Jump to content

Bagheera

Members
  • Posts

    2
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Bagheera

  1. It's all about forecasting.  In the past, companies didn't have access to such large quantities of data, so complex forecasting did no better than simple trend analysis.  Now that companies have access to such large amounts of data, they can determine correlations that will give them insight into consumer habits.  Quant funds on Wall Street rarely hire any finance graduates anymore, instead choosing to concentrate their resources on math and physics PHDs.  It turns out that chaos theory has significant implications in financial modeling and genetic algorithm development.  It's all about probabilities and their implementation into decision trees.  This also contributes to the strong efficient-market hypothesis by eliminating arbitrage opportunities.  In today's market environment, which has been heavily politicized, and manipulated by entities with  severe conflicts of interest, this type of trading is one of the only ways to make a profit.  This is why several macroeconomic hedge fund managers have thrown in the towel and closed up shop.

    Analytics are the future.  The best way to beat your opponent is to know exactly what he or she is going to do next.  In the absence of being able to tell what your opponent does next, you want to have the highest probability possible of knowing what your opponent is going to do, and you want to know as quickly as possible.  The implications for the military are significant.  You could potentially form character profiles on every person in the world and accurately predict their actions.  While some of the things we as contract specialists do seem redundant, and actually are redundant in many cases, we don't really know the full story of who has access to this information and what they intend to do with it.  A private sector corporation would likely use this data to improve their logistical network capability.  Unfortunately, due to the rigidity of contract compliance, the government is not nearly as flexible in its ability to form strategic relationships with vendors in order to best take advantage of these opportunities.

    I imagine that much of the information will be utilized to effectively force shape the defense department in the future.  In the age of directed energy, space vehicles, cyber weapons, and unmanned vehicles, the need for human capital is increasingly unnecessary.  Additionally, due to some major geo-strategic mishaps, resulting in an international exodus from the USD, the need for a leaner and more technologically advanced military has been expedited substantially.  Big data will be the key to getting rid of waste and automating systems to work faster and more efficiently.

    I disagree that the reliance on data necessarily increases risk.  A human mind simply does not have the capacity and the speed to handle making decisions based on massive amounts of data, at least not nearly the same extent that computers do.  Automation is changing the world and in enough time there will be very few businesses where automation doesn't make previous processes obsolete.  It will be interesting to see how automation affects contracting in the future.  However, it will be up to competent subject matter experts to think of ways that IT processes can simplify and standardize contracting in such a way where it decreases lead time.  Somehow, I doubt this is the case, especially considering I heard a rumor that there are multiple procurement systems being developed for different departments to replace PD2.  If this is true, it seems like it will result in millions of dollars of waste.

     

  2. I'm a current 1102 with a Level 1 DAWIA Cert, serving in an Administrative function with DCMA. I have 1 year of experience as an 1102; however, I also spent two years as a procurement technician in an operational contracting capacity where I purchased commodities and services below the simplified acquisition threshold. I am set to interview with the Department of Energy soon for a vacant position that performs both pre and post award contracting. The vacancy indicates the Contract Specialist will be "responsible for procurement of services with difficult and complex requirements." In addition to that, it says the Contract Specialist will use a variety of contract types, such as, but not limited to, fixed price incentive, cost plus fixed or incentive fee, and BOAs. According to the job posting, the Contract Specialist is also responsible for "detailed cost/price analyses."

    The reason why I'm reiterating what was stated in the job posting is because I recently interviewed for a position at an Air Force R&D location, which performed mainly cost reimbursement type contracts due to the nature of the mission. I don't know exactly why I was not selected, and it could have been due to a variety of factors, but I suspect part of it is due to my inexperience with cost reimbursement type contracts. In order to acquire more of the type of experience I believe agencies I am interested in are looking for, I have been submitting my resume to places that I feel would broaden my experience and offer a new and challenging environment, like the DOE vacancy I wrote about above.

    While this appears to be a great career opportunity, I have heard negative things about civilian agencies by DOD employees. While I believe most of it is hearsay, I also heard it from a DAWIA professor, but I have heard nothing concerning the Department of Energy. If you factor in the work being conducted in DOE's Research Labs, like those in New Mexico for example, the DOE could indirectly be considered to work in a Defense capacity, especially considering the nature of some of the work being performed, which could be utilized by the military at some point, as well as perhaps, serving to protect the nation from natural disasters, or anticipated and unanticipated events. Regardless, I am concerned there is a stigma associated with civilian agencies, and that the FAC-C may not be equivalent to a DAWIA cert.

    This is important because I believe it's possible, even likely, that at some point during my career, the Government will contract and I may be forced to find another job. Considering Defense is one of the main core functions of the Federal Government, I imagine, depending on available vacancies, and demand to fill those vacancies, there may be positions available in the DOD when there are none in other agencies. In addition to this, there may be an opportunity to apply for a vacancy that is too good to pass up or close to a relative that may need assistance.

    To summarize, assuming I am fortunate enough to be selected for this available vacancy, which would be an amazing opportunity that I would be very grateful to have, if in the future for whatever reason, I desire to get back into the DOD, will I have a difficult road ahead?

    Chances are, this won't be an issue at all because I'll probably find a way to screw up the interview or will lack something the agency is looking for relative to the other candidates, but I appreciate any forthcoming responses to my question, as it will help me to navigate my career.

×
×
  • Create New...