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What clearance levels require a drug test?
Wow. McKinsey, which has the biggest public sector presence of the MBB, really hasn't been doing too hot at all in the sector.
Its presence is tiny and it's gotten even smaller. Meanwhile it's bungling whatever opportunities it's getting.
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-mckinsey-is-making-100-million-and-counting-advising-on-the-governments-bumbling-coronavirus-response
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I have found that many CORs are being shoved through training so they can be certified but have no prior background. I salute those who are experts bc it is truly a tough job.
The experts are rare. I find that many don’t understand basic concepts, such as billing rates and labor categories, not to mention lack of program knowledge.
lol yep … welcome to the Gov. Ever dealt with a contracting officer before, they are rarely great to.
I’m lucky. Our CO is an attorney 🤔
Community Builder
If CORs were on top of everything in fed consulting all contracts would be sliced in half.
Coach
Lol yep, my project as well
Because most have an online training that you can click through in 20 minutes without reading anything. Even if you get the resident course, it’s such a wave top discussion that you can’t learn what’s actually gonna happen. Really can only get good through experience in my experience
I should start a COR school, haha. I often find myself indirectly training them. This time, however, I am close to quitting because life is short.
CORs come in two varieties. Those that understand that they are there to help contractors comply with the contract. And those that are on a power trip.
I worked with the COR from hell and I had to consistently say “You do not have the authority to make changes.” That phrase would get under her skin. I ended up reporting her (I documented her abusive behavior and unprofessional antics).
It was so toxic and adversarial. If you can foster a good relationship with your COR, good on you. But if your COR is abusive, don’t be afraid to push back. And document everything.
I agree there are a lot of poorly written and inflated contracts that are near impossible to manage because whoever put together the SOW/PWS didn’t understand or think through the requirements, or… doesn’t fully understand contracting. We can also talk about an antiquated acquisition process that favors ambiguity. But this doesn’t negate the fact that there is a skills issue. Some CORs have too much on their plate and kudos to them. But many simply have not been trained properly.
As for growth vs quality— there is sometimes a genuine need for more work, and it’s not all superfluous. I think the issue is also caused by lack of process and vision by the government. Do you need all those people to do this task? Why is this contract so expensive? And how come this contractor can do more quality work for less? And how many more assessments and surveys do you need? And why contract out requirements gathering? Yes, it is broken. And to make it worse, you don’t have skilled CORs and COs to help you navigate this.
Hahaha! My experience with government and non government, many people don’t understand their jobs.
Really? All the ones at my agency seem super on top of everything.
I have worked with great CORs, don’t get me wrong. Competence varies, however, and sad to say it can be catastrophic to government interests. The ones who come from the program office are often the ones that are the best to work with, because they understand the nuances of execution, even if it takes them time to ramp up their contracting knowledge. But this is not the norm. The agency sometimes relies on outside CORs to manage sensitive contracts on a fee for service model, or on teams with few touch points with program staff. And they sometimes assign them multiple contracts, without making available a technical point of contact to act as counterpart to the contractor PM.
This is my experience as well. Very inconsistent but sometimes surprising when you have a good one.
CORs are the same as ordinary Americans. Many people across the board are incompetent.
Occasionally you come across good people.
Except they have the ability to destroy someone’s career if they didn’t fully understand their position.