Apprenticeship Program

Having a well-rounded, cross-trained Business Development team is essential to achieving success in the Federal Government market. Competent BD, Capture, and Proposal personnel, however, are tough to find, attract, and retain.

Even those proposal professionals you end up hiring at a premium have uneven professional skill sets. Their skill gaps result from learning unsystematically on the job and some sporadic training. More than 95% of business developers didn’t go to college to learn their profession. Even having served in the Government doesn’t qualify one to become a business developer – it is helpful but is only a start. Most people ended up in BD by chance and picked the profession up along the way the best they could.

Having a poorly qualified Business Development workforce leads to significant investment with little results. Worse yet, it leads to potential missed opportunities or costly mistakes that may amount to tens of millions of dollars of revenue lost that your company otherwise could have won.

To help you eliminate large gaps in the skills and knowledge of BD, Capture, and Proposal professionals, we have created a comprehensive year-long training program officially approved and registered by the US Department of Labor, as well as the Departments of Labor in Maryland (DLLR), DC (DOES), and Virginia (DOLI). Any employer in the United States can send personnel for apprenticeship at our Bid & Proposal Academy. The certification your employees receive is recognized nationwide.

Developing proposals is a high-tempo and high-stress environment requiring significant commitments from your BD organization. Business Development, capture, and proposal professionals need to be cross-trained to become more effective in winning business. For example, a proposal manager trained in capture will drive development of a more powerful proposal content, while a BD manager trained in capture will close on opportunities more easily.

Cross-training of BD staff allows organizations to assign personnel to different functions to prevent burnout and attrition. BD and capture have a different pace than proposal development, and proposal management is more stressful than proposal writing. Being able to switch between activities enables a more-rounded staff and more sustainable organization with less attrition. This type of environment also allows personnel within your organization clear advancement opportunities, increasing personnel attraction and retention.

OST’s Government Business Development Apprenticeship provides foundational and advanced skills in how to win business from the Federal Government even when competing against the best Government contractors.

Companies who send apprentices for us to train will benefit from:

• Employees who have the knowledge, skills, and training to meet performance goals
• Employees who can advance within the organization
• Employees who speak a common BD language and follow the same process
• Employees whose performance can be measured by effort and culture fit since the program provides the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in a BD career
• Employees who have proven their dedication to professional development and to the company.

Not having time to take off for training is one of the key hurdles that prevents BD professionals from attending courses. They are always busy with proposals and have unpredictable schedules.

We have built flexibility into our comprehensive training curriculum. In addition to the option of attending live classes, apprentices will access online Learning Management System (LMS) to listen to recorded courses and read the slides and manuals. Our LMS allows apprentices to access 100 percent of the program in an “at-your-own-pace” learning environment on their computer, tablet, or phone. This way, they can build training into their busy lives.

Unlike situations when you send your staff to training but don’t know if they paid attention or learned anything, we track apprentice progress and send you the reports that reflect their knowledge. Our LMS shows real-time progress the apprentice has made in the curriculum. Then, they get to apply their learning skills on the job, concurrent with the coursework. This helps solidify their new skills, making our program more effective.

We test apprentices throughout the 12-month program, so employers can be confident that the apprentice has met the learning objectives. We provide the data necessary for leaders to manage apprentice performance.

Our apprenticeship program allows employers to attract high performers or high-potential individuals who do not have the Federal BD knowledge and skills. This will help you find the people who may not have the right experience but have the right attitude and talent. For example, you may want to hire veterans who already speak Government language and tend to show natural aptitude for Government business development. Veteran training may be free for your organization as we accept the GI bill and other Veterans Administration funding for veterans and their eligible family members.