If you are getting ready to complete your SAM registration and start bidding on government contracting jobs, you probably would love to know which agencies are out there seeking contracts. The truth is there are hundreds of agencies and just about all of them need contractors. Here’s a quick look at what you’ll find when you start looking for opportunities.
FEMA
The Federal Emergency Management Agency constantly offers government contracting jobs. Every time there’s a flood, a spate of tornadoes, a hurricane, an earthquake or any other type of disaster, people need help and FEMA aims to provide it. In order to do so, however, they need the help of government contracting jobs. These jobs range from debris cleanup up services to security services to providing trailers and temporary housing and even providing bottled water and shelf-stable food.
Keep in mind, as you search, that FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and when you are doing a search at FBO.gov, you may want to start your search by typing Department of Homeland Security into the Agency box. This will trigger a list of many different agencies within DHS that are in need of help. So while you might be thinking about FEMA opportunities, there could be other DHS agencies that could benefit from your skills and services.
Department of Defense
Did you know that more than $400 billion in contracts are awarded every year by the United States government? A good portion of this money was paid out by the Department of Defense (DOD). When you think about DOD contracts, you probably think these are mostly huge contracts awarded to massive companies that build tanks, rockets and other related items.
While these types of huge contracts are common, that doesn’t mean that a small business can’t take a piece of the DOD contracting pie. It’s not all about military equipment and weapons systems. The DOD needs people to print materials, provide custodial services, repair copiers and other machinery, provide educational materials and much more.
In many cases, especially with DOD or Homeland Security, it can be a great idea to work as a subcontractor for a Prime Contractor. Prime Contractors are government contractors that typically have a good deal of experience with government contracting. Some Prime Contractors also are required to offer subcontracting jobs as part of their contract with an agency.
Becoming a subcontractor can be a smart for anyone just getting started with government contracting. In fact, the DOD has a goal to award more than 20% of its subcontracts to small businesses, so when it comes to government contracting jobs, there’s room for everyone.
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) might seem like it only needs agriculture-related companies to bid on contracts, but that definitely is not the case. While there certainly are opportunities for these types of companies, there are plenty of other jobs that USDA needs completed.
For instance, if you search for contracting jobs for the Forest Service department of USDA, you’ll see road maintenance jobs, janitorial services, housekeeping services, construction jobs and requests for the sale or leasing of various types of equipment and vehicles and these are just a few of the jobs we saw that were available.
Other Agencies
Of course, these are just three of the places where you might look for government jobs. In addition to the DHS and FEMA, DOD and USDA, there are 12 other departments of the federal government. Within these departments are hundreds of agencies and most, at one time or another, will offer government contracting jobs. There are also independent agencies and commissions that might need contractors, such as the United States Postal Service, the Social Security Administration and even the Peace Corps.
How To Search
We highly recommend that you become familiar with the FBO.gov (also known as FedBizOpps.gov). This is a centralized location where you can find all sorts of government contracting jobs from just about any federal agency.
When you head there, you will notice that there is a basic search area where you can select opportunities by posted date, set-aside code, state or territory, agency, type and using keywords or actual solicitation numbers. However, you also can click on the advanced search to really dive deep and find government contractor jobs that are a good fit for you or your company.
In the advanced search menu, you can search using the same criteria as above but set multiple criteria to come up the contracting jobs most suited to your business and business type rather than searching by just one criterion. For instance, you can create a search within a specific state from a specific agency and with your specific set-aside code. This may yield better results than simply searching by agency. You also can search by NAICS codes, which are the codes specific to your type of business.
How We Can Help
Of course, you cannot bid on government contracting jobs until you complete your SAM registration, and this is our area of specialization. While the government does not charge a fee for SAM registration, this process can be extremely time-consuming and it can be quite frustrating to wade through all of the government-speak and understand what to do.
As a third-party SAM registration service, we do charge a fee, but we can handle all of the intricacies of SAM registration for you, saving you time and eliminating frustration. Basically, we are to government contracting what an accountant is to the IRS. We make it easy for you to get registered and start looking for government contracting jobs. To get started, just head to our homepage and click on the green New Registration tab.