How To Become A Federal Contractor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a federal contractor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average federal contractor salary is $40,131. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes more than 10 years of experience to become a federal contractor. Federal contractors with a Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 36,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFederal ContractorUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $40,131

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.12%

Asian 1.47%

Black or African American 6.06%

Hispanic or Latino 19.07%

Unknown 3.92%

White 68.36%

Gender

female 47.06%

male 52.94%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.1

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a federal contractor

Explore federal contractor education requirements

Most common federal contractor degrees

Bachelor's

56.4 %

Associate

17.9 %

Master's

11.4 %

Start to develop specific federal contractor skills

Skills	Percentages
Access Database	9.89%
Technical Assistance	8.01%
Security Clearance	7.38%
Security Policies	6.01%
HR	4.06%

Complete relevant federal contractor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New federal contractors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a federal contractor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real federal contractor resumes.

Research federal contractor duties and responsibilities

Manage customer internal payroll functions.
Provide security services via various federal guidelines (DHS, GSA etc . )
Provide support to troubleshoot and resolve inquiries and requests for assistance with the organization's computer systems or PC's.
Configure and troubleshoot port channels.

Prepare your federal contractor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your federal contractor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a federal contractor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable federal contractor resume templates

Build a professional federal contractor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your federal contractor resume.