Cracking the APS as a Consultant?

Thanks for all the useful comments everyone, much appreciated.

If you really want to break into the Public Service what you really need to do is to look inside you for the desire to live a life of purpose, direction and meaning. Identify your values and strengths and utilise these to reach your goals. Find balance, direction and meaning to help you live the life you want, personally and professionally. Stop and think about where you are now, where you want to be and what steps are needed to get you there. You need to released to be all you can be.

Or how about you get a group of Pastors, Church Leaders and Para Church organisations to think big, plan ahead and shape your spheres of influence,and effectively manage change,

Have a damn good pray to the sky fairy, that may help too.

Most of what you would be looking for initially would be under the tender thresholds – you have to be known to the people picking the potential consultant(s) to even get on the list. If you aren’t known it is less likely that you will get the big jobs as you haven’t got any demonstrated experience with APS settings.

ClownKiller gave some good (and serious!) suggestions – find out who decides to hire what you are offering – networking opportunities like Australian Institute of Management and other relevant professional networking settings might get you in touch with people who can tell you how people get employed as consultants in their areas – it may not be the decision maker but it will let you know who they are. While the branch head/dep sec may be the ultimate decision maker they may seek advice and recommendations from others in the area.

Good luck. it is a tricky situation – rewarding if you can get access but frustrating looking in from the outside if you believe you have the skills but aren’t being approached.

(1) Get a job with Boston Consulting or McKinsey’s.
(2) Learn lots of meaningless phrases like “iterate a problem tree”, “enhanced value proposition” and “playback to stakeholders”.
(3) Instant job at PM&C.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

georgesgenitals said :

If you’re serious about breaking into the govt market, forget cold calling. Find out who the other similar providers are and try to team up with them. It’s not until you get known that you will realistically get much work.

Having been repsonsible for L&D in a govt agency, I have to disagree with you.

I’ve had a lot to do with selling to Federal Government, and regardless of the processes in place, the market manipulation and trickery that goes on is large and widespread. The cost of selling your first engagement into government often doesn’t justify the results.

Borrow their watch to tell them the time. It’s what consultants do.

Pommy bastard said :

Yeah gods, I do hope the public service isn’t wasting money on all this new age bollocks.

“My passion is to see people released to be all they can be. This not only benefits the individual but it has a flow on effect into communities, workplaces and our world.”

Couldn’t agree more PB. I’ve been facilitated by this stuff for years and I’d prefer not to again. More fodder for weaselwords.com.au

Now that’s what agencies need! Spending money on consultants for planning days. When if they didn’t pay for the consultants, they may have been able to resource someone to do some real planning.

Suggestions:
1. Finance actually have some reasonable information for startups at http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/selling-to-the-australian-government/index.html – check it out
2. Register at https://www.tenders.gov.au/ – but that’s only going to get atms on annual plans or above $80k.

georgesgenitals said :

If you’re serious about breaking into the govt market, forget cold calling. Find out who the other similar providers are and try to team up with them. It’s not until you get known that you will realistically get much work.

Having been repsonsible for L&D in a govt agency, I have to disagree with you.

If you’re serious about breaking into the govt market, forget cold calling. Find out who the other similar providers are and try to team up with them. It’s not until you get known that you will realistically get much work.