Photo By Chief Petty Officer Stephen Hickok | Timothy Blanks, a Defense Contract Management Agency Pathways intern, at his Fort Lee,...... read more read more
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FORT LEE, Va. - Timothy Blanks’ workday typically lasts 17 and a half hours. He arrives at Defense Contract Management Agency at 6 a.m. and returns home at 11:30 p.m. after finishing a shift at a fitness center.
In between the agency and aerobics, he takes classes at Virginia State University where he is in his final semester as an undergraduate in the business management program.
Blanks, a Pathways Intern assigned to the Contracts Directorate as a program coordinator for the agency’s Purchase Card Program, doesn’t get much rest on weekends either. On Saturdays, he’s the projects leader in restoring an abandoned African-American cemetery, and on Sundays, he’s a volunteer coach for a Richmond area half marathon team. Plus he works at the fitness center weekend afternoons.
“My principal motivation is my wife, Lasheunda,” said Blanks, sporting a tie covered with the couple’s prom picture. “I work hard to ensure that we will have a great future together, and when I want to give up she pushes me to keep moving forward. Professionally, I am motivated by all the people I work with. I have great mentors in DCMA, and I always want to know how I can better contribute to the team.”
Blanks said serving on active duty in the National Guard for more than six years and deploying twice to the Middle East was instrumental to developing leadership skills.
“I got out of the military as a sergeant,” he said. “The military gave me confidence and a foundation in dealing with people. Those leadership skills – learning how to organize and coordinate a large group of people – and planning, are so important.”
At VSU, Blanks has received his share of recognition and accolades for academic excellence:
—Selected by VSU to attend the Black Executives Exchange Program, where he had the opportunity to meet several top executives from companies like UPS, HBO, and Sodexo.
—Inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, an international business honor society. BGS recognizes academic excellence in business studies and is reserved for business students within the top five percent of their class. He currently holds the highest grade point average for graduating seniors at VSU’s College of Business.
Blanks, an intern with the agency since July, said the most rewarding part of his job is working with all the diverse functions and people of the Contracts Directorate.
“I get to work with different teams in AQ,” he said. “It is interesting to see everyone’s workflow and processes and how the different teams work together. I am always thinking about the benefits I can derive from each team to make my work processes better. Processes flow is important to ensure employees in the field receive my timeliest support.”
After obtaining his degree in December, Blanks’ short-term goal is to secure a permanent position in DCMA with growth potential. His long-term goal is to be an agency executive and own a photography studio.
“I want to be an executive so I can help the agency operate efficiently and mentor other rising professionals,” he said. “I like photography as a hobby, but I also want to provide employment for people in the local community.”
Blanks said that the best developmental value and opportunities the agency intern program provides is the value of teamwork and the opportunities to develop professionally.
“People working on cross functional teams, pushing themselves to move out of their comfort zones, are moving up in their career,” said Blanks. “Teamwork is a value that the intern program provides, with opportunities to develop my systems thinking skills. All my choices need to be the best for everyone in the system — people, business and government.”
Blanks is involved in the detection of underutilized credit limits by researching the spend pattern of each user for the past six months. He then issues appointment letters detailing revised limits and recording acknowledgements received, and assists the Procurement Center with the development of Federal Acquisition Regulations-related training tools.
Robyn Barklow, AQ procurement analyst, has been mentoring Blanks in the Purchase Card Program since his arrival at the agency in July.
“It has been a pleasure mentoring Timothy during his Pathways intern assignment,” she said. “DCMA is developing tomorrow's acquisition workforce by hiring students, such as he, who display great leadership skills, strong values and a tireless work ethic. I will be very glad to see him hired for a permanent DCMA position.”
Amanda Parker, AQ Procurement Center director, complimented Blanks for additional contributions made to her operation.
“Timothy has been invaluable to the Procurement Center in his flexibility and willingness to help out anywhere he is needed," said Parker. "He has been instrumental in updating training documents for staff training requirements and assisting the team with fiscal close out awards.”
How does one become an intern?
According to Gretchen Smith, DCMA Keystone Program manager with the Human Capital directorate, the process to apply for any agency Pathways intern position starts with www.usajobs.gov, with available vacancies based on mission requirements.
Intern positions are available at some agency contract management offices and headquarters directorates.
“Once an intern is initially hired, they must successfully complete all training requirements, to include graduating from college, before they can non-competitively convert to a permanent vacancy,” said Smith. “The program offers students permanent positions while strategically including these individuals in the agency’s succession planning.”
Typical duration of an intern assignment is one year with the possibility of an extension of another year before they can be non-competitively converted to a Keystone or other permanent position.
“We typically hire college juniors or seniors so they would graduate within the one to two year assignment,” said Smith.
The agency hired 71 Pathways interns in 2014, with 67 currently onboard.
“We have nine interns at HQ between the Fort Lee and Rivers Bend Offices, including Timothy Blanks, and we anticipate hiring additional interns in 2015,” she said. “Individuals in the various components of the program are definitely agency assets.”
| Date Taken: | 11.13.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.24.2014 11:07 |
| Story ID: | 148647 |
| Location: | FORT LEE, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 240 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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