MBA student becomes valued DLA employee through Workforce Recruitment Program

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -

Allexas Kirchgessner already had a full plate when she came to the Defense Logistics Agency's Workforce Recruitment Program. The busy wife and mother of two went back to school six years ago to earn her associate and bachelor's degrees. She was in the middle of a one-year Master of Business Administration program at Elizabethtown College and already had another job when she learned about the WRP.

Kirchgessner had reached out to her friend Fawn Mullinix, a program analyst at DLA Distribution, about potential job opportunities at the agency. Mullinix put her in contact with DLA's human resources and equal employment opportunity offices, where she was connected with the WRP.

This connection was fortuitous because neither Kirchgessner nor her future supervisor, DLA Distribution Policy Chief Michelle Phelps, knew about WRP, which is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal employers with college students and recent graduates who have disabilities and are eager to demonstrate their skills and abilities in the workplace through internships or permanent jobs.

"We actually interviewed Allexas to make sure where wanted to go and what we wanted her to do would be a good fit. Obviously, she's an extremely motivated, very eager individual, which I love, and so we thought, let's give it a shot. Let's go for it," Phelps said.

Kirchgessner is one of the many WRP success stories at DLA. She came on board as a management assistant at DLA Distribution in August 2022 and was hired as a full-time contracting specialist the following February.

WRP streamlines the job search through a database of relevant candidates, and participants can be hired noncompetitively through the Schedule A hiring authority.

There have been 1,190 participants in the WRP at DLA since 1995, and 173 have been hired as full-time permanent employees.

"The beauty of this program is having DOD fund a WRP intern to work for 14 weeks at no cost to the hosting organization," said Eric Spanbauer, DLA's EEO program manager for special emphasis programs. Supervisors and managers can choose WRP candidates based on their knowledge, skills and experience, and can also provide them with job training, he added.

It's important for DLA to participate in WRP because it's a resource of untapped talent, with many participants just starting their federal careers, Phelps said. It's also a great opportunity for information and skills to be passed down to the interns from employees looking to move on to new positions or retire, she added.

Both the employee and the rest of the team get to know each other during the 14-week internship, giving supervisors time to see if there is a potential for a permanent role.

Phelps told Kirchgessner that if contracting wasn't a good fit for her, she'd help her find another career that suited her better.

"She has a drive. She wants to be here. She wants to learn," Phelps said. "I don't ever expect someone to come into such a career field with the technical background; you don't go to school for DOD contracting. So the fact that she's willing to be motivated and proactive, it's invigorating. It makes you want to continue to challenge her even more, so that's been a complete pleasure."

Despite her credentials, Kirchgessner said it was intimidating coming into a new environment where she was so green and so many of her colleagues were established. There was a lot of playing catch-up at the start, she said, down to learning the many acronyms used in routine tasks.

"You don't realize all of that when you're outside of government roles, and once you're thrust into them, it's like, oh my word, there's so much to learn and so much to take in," she said.

Kirchgessner said she learned a lot during her time in the WRP program. As a management assistant for the policy team, she attended online and in-person training, assisted her supervisor with research on tasks and drafted acquisition alerts. She also created a spreadsheet for contracting officials to track data on multimillion-dollar contracts.

"My supervisor recognized early on that I pick things up very quickly and will proactively seek information for support, so she threw a lot of different things my way to give me a well-rounded understanding of what occurs in this office," she said.

She had a unique perspective because she was able to see the policy side of contracting while learning the contract specialist role.

"Honestly, it was a brilliant setup for someone like me who appreciates rules and regulations because I was able to learn why processes and procedures were so important to the whole even before I learned exactly what those processes and procedures look like in their entirety," Kirchgessner said.

In turn, the team used Kirchgessner as a sounding board for ideas and concepts.

"She gave us a lot of that live input and feedback that we otherwise don't have represented on my team," Phelps said. "She brought a perspective that allowed us to give her an insight to the behind-the-scenes, the things that most contract specialists don't get to see."

Kirchgessner's favorite part of the internship was that it kept her on her toes.

"Answers aren't always as simple as a yes or no, and they require context, which makes it more complex. And that complexity creates an environment where you're constantly challenged and have to utilize your current knowledge and seek out new information, which I love because it's mentally engaging," Kirchgessner said.

She attributes some of her success to her manager.

"Michelle is a powerhouse. She is by far the best leader I have ever worked for, and I use that term very intentionally," Kirchgessner said.

DLA is committed to promoting a workforce that includes diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, Spanbauer said. It allows the agency to commit to developing, maintaining and championing a dignified, respectful and safe workplace, he added.

In October 2022, DLA was named the best Mid-Sized Component Among Employers of Individuals with Disabilities for the sixth consecutive year. It was the 20th time DLA won this award.

For more information about hiring throughout the WRP, email [email protected] or contact the local EEO office. More information about WRP can be found in this DLA video.

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