What’s it like playing with the big dogs of the Department of Defense (DoD) / Intelligence Community (IC) as a small business? Tasha Jones, president and owner of Twenty39 joins the podcast to discuss all things national security, from her time serving in the military to the transition, getting a federal job as a govvie, working as a contractor, and now being her own girl boss running her company and doing some side hustles along the way. Many ClearanceJobs job seekers run into issues after the military like experiencing failed USAJobs applications, but she decided to take destiny into your own hands as an entrepreneur.
We go back to the very beginning of Tasha’s entrance into this industry, and a big portion of the CJ ecosystem includes active duty, those transitioning, and veterans. So, she tells us about her call to service in initially joining the US Navy. She was a “spook”, those that conduct intelligence operations, but also a military spouse living away from family. Tash shares her own difficulty of balancing those things.
Now everyone has a different transition, different things that made it difficult, and maybe some misconceptions as they near their out day. Following Tasha’s transition, she had some difficulty gaining federal employment which is another common theme as folks are ETSing. From transitioning to a contractor and the agencies she supported, navigating relationships and maintaining a solid network and connections is how Tasha was able to positively navigate the job search.
Through moves from across the country, locations also were a factor in Tasha’s professional journey. Choosing to move for employment or job offers was what brought her to the DC area to support agencies like the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). But Tasha warns that job seekers should truly evaluate all offers and weigh their options, understand security clearance policy, specifically suitability criteria, and document any issues that may affect your relationship with the 13 adjudicative guidelines.
Eventually Tasha became consultant and now owns her own company. Twenty39 weaves logic, strategy and data into people, processes and technology to enable organizations to monetize underutilized assets, turn around troubled initiatives, reduce business operations costs and risk and ensure customer satisfaction. To learn more about twenty39 you can visit https://twenty39.com/.
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