How To Find Government Procurements
The Ontario government issues requests for bids and invitations to quote to procure goods and services. Open competitive opportunities are posted on the Ontario Tenders Portal. Agreements are then established with a particular vendor or vendors.
Contracts must be advertised openly for:
- goods valued at $25,000 or more for Ontario Public Service and $100,000 or more for the broader public sector
- services and construction valued at $100,000 or more
These thresholds are set by trade agreements that Ontario is a party to.
There may also be a vendor of record arrangement that authorizes multiple vendors to provide ministries with goods or services for a defined period under specific terms, conditions and pricing.
The Ministry of Transportation uses Registry, Appraisal and Qualification System to advertise large capital construction projects.
How Do Consultants Make Money
Consultants make money by providing expert advice to help businesses improve their performance. Typically, they advise in areas such as operations, profitability, management, and even structure.
They are also generally not employees of the businesses they’re helping. Usually, they are self-independent or are part of a consulting firm and are paid for their services.
Required Education For Public Health Consultants
Regardless of whether a public health consultant works a local non-profit or a state agency, they will need to have a masters degree from an accredited university. Some public health consultants start out their careers with a bachelors degree in a field like biology, nursing, psychology, social work, or health science. After they accumulate experience and discover their passion for public health, they enroll in a graduate program to earn a Master of Public Health degree. Some public health professionals prepare for their careers as consultants by earning a bachelors degree in a specialized field like biostatistics, epidemiology, health policy, behavioral science, or environmental health. A small amount of employed public health consultants chose to earn a Doctor of Public Health for advanced leadership positions in government and faculty positions in higher education.
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How Do I Become A Government Consultant
In order to become a government consultant, it is necessary to be an expert in a certain field. Government consultants are hired in various departments to perform tasks and to undertake projects, so there is no particular requirement for a certain type of knowledge. You could become a government consultant doing scientific research or working on a budget, as the needs are highly different depending on your area of expertise and the government’s needs at the time. Education is generally required to become knowledgeable enough in a field to provide consultations on it. Many times, it is necessary to have good problem solving skills to become a government consultant because you are being hired to help fix something that is not working correctly.
Consultants generally need to be educated in the field that they are in. In certain cases, a government will hire a consultant who only has a bachelor’s degree, but in many cases, a master’s or doctoral degree is required. When being hired with only a bachelor’s degree, you would generally begin in a more entry-level position assisting others with tasks and projects. The more education you have in an area will determine the level of supervision that you need to do your job well.
Consider A Home Office
If your local laws permit this, it can work to your advantage in more ways than one. You dont spend any money to buy or rent an office space to start your business as a self-employed consultant. You dont need to pay for utilities separately. You dont need to pay for a regular commute.
Along with the money, you also save time and energy when you work out of your home. You may acquire new premises after you have established your business and employed associates but more on this later.
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Success Factors Of Consulting
The following qualities are found to be helpful for a successful consulting career.
Accenture success factors
From Accenture blog, one of the main IT consultancies in the world, the following factors play an important role:
- A service-oriented mindset
- Setting of goals, seeking of advice and taking time to reflect
77 Keywords Consulting success factors
According to 77 Keywords Consulting, a foundational references on consulting, the following factors are important:
- Choice of consultant: Factors that matter: subject matter competency, appearance and social skills, and knowledge transfer capabilities
- Cooperation and delegation of tasks: The consultant works along-side other employees and needs clear scope and guidance of activities
- Continuity of consultancy: Avoidance of frequent changes of consultation activity to increase costs transparency, trust, etc.
Bronnenmayer’s success factors
Bronnenmayer et al. investigated, by applying a structural equation model, and due to little empirical research, the management consulting’s success factors from a client perspective. It is found that Consultant Expertise, Intensity of Collaboration and Common Vision have strongest performance impact on success.
Sindermann and Sawyer success factors
Hartel’s 10 Golden Rules
According to management consultant Dirk Hartel, the following ten objectives or rules are key to a successful consulting career:
Distinctness
Domain
Ethical conflict
Expectations
What If You Lose
If you didnt win the contract, ask for a debriefing to find out how you were evaluated. If you want to challenge the award decision, you can file whats called a bid protest, but you have to act fast. Typically, bid protests must be filed within 10 days of the when the basis of protest is known .
