Lorraine Kirkland ⋅ Longmont, CO Kirkland & Company, CPA's, P.C. ⋅ 30 years experience

Since you live in CA, you could contact the California Society of CPAs and ask for their assistance. They do have members that may be able to put you in touch with the people you are looking for in DCAA. You can also become a member of the Society while you are studying for your CPA license.

I saw a reply written by John Ballard to another question on this website where he suggested the use of the LinkedIn Prime service that is available for free to veterans and thought you could seek out individuals involved with DCAA by searching there. You can send them private messages and ask for their advice on how to get connected with the right people.

Of course, I feel compelled to ask if you have you ever considered the possibility of a career as a traditional CPA, CFP, or CFO instead of being a defense contractor. There is a significant shortage of qualified individuals in tax return preparation as well as in audit, financial statement preparation, retirement and estate planning, etc. The nice thing about tax is that it provides seasonal flexibility to the individuals who practice in that area. One of our firm’s professional staff works "full-time +" during tax season and works an abbreviated schedule outside of tax season so that she can spend more time with her children.

My sister is a CPA who does something completely different. She is a VP for a large movie production company in Burbank, CA. She was not always in entertainment accounting. She started in a company that sold concrete components (gravel, etc.). Her current specialty is production finance and she is working primarily in animation. Does that have any interest for you?

Lastly, what professional associations to people involved in DCAA belong to? What conferences do they attend? Figure out where they hang out and the job info can't be far behind. Good luck!

Chuck Burger ⋅ King Of Prussia, PA Lockheed Martin ⋅ 47 years experience

Alice,

My guess is you are probably already aware of the DCAA Veteran’s programs, But just in case… DCAA uses special hiring authorities to appoint veterans when certain are met. This provides eligible veterans with opportunities that are not offered to other candidates. You can find all the details at http://www.dcaa.mil/veterans_programs.html . Complete information is available at the FEDSHIREVETS website, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Government-wide Veterans Employment Website at http://www.fedshirevets.gov/Index.aspx or via the links provided on the DCAA site.

Relative to recent DCAA hiring ability, I will tell you that the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA aka Sequestration) continues to provide a downdraft for all government agency and contractor staffing. That doesn’t mean that opportunities do not exist, it just means there are fewer of them having more candidates in pursuit. As such sustained diligence is paramount! As an example here is an article on the subject http://federalnewsradio.com/sequestration/2013/07/hagel-warns-of-possible-dod-layoffs-in-2014-if-sequestration-continues/

Again, I hope you find this information useful. Feel free to follow up with any further questions you may have. Good luck!