Contract Specialist 

(Female, Age 29) from Voorhees, NY

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 29 who works as a Contract Specialist in Voorhees, NY. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Contract Specialist
Salary $75,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week
Company Size (not answered)
Location Voorhees, NY
Years Experience 3 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
The Department of the Navy is part of the Department of Defense, Executive Branch, for our Federal Government. We have thousands of employees both in and out of the country.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
As a Contract Specialist I am essentially a buyer for the Government. Our customers (Department of Defense Agencies)have the need for personnel or actual items, and it is the Contract Specialist responsibility to seek out that personnel or those items and negotiate them in the most cost effective manner. I am also in an intern program here. you do not have to be a student, you need a 4 year degree and credits in business courses. This is their training program.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
My employer offers a TSP plan ( comparable to 401K). We start off with 12 days of vacation and 12 days of sick leave with many different health insurance plans to choose from.

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
I do feel that I am compensated fairly for my current position.

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
This is a very independent position however I enjoy working along side my coworkers if i get the chance as they can be of great assistance. This position is not straightforward and there are a lot of ins and outs. My coworkers can provide helpful insight.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
I work in an office. I love working in an office. Our office in particular is a very laid back atmosphere with great employee morale.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 4
Hours: 5
Co-Workers: 7
Supervisors: 6
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 3
The Actual Work: 1

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am I am replying to emails that I received the evening prior and getting my files together that i plan on working on for the next hour or so. I am also getting in a quick cup of coffee.
8am to 9am I pulled out a file that i need since I have received an email from my customer. She has attached a document that i will need to attach to my contract that i am working on. I finish this contract along with the related documents.
9am to 10am I know i will be going to my supervisors office to drop of the contract file that i just completed,so i will also bring along another file that i have not yet completed, however, i need his signature on it before i can proceed. I go to his office and he is meeting with my coworker, so i just dropped off the file in his inbox and he will return it once he has signed it.
10am to 11am Market Research is needed for another contract. I will start the market research online ( and by looking at previous contracts from coworkers) and print out what i find so that i may read it over and make it part of the permanent file.
11am to 12pm Faxing out forms and fielding emails from coworkers asking me to take on some of their work since they will be out of the office for a few days.
12pm to 1pm Lunch.
1pm to 2pm Received a phone call from a customer. She needs me to track down a contract. She just needs my supervisor to provide the status since she does not know which of his employees is handling her contract. I go to the supervisors office, however is on the telephone. I go back a few times, however, he is still busy. Back to my market research.
2pm to 3pm Finally get in touch with my supervisor. He does give me status on the contract that the customer was questioning. He says my coworker ( a newer employee) is handling that contract and asks me to give my coworker a hand and show him what steps he needs to take. I bring the coworker over to my desk and go over a few things to get him started.
3pm to 4pm Another coworker comes over to go over a few things on the email she sent me about handling some of her work in her absence. Also handling emails during this hour. I open up some files with paperwork i need to get started on for a training class that i will be attending soon, however i also need to reply to the emails that are coming in as i am reading the course material.
4pm to 5pm Around 4:00pm I start getting last minute things done since I get off of work at 4:30. This could be faxing, scanning, emailing, or getting my files ready for the next day.
5pm to 6pm N/A
6pm to 7pm
7pm to 8pm
8pm to 9pm
9pm to 10pm
10pm to 11pm
11pm to 12am

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
I received a referral from an old coworker.

What was the application process?
Submission of a resume and online application.

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
I had 1 in-person interview with a panel of 3 people.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
They asked the typical interview questions. Strengths, weaknesses, describe your last job, what do you know about this job so far? etc

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes and they continue to do so with on the job training and training courses.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Yes i am in a 3 year training program including classes, this will lead you to quickly progress through the contracting learning phase and also gives you an incentive in the form of generous annual raises.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes, however i majored in Criminal Justice, so i planned on working for the Government , just not contracting. I did take statistics courses and business courses with my major that did help with this position.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Yes, as a matter of fact I have done that several times.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
They must be detail oriented and can work very independently. Organizational skills and customer service skills are also key. A big asset would be flexibility.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
I feel that someone with a basic college education could do this job.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Ask a lot of questions.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Yes it is considering I always wanted to work for the Fed Govt

What are your current career goals?
I would like to continue to work for and retire from the Federal Government. The quality of life is fantastic and flexible. The pay is also fair for the work we do in my position.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
It is not something people grow up thinking they will do…a “contract specialist” however, it is a highly sought after skill in and out of the Government sector.

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 Training Coordinator 1 year 35000 Trained all personnel in the department on how to conduct, educational, employment, and reference background checks.
Prior Job 2 Human Resources Researcher 2 years 30000 Conducted various types of background checks on candidates for many different employers

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
Ohio State B.A. Criminal Justice
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)
N/A

Ask a Question of this Mentor

This mentor has opted to receive questions from people interested in this career or job position. Please be respectful of their time and willingness to help. Include some basic relevant background so they can intelligently answer your question.