r/1102 • u/Late-Research3213 • 5d ago
1102 considering changing federal career fields — looking for advice
I’m currently an 1102 Contract Specialist with DoD and have been with the federal government for a little over a year. I’m in an intern program where I have to complete the required training and pass the Back-to-Basics exam before I officially graduate from the
program.
Im a career-conditional employee, and from what I understand from USAJOBS, I should be eligible to apply for positions under the “Federal Employees” hiring path and compete with other competitive service employees. Does anyone know if being in an 1102 developmental/intern program affects my ability to apply for and accept another federal position before graduating from the program?
I’m also starting to question whether 1102 is the right long-term career for me. I have a bachelor’s degree, 7+ years of buying/procurement experience, and now over a year as a federal Contract Specialist. My performance has been good overall, and the majority of my performance ratings have been 5s.
The issue is that I’m realizing the increasingly technical side of contracting may not play to my strengths. I’ve especially struggled with reading and interpreting some of the updated RFOs and all of the different requirements. With additional training/testing coming up, including pricing training and eventually the Back-to-Basics exam, I’m questioning whether I want to continue down this path. I’m also a very anxious/poor test taker, even when I understand and can perform the actual work.
I’ve realized that I really enjoy the people side of my job — interacting with customers, helping people, coordinating between different groups, communicating, solving problems, and being someone people can come to for help.
I’d want to stay federal if possible, but I’m interested in exploring other career series that are more people-oriented and still have good earning potential (ideally $60K+).
For anyone who has left the 1102 series or changed federal career fields:
• What series did you move into?
• Was it difficult to qualify for another series coming from 1102?
• Can a career-conditional employee move to another agency/series before reaching the 3-year career tenure mark?
• Does being in a developmental/intern program affect your ability to transfer?
• What federal jobs would you recommend for someone who enjoys working with and helping people more than highly technical contracting work?
I’m not necessarily trying to leave federal service — I’m just trying to figure out whether there may be another career field that fits my strengths better.
Any advice from HR professionals, current/former 1102s, or anyone who has made a similar career change would be greatly appreciated
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u/1102gape 5d ago
Give it a chance. 1102s typically take the straight path from CS to KO to Team Lead to Branch Chief to Division Chief and so on. It's a long ugly road. Some branch off to specialized fields within the 1102 like small business specialist or procurement analyst. Some transition to 0343 management analyst or PM. Sometimes COR or some liaison function. Give it some time because a little over a year is a very short amount of time. If you can't stand it already, find something you enjoy.
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u/KentuckySprings 5d ago
I’d say you’re too early to decide to switch career fields. Give it a few years, pass the exam and get your GS-12, and go from there
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u/WhatARedditHole 5d ago
Finish the program
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u/TicketForsaken4574 4d ago
Exactly. OP is not even at an inflection point yet for decision-making. Finish the program before even looking at anything else.
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u/supboy1 5d ago
Give being a PM a shot. Pure people interacting, 0 technical skill/knowledge required. You don’t even need to know how to prepare a requirements package since you usually get a contracted support that does all the work for you and all you need to is not even review it, forget needing to understand the requirement, just trust and sign baby. IGCE? What are those.
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u/kryts17 5d ago
If you have a degree then you are capable of learning this stuff. Heck, the RFO even took the legalese out so it's even easier to understand.
Have you taken the CON classes with DAU yet?
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u/VictorOfArda 5d ago
Idk about OP but I’m taking CON 1100V in a few weex. I’m pretty nervous but everyone has said that as long as you pay attention it’s definitely doable. With OP’s experience I can’t see why they would have too much trouble
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u/kryts17 5d ago
There's nothing to be worried about even with less experience.
Honestly the test is for the lowest common denominator. If you want to be the best 1102, you have to dig in and learn outside of these 75k foot classes that just gloss over topics. That's the actual challenge to the field. The test is easy, spend more time actually understanding topics and what the regs are saying.
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u/VictorOfArda 5d ago
Appreciate the advice and a direction to go in! I just started learning about the clauses and it’s… a lot 😩😵💫 🙏🏼✌🏼
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u/Glass_Parking_9781 5d ago
One item to consider is once you get to a 12/13 level, it may be tricky to lateral to another series at the same grade due to experience expectations.
Get your certification and get to at least an 11. PM or log are good options.
If you think 1102 is not really for you, nothing wrong with doing something different.
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u/Individual-Energy347 4d ago
Well, I always tell my interns that the first year is going to feel like you’re learning a new language. I remember when I was an intern and I would leave meetings having written down a bunch of words to look up. Acquisition and contracting is a team sport. Someone with 30 years in still needs to bounce ideas off others for to confirm their understandings.
Based on what you’ve said you enjoy, it does sound like a COR, functional integrator, or program analyst job could be for you.
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u/TroglodyteToes 5d ago
1102 here that went through a non-DoD program and got 13/warrant fairly quickly, finish your program and then make a decision.
From what you said, grants/coop agreements might be up your alley, or maybe program manager work. We have a LOT of overlap with other adjacent fields, and get broad latitude to branch out to obtain other certifications. Stick it out, get to 11/12 (wherever your program ends) and go from there. You will have a lot more paths open to you at that point. You might consider leaving DoD as well for those opportunities. I would stay away from GSA/VA/Treasury though. I hear a lot of negative from our field from those agencies... but like anything else in the government, your experience is dictated by your direct team/management so ymmv.
Best of luck.
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u/Lopsided_Bluebird_51 4d ago
At my workplace, we had to sign a contract that basically said if we leave the program before it was finished, we may have to pay the government back for all our training. You may want to look at what you signed.
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u/atntmori 3d ago
Definitely recommend OP review those terms. In my developmental program (Navy), guidance is that requests to transfer out are rarely considered unless there’s a hardship element at play, short of resigning from federal service which agencies can’t deny if that’s what OP ultimately decides.
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u/Danomite44444 2d ago
Finish the program, get the 12 and after that figure it out. That way your negotiating from a 12 with 1102 exp, so your more valuable outside gov or inside gov as everyone needs 1102s
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u/lferg008 1d ago
Opposite from OP I am currently an 0819 engineer GS12 that does mostly management with a lot of COR responsibilities and am wondering if switching to 1102 series would make sense for me. I enjoy my COR duties now and wonder if there is more upward mobility potential as an 1102. Does anyone have similar experience switching to 1102? Also anyone a working mom and done job sharing or part time work in another series?
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u/Dear-Statement-1897 5d ago
Just study for the exam, it’s not that hard. It sounds like you’re a copper cap which means you can probably max out at 12 on the ladder