Responding to a government RFP or cleared proposal recruitment can be a daunting task, especially if your firm is a new bidder for the work. Typically, the weighted scoring from the RFP Agency leans heavily on the ability to supply the people and past performance. Pricing, while important, may not be weighted as highly as talent and being able to supply the people for the project if your firm were to win.
That's where Cleared Recruiters comes in. As a partner, we can help find, screen, and submit candidates for every role through our Pre-and-Post-Award (PPA) service. The PPA has helped firms win massive Intelligence Community contracts, OCONUS work needing 100 or more personnel, and highly competitive large bids for ongoing IDIQ contracts.
How does the PPA work, and what should we know about this service?
Timing is Important
One of the most important things to do as a firm about to bid on an RFP is to ensure you have a pipeline of candidates to fill the roles when you win. That means starting the recruiting 60 days before the RFP response is due. Yes, 60 days!
Often, we will have clients come to us and ask for a high number of candidates in a week or two weeks. That simply doesn't work. Elapsed time is the enemy of recruiting. Even if we reach out to the perfect candidates, they may be tucked away in a SCIF or may not look at their email for several days. Then, their usual response is to schedule a brief call with our recruiters the following week. That's two weeks right there.
Multiple Candidates Per Role
Cleared Recruiters strongly recommends obtaining two people for each role. It's essential to consider the timing of the search, the response time, and the delay from the government awarding. If you have only found a few potential candidates, you might lose them due to the delay. Therefore, acting swiftly and securing additional candidates is crucial. If you line up two people for each role, the chances of not having any candidates for your roles are much lower.
Letters-Of-Intent (LOI), Not Contingent Offers
The government may accept bids and then ask the finalist to 'sharpen their pencil' and give better rates for some LCATs. If you have already extended a contingent offer, your firm has a liability or maybe smaller margins if you have already signed a contingent offer with candidates. With LOIs, the candidate knows that your firm will make the most competitive offer possible when the award is made. It is also an excellent conversation to have with the candidates as you value their abilities. They may have several suitable roles that fit the bid, and you do not want to lock them into one particular role at this early stage.
Recruiter Experience Matters
Experienced recruiters save time, make the efficacy of the recruitment process much higher, and generate tremendous value for their firms. They understand the clearance process and know to ask the right questions to verify the clearance and capabilities of the candidate. This front-screening allows for productive use of their backgrounds and skills across the team's efforts to create the proposal. The last thing a firm wants is to get to the award, try to hire the candidate, and find out their clearance has lapsed. Experienced recruiters screen out almost all the issues upfront, putting only good candidates into the funnel.
Cleared Recruiters Solution
Including Cleared Recruiters and the PPA service in your proposal team can improve your chances of winning (PWIN). Including a professional recruiting company in the proposal and stating they are partnered with your firm for this effort is good for most government agencies as they get the firm's recruiters AND another set of professional recruiters.
What are you waiting for? If you have an RFP, you need Cleared Recruiters!
To learn more about the PPA Service and Cleared Recruiters, please contact us at info@cleared-recruiters.com or visit www.cleared-recruiters.com.