GATA Instructor Work RFI's

[Board and Seize]

All,

I just unexpectedly received a response to an application that I put in back in March, and it raises a few questions.

1. The company in question is Linxx. Fairly reputable from what I gather. Any experiences working with them that you would care to share?

2. Instructor work in the GATA program. Any experiences, pros/cons, advice, etc?

3. And the whammy: nonchalantly appearing at the end of the email, "Can you also tell us what your expected daily rate is?" Suggested response? (Suggested amount, realistically?)

So, I've done my basic google-fu/research on these questions. As is often the case with these topics, there is relatively little information at hand - and for much of what is out there, the quality/reliability is at least suspect. For the pay question, I have read the usual job-blog answers, but they aren't that satisfactory. The one contracting job I've held came to me by word of mouth, so none of these were issues before.

Before I start working the old rolodex, trying to see if anyone has good intel on these questions (I'm not even up to date on who is where these days...), I thought that I would hit up the ShadowSpear community. I know that these sound like rookie questions -and in some sense they are- but I want to gather as much information as I can before responding. Especially since this is (so far) one of three responses I got from the roughly 40 applications I put out this spring.

Thanks in advance for any info,
-B&S

 

[TLDR20]

Where is the gig?

 

[Board and Seize]

"These positions are part of the Global Anti-Terrorism Training Assistance program and involve providing training to foreign law enforcement students both domestically and around the world. The positions require you to be an independent contractor and deploy as needed for training courses, sometimes to austere and high-threat environments. "

 

[fox1371]

I don't know much about Linxx. What I do know, is that they love to underbid contracts. Lucky for them, DOS takes the bait all the time. They hold a few stateside training contracts, and have more recently began exploring the overseas prospects. They don't have the size and capital that the major players have, and therefor aren't as competitive, so they compensate by trying to be cheap (in my opinion). I do have a POC for an individual that owns a company that does GATA stuff. If you'd like, I can try and hit him up for daily rate info. I'm not sure what all he'll give me though because I know they're bidding on some stuff right now. The pay rates in the industry are fluctuating like crazy right now. There are guys doing high threat security for $60k, and there are still gigs paying $500-$800+ per day. The instructor positions that I know of, all pay $500+. However, these are high threat positions at all times, and none are with DOS.

Questions:

-Is this awarded work? Or are they currently bidding on a contract?
-Are you hard out for work?
-What daily rate do YOU value yourself at?

 

[fox1371]

For the record, them asking what daily rate you'll work for, is usually a big red flag.

 

[Board and Seize]

Fox,

Thanks for the detailed response. This job in particular is for awarded work - I expect that some of it might take place where they do some of the USN riverine/IW training in VA. I am not desperate for work right now, but it's been a year now since my last job in the industry. I'd like to get this job. From what they described, it is the right kind of episodic/sporadic work to fit in my existing schedule these days. But:

For the record, them asking what daily rate you'll work for, is usually a big red flag.

I was kind of annoyed/disappointed when I saw that question. I know that they want to know, but at this early stage in the conversation it just... ugh. I would appreciate it if you can reach out to your POC, understanding that they might not be able to give any information. It would be nice to have a ballpark though.

Thanks again for all of the advice/clarity.
-B&S

 

[fox1371]

Fox,

Thanks for the detailed response. This job in particular is for awarded work - I expect that some of it might take place where they do some of the USN riverine/IW training in VA. I am not desperate for work right now, but it's been a year now since my last job in the industry. I'd like to get this job. From what they described, it is the right kind of episodic/sporadic work to fit in my existing schedule these days. But:


I was kind of annoyed/disappointed when I saw that question. I know that they want to know, but at this early stage in the conversation it just... ugh. I would appreciate it if you can reach out to your POC, understanding that they might not be able to give any information. It would be nice to have a ballpark though.

Thanks again for all of the advice/clarity.
-B&S

Just shot my POC an email, and I'll let you know when I hear back.

Here's my opinion as to why they're asking you the daily rate question...Sounds like they took a chunk out of their expected profit margins when bidding the contract. When the contract was bid, they had to figure a daily rate they would charge the client for each instructor. If they cut that daily rate for the client down low, then they have to make up for it by chopping down the pay for their instructors. Now they get to play the balancing act where they have to balance quality instructors, and cheap instructors. A steady balance of the two, should enable them to slip by without any major problems. The client set the minimum requirements for each instructor, which I'm going to assume you exceed. Now it's just a matter of how cheap they can get you for. Otherwise they go to the guy that meets the minimum requirements, and pay him that cheap daily rate.

That's all just a theory though...

 

[fox1371]

Check your messages.

 

[Board and Seize]

Check Rog