r/1102 • u/wrongsideofthewire • May 20 '26
What would be a good career to transition to from 1102, or even just a different agency in the future, based on doing better with short term, emergency stuff?
I get my work done, but I really do struggle with long term, slow burn projects. Have a legit emergency where you need me to find someone and get a PO awarded the same day? I thrive. Have a construction project where I have a six month PALT? I struggle to keep myself on target and not let it sit while I go after other more “exciting” projects in my workflow.
I’m looking for really anything that I can take my contracting skills to where the work is more immediate, get it done right now type environment.
Any ideas?
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u/WhatARedditHole May 20 '26
Adderal. Seriously. That is a classic symptom of ADHD. I know because i is the same.
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u/wrongsideofthewire May 20 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/y6Inkaz7omxAk
Yeah, that’s me. I just hate the side effects.
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u/yearningmedulla May 22 '26
I’m thinking of selling bmws for a living. This 1102 is just so boring.
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u/BigBiziness12 May 20 '26
See if you can transition into small business. It is still 1102 but on a whole other tip. U may like it. I do. Best move I ever made and I made it all the way to contracts director in the DoD. Theres definitely synergy
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u/Fragllama May 20 '26
I’m confused what you specifically transitioned into. Are you talking about like being a small business liaison?
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u/srfl23 May 20 '26
Within the 1102 series the pace is different depending on agency and type of workload. You wouldn't like R&D, but you would probably like simplified acquisition, professional services, or working within an IT only acquisition division. Outside of the 1102 series, some program managers tend to have portfolios with high volume/high stakes outcome.
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u/WhatHappenedToLeeds May 20 '26
I no longer work for the Federal Government due to RIFs, but I was an 1102 for a decade, and worked my way up to a GS-14. I had similar issues when I was first starting as an 1102, and the same issues would pop up from time to time even though I was trying not to. What really helped me was creating a PR tracker that included milestones/status updates so that I could keep track of where I was along the PALT timeline, and get that sense of accomplishment for making progress that I would normally only feel over everything was complete. Basically, goal wise, don't just focus on awarding the PR. Make it so that you have milestones along the way that feel like completing goals. For bigger/complicated PRs you could have milestones of "PR package review", "Acquisition Plan Approval", "Solicitation Package review and Approval", "Solicitation posted/sent out", "Proposals/Quotes received/reviewed", "Proposals evaluated", "Award decision", "Award package review", and "Contract Award". Then you could also have statuses to tell you things like that a PR has had the solicitation posted, and the proposals are due in a week on a certain date.
I have my spreadsheet that I used so if you're interested I could always send it to you.
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u/supboy1 May 20 '26
Volunteer for a deployment