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Project vs. firm project experience What can you use in a proposal? As it turns out, if you are careful with how you include the information, quite a bit.
I was recently asked about including a person’s experience with a previous firm in the experience and staffing sections of a proposal.
you may use the experience of a proposed project staff member from a previous engagement. But be sure to state that Mr. or Ms. So-and-So performed this project in a previous engagement. I wouldn’t name the firm he/she worked for, especially since that firm might also be pursuing the project. But you do want to make sure that, in case the reader recognizes and knows something about the project, he/she doesn’t think you are lying about “I have no problem using a person’s experience with a previous employer in the project experience section of a proposal if it is truly relevant to the project you are pursuing.”
When an owner – whether a private sector firm or a public sector agency – looks for a team to perform a project, they have two questions that need to be answered: 1) Do you understand my challenge and know how to respond to it? 2) What else have you done that’s just like my project? The first question is answered in your project understanding and approach section(s); the second is answered in your project experience and staffing sections. THE “EXPERIENCE” SECTION. I have no problem using a person’s experience with a previous employer in the project experience section of a proposal if it is truly relevant to the project you are pursuing. But a lot depends on how the RFP asks for experience. If the RFP asks you to detail “your” experience,
Bernie Siben THE FAST LANE
See BERNIE SIBEN, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER June 19, 2017, ISSUE 1205
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