When you are the protestor, you are really trying to throw as much mud at the wall and see what sticks, but your arguments can be dismissed if theyre late or not supported by facts, said Overman. You can come up with arguments of why you were evaluated improperly or why the awardee was given too good of an evaluation, like theres no way that price makes sense or that company has an organizational conflict of interest.
Although filing a bid protest is well within your rights as a citizen, Harary said to use it carefully. It should really be a last resort, because youll be making the procurement officer do extra work and you dont want to be someone that is just a complainer, he said.
Biggs also warned that even if your bid protest is successful, it doesnt necessarily mean youll be awarded the contract. It could just mean the agency did something incorrect when they were making the decision and they may have to go back and do a re-evaluation or fix whatever it was thats wrong, she said. In some cases, businesses will be allowed to re-bid on the contract.
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Determine Your Naics Code
NAICSthe North American Industry Classification Systemclassifies businesses to collect data related to the U.S. economy. Youll need a NAICS code to register your business and to apply for certain federal contracts. For more information about NAICS codes, check out guidance from the Small Business Administration .
What Does A Senior Consultant Do
There are certain skills that many senior consultants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed time-management skills, interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills.
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How To Become A Government Contractor
If you’re interested in becoming a government contractor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We’ve determined that 53.9% of government contractors have a bachelor’s degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 11.0% of government contractors have master’s degrees. Even though most government contractors have a college degree, it’s possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a government contractor. When we researched the most common majors for a government contractor, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor’s degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on government contractor resumes include master’s degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a government contractor. In fact, many government contractor jobs require experience in a role such as administrative assistant. Meanwhile, many government contractors also have previous career experience in roles such as customer service representative or office manager.
Undergraduate Programs & Degrees
Business
The business degree is designed to provide a broad base of knowledge to students, including courses in finance, marketing, organizational behavior, statistics, accounting, business law and more. This well-rounded undergraduate degree can also be specialized a bit with electives that build on the knowledge offered in the core courses. Typical classes might include:
- Human resource management
- Official undergraduate transcript
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Choose A Target Market
Once you’ve identified your niche, be clear about who your target audience is. For example, if you help startup sales teams navigate early-stage scaleup, hone in on your target market by answering these five questions:
Getting specific about who your customer is and what’s important to them allows you to provide superior service and reach clients who are the perfect match.
What Is A Project Consultant
Project consultants support the strategy of an organization by working individually or within engagement teams to support operational, technical and strategic projects for clients who are faced with a challenge and require expertise to optimize their success, increase their business value, and/or internal capabilities.
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Decide Your Short And Long Term Goals
If you excel in a niche that has a good prospect, such as business consulting, computer consulting, career consulting and so on, you may paint a rosy picture of clients waiting for your advice within a week of starting your consulting business.
Its not magic. If you have such unrealistic expectations, you are sure to be disappointed. Every business takes time to grow and become known and established. If you lack the time and effort to start and establish a business, you may end up headed towards failure.
Consultants’ View Of A Consultant
A study found that business consultants maintain a very humble approach in their partnership with the client and believe that the ultimate goal is to make the customer move forward. Further, consultants are conscious in amount of control and discretion which comes from the customer and understand that criticism of their role is part of the work and sometimes even justified.
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Identify Your Ideal Customer
You won’t be able to attract, engage, or close new customers if you don’t know who they are. Being able to understand your audience is critical to crafting your marketing and sales strategy .
Consider spending time making the buyer persona of your ideal client. Who are they? What industry are they in? What type of services are they looking for? Why?
Types Of Public Affairs Consultancy Work
Key areas of work include:
- monitoring the activities of Parliament, Whitehall and other relevant bodies and organisations
- raising the profile of an organisation/client
- lobbying
- providing strategic communications advice
- providing general public affairs support.
The amount of time you’ll spend on different activities will vary according to the type of employer you work for and your level of experience. For example, consultancies do very little lobbying, whereas others describe themselves as lobbyists.
At entry level, you’ll be involved in a high level of research and monitoring of information, while an account director will be principally involved in strategic planning and relationship management.
