By Scott Jackson

With the national unemployment rate near double-digits the job search marketplace has been turned upside down.  Millions of unemployed are grasping for any tool, opportunity or competitive edge to make their way through one of the most perilous job markets since the Great Depression.  While dark clouds continue to hover over the unemployed there are few rays of light emerging here in Northwest Florida .

  Most economic experts agree that a few job sectors will remain viable for the near term – healthcare, education and government.  With the infusion of stimulus money into our economy these sectors hold promise for those interested in those areas. Government SupportJobs.com, a web-based job matching portal was launched in Fort Walton Beach in November of 2008 to address the unique challenges in placing people in jobs supporting local, state and federal government.  It was launched before the economic downturn began and now finds itself uniquely positioned to support the government job sector.

“We had no idea,” said Jerry Pfeiffer, CEO of Government Support Jobs, LLC. (GSJ), referring to the economic downturn.  “When we began working on the system, the economy was good and unemployment was low. There was keen competition for quality employee among government contractors – which still exists today in many areas. However, as the economy has stalled this last year, government-related jobs have become even more attractive, so we feel that we are filling an important need.”

Originally GSJ was created out of a need to support government contract work.  “We needed an efficient and cost-effective way to identify, recruit, and hire qualified people to staff our government contracts,” said Pfeiffer.  “The existing job boards and advertising mediums were too expensive and too labor intensive for the government support market.”

How does it work?  According to Pfeiffer, “We connect job seekers to employers in three ways. First, job seekers can apply for jobs that employers have posted on our site. Second, our system automatically compares every job seekers’ qualifications to each job that is posted. When a job seeker matches an employer’s requirements, we send an alert to the employer. Third, employers search our profile database to find qualified candidates.”

Distinguishing GSJ from other online tools and sites was key to its success. With his background in government contract work, Pfeiffer was positioned to navigate the federal job market maze and set itself apart from the competition.  “To my knowledge, no other job site has been built and operated by industry veterans like us,” Pfeiffer stated.  “I’ve supported the Government my entire career, first as an Air Force officer, then as a government contractor for the last 20 years.”  Pfeiffer’s experience includes senior positions with General Dynamics and Serco.

This insight into the government jobs market led to GSJ’s adoption of better tools for the job seeker and hiring authorities as well as a more affordable business model for the employers since for job seekers the service is free.  “We developed a unique candidate-to-job matching technology that is tailored to the government vertical,: Pfeiffer noted. “This system uses five key areas to accurately match job candidates to government requirements.”

These key areas include education, experience, skills, certifications and security clearance.  Pfeiffer emphasized that previous government experience or a security clearance is not a requirement to enroll into their system.  “While some jobs require government experience, many do not. Our system actually looks at the required skills and other attributes to match job seekers with jobs, not just job titles. So, you still have a good chance of getting a government support job if you have the needed skills. I know a lot of people wonder about security clearance issues. There’s not a blanket requirement to have a security clearance to get a government support job.”

Pfeiffer cited two areas of the GSJ system that give it a competitive edge. “There are two advantages to our matching technology. First, it presents fewer, but better candidates to the company recruiter or hiring manager,” he stated.  “This saves the employer time because they don’t have to sort through a lot of resumes. Second, our system captures all of the job seekers’ experience, skills, and certifications, and automatically presents the relevant attributes to potential employers. This allows job seekers to be considered for more positions because employers don’t have to ‘read between the lines’ of resumes.

“We also created a more affordable business model for employers,” said Pfeiffer.  “We allow employers to post jobs on our system and search our candidate database for free. Employers only pay a small fee to contact the job candidates in which they are interested. Most job sites charge up-front fees to post jobs and even higher fees to search for candidates. The competitors’ fees can be cost prohibitive for small businesses.”

The present tough job market has elevated the utility and efficiency of their system for hiring managers besieged by an overflow of resumes.  “There are a lot of great job candidates looking for work,” Pfeiffer noted.  “But it has magnified the need for employers to have great screening tools. The employers simply don’t have the manpower to review the thousands of resumes they receive. So, our tools really help the employers efficiently find and recruit the right personnel at an affordable cost.”

ARW Inc., a contractor specializing in project support services to both government and commercial, found GSJ to be exactly what it needed according to its CEO, Martin A. Smith.   “ARW is a sold customer,” he said.  “ARW shall start using GSJ for all government contracts. ARW received high-quality candidates and superior service.”

GSJ recently joined the Okaloosa Economic Development Council in a partnership to further nurture the company’s growth.  Pfeiffer shared, “We recently moved our operations into the incubator in Fort Walton Beach . The incubator has been a wonderful opportunity for us as a start-up business. Not only do they provide us with affordable facilities and information technology infrastructure, but also access to the capabilities and technology-savvy students of the University of West Florida , Northwest Florida State College, and University of Florida .”

According to Pfeiffer the incubator has also allowed GSJ exposure to the brain trust of its board of directors and some of the areas best business and technological minds, noting “They have been extremely helpful in structuring and growing our business.”  In exchange GSJ is assisting the Okaloosa Economic Development Council with job creation. 

GSJ distributes a regular newsletter to registered job seekers that strives to educate them about the government job sector----which can seem daunting to those unfamiliar with it----and the difference between the private sector.  Pfeiffer explained, “Right now, the government sector is growing and the private sector is very uncertain. The private sector will recover, but we believe the government sector will continue to grow for quite awhile. Government agencies and contractors hire for virtually every discipline that is used in the private sector, so they are not that different in terms of the types of people that are hired.”

Pfeiffer added, “Our weekly newsletter provides tips on finding government-related jobs, identifies hot job opportunities, features employers who are hiring, and lists upcoming job fairs. It’s a great way for people who are interested in a government support job to become educated about the market.”

Pfeiffer elaborated on the key points one must understand about the government contracting community.   “The main thing is that government contractors hire people to fill specific contractual requirements,” he emphasized. “These requirements are defined by the Government, and in most cases the company does not have very much flexibility. So, in order to get a job with a government contractor, you have to show the company how you meet the Government’s requirements in terms of education, experience, skills, certifications and security clearance. Our system does this automatically.

Q: What are the hot job sectors now?

Pfeiffer: “Government contractors hire people in just about every job category that you can imagine, from administrative support and construction, to management, engineering, and scientific positions. We’re seeing continued high demand for people in the information technology and health care sectors. We’re also seeing signs that there will be more jobs in the construction and maintenance areas as some of the projects funded by the economic stimulus program start to be awarded to the contractors who will perform the projects.”

Q: How does one get started in GSJ?

Pfeiffer: It’s easy – just register on our site and complete a short interview process to generate a profile. It takes about 20-25 minutes for most people to complete. You can upload a resume, but the system will still work even if you don’t have one. After you complete your profile, you can search for jobs or the system will automatically suggest jobs to you.

Q: What is some of the best advice you can give to job seekers in this market?

Pfeiffer: “If you’re not using Government Support Jobs, then you need to make sure that you research the contractual requirements and do a good job of showing how you meet these requirements in your resume.”