave without pay is bunk, management is saying mandatory TDY would occur before that. Lots of areas still have more work than can handle.
So much for that.
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Years ago, I applied for a record searcher position. I think I had been doing the BI job for about 4 years at that point. I got that the " thanks, but you were not among the most qualified applicant " response. Granted not prior military but always got a kick out that. Qualified to work as a BI contractor but not as a fed record searcher 
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Sideshowbob, Iāve heard it takes awhile to get into it. Iāve known a few SAās and it took them a year or two to get on. I think one moved from CBP over and one had been doing the BI contractor gig for a few years before she got on. So there is hope (assuming DCSA opens it back up after the change over and new fiscal year).
What I thought was crazy was that the experienced BI had to go through NIT again. I would think that they would just do a short OJT review to make sure they hadnāt picked up any bad habits but I guess not.
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