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Decide Where You’ll Work
You probably won’t need a designated workplace while getting your consultancy off the ground. But if you’re becoming a full-time consultant, it might be helpful to have an office. Before you start booking office tours, ask yourself a few questions:
Once you’ve decided that office space will truly benefit your business, consider what kind of space is right for your needs. Coworking spaces likeWe Work andGalvanize are staples of many urban environments.
They give you access to shared or small workspaces, as well as meeting rooms and amenities, at a lower monthly rate than traditional office spaces. They also give you another way to network and benefit from those around you.
How To Boost Your Small Business By Becoming A Government Contractor
Federal contracts can be a boon to small businesses, but securing one might seem daunting. Follow this advice to get a leg up on competition.
By: Kristin Colella, Contributor
Becoming a government contractor is a competitive opportunity that can powerfully increase a business’s customer base.
As a small business owner, youve probably explored various ways to grow your customer base, but have you set your sights on Uncle Sam? If you havent looked into selling to the federal government, you could be missing out on a lucrative financial opportunity. Considering that the U.S. government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, why not get in on the action?
The federal government awards hundreds of billions of dollars in federal contracts each year to businesses to meet the needs of federal agencies and the militaryeverything from computer ink to furniture to forklifts. These contracts dont just go to large corporations, though. The government is required by law to consider buying from small businesses, and has set a goal of awarding at least 23% of all federal contracts to small businesses.
Unfortunately, many smaller companies shy away from government contracts because applying for one can seem overwhelming, from reading through lengthy solicitations to putting together a comprehensive proposal that meets many specific and detailed requirements.
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What Is Public Sector Consulting
Consulting generally refers to the practice of helping companies increase their efficiency and profits. Consultants do this by identifying and addressing major operational or strategic challenges those companies are facing. Public sector consulting specifically refers to achieving these goals for government agencies at the local, state, or federal level and other non-profit entities.
What jobs are available in public sector consulting?There are a wide range of opportunities available within public sector consulting, depending on your background and interests. Youll find that many of these job titles are similar to those at a private-sector consulting firm .
For example, you may work as an Intelligence Analyst, researching and designing plans for implementing new business processes and technology requirements for clients. Or, you could work as a Financial Management Analyst, forecasting revenue and helping manage contracts to ensure the needs of your clients and your companys finance team are both met. You might also work as a Security Analyst, using artificial intelligence , machine learning, and predictive analytics to stop potential cyber attacks before they happen.
Public sector consultingand consulting as a wholeis a field that will keep you challenged and present endless opportunities to learn and grow. If you have a passion for technology, business, and contributing to society, odds are theres a way to channel it into a career in public sector consulting.
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What Is A Policy Advisor
Policy advisors research and analyze the policies in a specific field. As a policy advisor, your job duties involve reviewing current policies, developing more effective strategies, and communicating these changes to those in charge. Policy advisors often work for schools, medical facilities, and government agencies. Positions are also available as political policy analysts with the federal government, political think tanks, and private firms. Your exact job responsibilities as a policy advisor vary greatly depending on your field and specific employer.
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What Career Advancement Opportunities Exist
If youre dedicated to your work, and display competence and initiative to your clients, you will be exposed to plenty of opportunities to advance your career. For example, if you are working as a self-employed consultant, this could mean taking on more clients, or clients of a higher profile, or upping your fees.
If you work for a consulting firm, advancement might take the form of moving into senior-level roles, wherein you might supervise teams working on more complex projects and becoming more involved in seeking out new business. You might even eventually become a partner in your consultancy, and focus your efforts on attracting new clients and bringing in revenue.
Alternatively, career advancement for you might take the shape of leaving consulting to take on a senior management position at a non-consulting organization.
Foundation Level Exam Resources
The knowledge required to be competent in those seven categories can be acquired through various methods, such as formal class training, on-the-job training, and practical experience. It is up to the candidate to research available training and resources, and below is a list of useful resource material you may consult in preparation for the exam and which cover some of the areas in which you will be tested:
Natural Resources Canada website:
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Obtain A Employer Identification Number
While some small businesses prefer to operate off of the owners social security number, the government does require its contractors or vendors to have an employer identification number . If you need to obtain an EIN, you may do so for free through the IRS. Think of this number as a social security number for your business.
