I surmise that the proliferation of those "Beltway Bandits" owes a lot to the convoluted processes employed by the Feds. I had my own long, arduous process of trying to land a job with one of those firms myself: this was in the late 00's after I had failed in my attempt at getting the GPO job and after I had been "let go" by the workplac…
I surmise that the proliferation of those "Beltway Bandits" owes a lot to the convoluted processes employed by the Feds. I had my own long, arduous process of trying to land a job with one of those firms myself: this was in the late 00's after I had failed in my attempt at getting the GPO job and after I had been "let go" by the workplace with the long, long commute. I remember salivating at the houses for sale in Herndon, VA, which compared favorably to the prices of my own corner of the Northeast. Alas, the Beltway Bandit firm for which I sought employment lost the contract it wanted me to help support - and worse, it became the subject of some sort of TV expose. Two years later, the Bandit company that had taken over said contract again advertised an identical opening - for which I actually drove to Virginia and sat for an interview, to no avail. Complicating matters, my exwife and I were older parents who believed in the need for one stay-at-home parent: That need and the decent salary of my distant employer made the arrangement possible, before I crashed and burned. Yes, I too write for a living ... still do, as a freelancer. True, I have never been a woman (I'm one of those in the tribe that believes you really cannot - though I once had a transgender boss who was very interesting and kind... oops, people will recognize me). From years working in one of what have been called "the soft professions" I would quibble with your description of women's opportunities in said fields. The unit where I labored consisted of about three-fourths women, they held all the managerial posts, and they created a surfeit of HR complaints in a department where people might otherwise be glad to have well-paid employment for being creative. We guys, the worker bees, just sat back and watched it all happen. I saw much the same composition among people working in HR and procurement. Moreover, for my entire professional career, beginning in the 80s, women were mentored and men weren't. This was, of course, my own narrow experience in a set of discrete workplaces, but in retrospect, I would have been much better suited as a guy to have followed my late Dad's advice: Become an accountant.
I surmise that the proliferation of those "Beltway Bandits" owes a lot to the convoluted processes employed by the Feds. I had my own long, arduous process of trying to land a job with one of those firms myself: this was in the late 00's after I had failed in my attempt at getting the GPO job and after I had been "let go" by the workplace with the long, long commute. I remember salivating at the houses for sale in Herndon, VA, which compared favorably to the prices of my own corner of the Northeast. Alas, the Beltway Bandit firm for which I sought employment lost the contract it wanted me to help support - and worse, it became the subject of some sort of TV expose. Two years later, the Bandit company that had taken over said contract again advertised an identical opening - for which I actually drove to Virginia and sat for an interview, to no avail. Complicating matters, my exwife and I were older parents who believed in the need for one stay-at-home parent: That need and the decent salary of my distant employer made the arrangement possible, before I crashed and burned. Yes, I too write for a living ... still do, as a freelancer. True, I have never been a woman (I'm one of those in the tribe that believes you really cannot - though I once had a transgender boss who was very interesting and kind... oops, people will recognize me). From years working in one of what have been called "the soft professions" I would quibble with your description of women's opportunities in said fields. The unit where I labored consisted of about three-fourths women, they held all the managerial posts, and they created a surfeit of HR complaints in a department where people might otherwise be glad to have well-paid employment for being creative. We guys, the worker bees, just sat back and watched it all happen. I saw much the same composition among people working in HR and procurement. Moreover, for my entire professional career, beginning in the 80s, women were mentored and men weren't. This was, of course, my own narrow experience in a set of discrete workplaces, but in retrospect, I would have been much better suited as a guy to have followed my late Dad's advice: Become an accountant.