Overseas federal contractor jobs common in industry

After Scott Lang’s tours in Iraq and Kuwait, you might think the last thing he would want to do is go back to the Middle East. Yet the retired Army colonel left uniformed life for work as a civilian contractor with Exelis in 2008 and promptly returned overseas.

“The reason I came back was the mission, the passion to serve the Army that I grew up with,” he said. Lang is not alone. For many veterans, the military contracting industry offers a way to rejoin the fight, not as a fighter but as a support player for troops overseas. Those with an interest may find a range of opportunities available for working in foreign lands.

Take, for instance, Northrop Grumman Corp., which places its employees in some 40 countries. It’s not unusual for the massive contractor to have dozens of open jobs abroad at any given time, spanning from cybersecurity to aviation to logistical support.

Even those with field skills can find a place in the ranks. Artillery experts, for example, may go overseas in support of the company’s counter-rocket air defense missile support work. That’s a job you won’t find if you choose to remain stateside.

The common thread?

“A lot of the skill sets they picked up while on active duty are very close to what we are looking for,” said Northrop Grumman recruiter Jimmy Sneed. “A lot of our soldiers for the last 10-plus years have deployment experience, they know what it’s like across the water, and a lot of them want to go back. They may have seen contractors and the work they were doing, and they want to be part of that.”

This sense of familiarity often makes a veteran a strong candidate for jobs overseas, especially at a time when a shrinking military is looking to shift some of its responsibilities onto the private sector.

“They have been there, done that. They know our customer very well, and they come out with the skill sets that we need for work that used to be done by military and is now done by us on the contractor side,” said Frank Peloso, vice president and director of human resources at Exelis Mission Systems.

Of its 6,600 employees, the company places about 5,000 overseas. Peloso said there were about 500 openings for jobs in foreign countries. As with many contractors, Exelis Mission Systems sends its people overseas for one-year terms, with the option to renew or to remain with the company in a domestic position.

Is it for you?

For those considering an overseas job, it helps to consider a number of factors before sending out that résumé. Some things to mull:

■ Less discretion. Working overseas for a contractor requires a change of mindset, Peloso said. While in uniform, people may be used to getting the job done with whatever tools are at hand. Civilian work is a little stricter, more exacting, with stricter rules to adhere to.

“We always have to work within the terms of the contract. That is our agreement with the government, and we have to operate inside those boundaries,” he said.

■ You know you can hack it — but do you really want to? It’s important to decide whether you want to live and work in an environment that may be a good bit rougher than what you would enjoy at home, said Dan Hanlon, senior vice president of human resources for Textron Systems. About 21 percent of the company’s employees are veterans, of whom some 175 serve abroad, providing products and services to defense and homeland security personnel.

If you’re in the field, you may have to relocate at a moment’s notice. Living conditions may be Spartan, and there likely won’t be a megaplex down the block showing the latest Marvel superhero movie.

■ Make the connection for them — and be ready. When you go in to talk to a company about overseas work, you need to be ready to tell relevant stories. Interviewers will ask about the life you’ve lived, your experiences, what you’ve gone through, Hanlon said. That means sharing anecdotes that illustrate flexibility, the ability to adapt to a range of environments and to interact with diverse cultures. It helps to have such stories prepared before applying.

■ Language skills. Obviously, it helps to have at least a minimal grasp of the local language. Contractors won’t necessarily require this, but even a rudimentary linguistic ability can give a candidate an edge. Lang landed his overseas position in part by making the case that his particular skills could best be used in theater. When it comes to logistics, he said, “You have to be there on the ground, where the rubber meets the road. You have to be part of that process. For me, the dividing line is planning versus execution. There is some level of planning that can be done outside the fight, but on the execution side you really need to be there.”

Work abroad can give veterans a sense of being closer to the action. It may create an opportunity to discover a new culture or a new way of living. It likely will take you away from family — spouses usually don’t go along — but the financial reward can be significant. For Americans working abroad, the first $96,000 in income is tax free. That can be a powerful incentive to talk to contractors about the opportunities they offer.

By Adam Stone Special to Military Times