Guides to government hiring.

How government recruiting is priced: placement, retained and embedded fees, what moves the fee, how to compare written quotes, and how an office pays.

What to ask a recruiting firm before you hire it for government or contractor roles: the market, the rules, clearances, fees, reporting and how to buy.

Yes, up to the $15,000 micro-purchase threshold. What the FAR allows on a government purchase card, the lower limit for some services, and how to buy above it.

A plain guide for agency HR: size the surge, use the hiring authorities you have, shorten assessment, add recruiting capacity and buy help quickly.

OPM’s standard is 80 calendar days from a validated need to the first day. The steps in that clock, where the days go and the moves that shorten it.

How embedded recruiters work inside a federal HR team: what they may do, what stays with agency staff under merit rules and the FAR, and how to set it up.

A plain guide to hiring engineers with a security clearance: define the requirement, find people likely cleared, verify the right way and move fast.

“Likely cleared” is an inference from work history, not a verified clearance. What it means, how recruiters find those people and who verifies eligibility.

A plain guide for contractors: name every seat, get written commitments, plan for the incumbent workforce and reach people likely cleared, before award.

A plain guide for startups: what a forward-deployed engineer does, where to find them in government, the ethics rules for former officials, and clearances.

How federal, defense, state and local offices buy AI: purchase cards, simplified buys, schedules, task orders, other transactions and cooperative contracts.