How do I break into the NOVA government contracting industry without prior GovCon experience?
I’m an Operations and Implementation Analyst working remotely so my interactions with working professionals in the dmv area is limited. I’m a woman in my mid-twenties and recently moved to Reston from the West Coast. I’ve been trying to break into government contracting or other industries that have a strong presence in Northern Virginia for example AI/defense tech firms. My background is primarily in retail, apparel, and food manufacturing/CPG, so while I have transferable operations and implementation experience, I don’t yet have much of a professional network in the area. I’ve found that even for roles where I closely match the qualifications, I’m either not getting interviews or, when I do, employers ultimately choose candidates with direct industry experience.
I was mainly trying to target bigger companies like SAIC or Deloitte but that hasnt gotten me far. Not entirely sure if it’s the lack of connections or a combination of that with coming from a different industry.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to bridge that industry-experience gap and build the right network in Northern Virginia. For someone with my background, where would you recommend I start and where do i go to make these connections?