Addendum 3 Frequently Asked Questions.docx

March 2022

How to Apply for the Results Reporting Analyst (RRA) Position at MCC The Results Reporting Analyst (RRA) position in the Monitoring and Evaluation division of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a fantastic entry-level opportunity for individuals interested in international development. The job immerses candidates in a quantitative, results-driven world at an agency that has a strong reputation for evidence-based interventions and transparency.

Candidates are often unaware of federal contracting opportunities, like this position, or can be overwhelmed by the acronyms and jargon included in an announcement. As a result, MCC misses out on great candidates, and these candidates miss out on a great entry-level job! Therefore, we’ve prepared this guide to decode the jargon and acronyms in the hopes you will apply!

Is this really a job?

Yes! The position is a full-time personal services contract (PSC) with the federal government. PSCs are not full-time equivalent (FTE) direct employees of the federal government, so they do not receive certain benefits provided to direct employees, e.g., health insurance, life insurance, or retirement benefits. However, RRA PSCs are eligible for a pay supplement in lieu of fringe benefits and are treated as employees in other regards. For example, as a PSC, you would earn paid time off for federal holidays, vacation, and sick leave, be eligible for transportation benefits, receive a W-2 for tax purposes, and work right alongside FTEs on the Monitoring and Evaluation team and the country teams that design and implement MCC programs. Note: this consultancy does not include a career-track/promotion opportunities.

How do I learn more about this opportunity?

Because this opportunity is technically a contract between a small business (i.e., you) and the federal government, the RRA position is posted on the “Contract Opportunities” page at www.sam.gov, where all federal contract solicitations are posted. Use the solicitation number provided to locate the posting on SAM. The Request for Quotation (RFQ) package attached to the posting includes the details of the RRA position and contract. To learn more, you should review the information in the “Description” section of the posting, and then the Position Description and Bio-Data Form, which are both attachments to the solicitation. The full RFQ will also be attached and contains additional information about the position, required and desired qualifications, and important instructions for your application submission.

This sounds great! What should I do next?

As mentioned above, this is technically a contracting opportunity for a small business; so, before you submit your application, you must register as a small business with the federal government. This means you’ll need to register with Dun & Bradstreet and the System for Award Management (SAM) to obtain unique identifiers required to do business with the federal government, i.e., a D-U-N-S number and CAGE code, respectively. Obtaining these numbers requires some lead time, so please get started on this process as soon as you decide to apply. See below for specific steps:

1. Register at www.dnb.com and request a D-U-N-S number. Within a few days, Dun & Bradstreet will email you with the new D-U-N-S number. Per their confirmation email, the number may take up to two days after issuance to become valid, so you may need to follow up to confirm its validation.

2. After the D-U-N-S number is valid, follow the instructions in the Dun & Bradstreet email to create an account on SAM. The taxpayer identification information entered during registration will then take a few days to be validated by the Internal Revenue Service.

a. Register as a sole proprietor on SAM, using your name as the business name.

b. Add the classification code and NAICS code listed in the RFQ (to find this information, see the “Classification” section of the contract posting on SAM).

3. Once you receive an email confirming your taxpayer identification information has been validated, log back into SAM and follow the instructions you receive to submit the registration.

4. Within a week or two, SAM will send another email confirming activation of your SAM account. Log back into SAM to view the CAGE code so you are prepared to provide this to MCC if or when requested.

After getting the ball rolling on the SAM registration, go back to the RFQ and work on preparing your application and please follow the instructions carefully. Feel free to reach out to the point of contact listed on the posting with any questions. Thank you for your interest and good luck!