WiSC Enterprises, LLC has had since 2016, and continues to have, a very mutually beneficial working relationship with Assertive Professionals. AP has provided WiSC with winning support in proposal and task order responses; as well as, highly qualified professionals to man the work we have won together. WiSC looks forward to continuing ours (and AP’s) growth be it a prime or a sub-contractor to AP.

Steve and I talked a few years back, prior to becoming an employee of AP and I asked him what was the key hiring point for AP? He said, “at AP you are not just a number, you are family.”  He was so right then and now, as AP has lived up to that statement.

I am so thankful for the compassion, support, and guidance while I was out due to COVID-19 and Pneumonia.  This was not a good time for myself and my family but AP leadership took any worries and concerns I had about my job and provided me excellent guidance, support, and encouragement.

I have been in the workforce for over 30 years and have worked for both large and small companies. AP is by far the best company I have EVER worked for.  This is based on now 3 years of working with the best leadership team, the best working environment, and by far the best culture. Being an “Employee Centric” company is not just another tag line or hollow promise. AP leads by example and are true to their word.

Thank you all again from not only me, but from my entire family. I am looking forward to another great year with AP and will continue to do everything I can to continue to make AP great and be the greatest employer of choice.

Assertive Professionals (AP) embodies a true employee-centric culture fundamentally based in the morale, development, and celebration of its employees.  AP’s executive staff works tirelessly to ensure that their employee’s personal and professional needs, as well as their families needs are always prioritized. Through such commitment, employees within AP project a shared resilience in achieving organizational objectives – and as such are continuously recognized for their efforts.

An example from my personal experience outlines my first interactions with AP while deployed to Iraq in 2017 when my then company was removed from the task order I was supporting. As a result, I was subsequently reallocated to AP becoming one of their first twenty employees. Tiffany, Steven, Nicole, and Chris proactively established open lines of communication with myself as well as my wife to ensure that the transition went as seamless as possible. Tiffany even scheduled our routine phone calls during that time for 3:00 AM EST to best accommodate my current hours of operation – a simple gesture offered because of her awareness of how demanding working in such conditions can be, and how inconvenient that transition process could have been. Mind you she was still managing a growing business during normal business hours. The level of appreciation for that gesture can’t be overstated.

During this same time, Tiffany, Chris, and Nicole communicated daily with my wife to ensure that she felt the same level of inclusivity that all AP employees feel. They provided her guidance during the transition, and mentored her in how to balance the responsibilities of the supportive role that she was filling for me at the time, while also working as a health care provider in a start up clinic in Fayetteville, NC. They put forth so much effort to remove so many of the distractions, both personal and professional that so often times effect deployed workers and their families so that my wife and I could both focus on our daily tasks to best support our customers. Upon my return home from deployment, Tiffany, Steven, and Nicole all traveled to my town to welcome me home and to thank me – wow! The subsequent interactions I’ve experienced with AP over the last two years have never deviated from simplistic and enjoyable nature detailed during my initial hire.

AP’s executives routinely engage their employees and families about the company’s internal policies and practices, listen with intent when feedback is provided, and continuously shape and/or modify policies around what best meet the needs of their employees and their families. AP encourages participation from their employee’s and their spouses during business development meetings so that all members included understand the goals of the organization, the direction that will be traveled to achieve said goals, and what the roles of AP employees will be during that time. It should be noted that often time’s employees within AP are engaged for interest in advancement opportunities within these new initiatives.

Since my initial employment, I’ve maintained open communication on a near daily basis with the executive team. I’ve never felt detracted in voicing what my personal and professional goals were, the roles I wanted to fill within AP, and communicating how AP was going to work with me while achieving those objectives.

Being a career military officer, I’ve heard the message about taking care of Soldiers and families from leaders hundreds of times.  At AP they actually do take care of their employees and families.  They allow for a flexible schedule so my spouse can make doctors’ appointments and whatnot with our children when I’m deployed or TDY somewhere.  They’ve pushed her to continue to seek education and personal improvement like seeking a second Masters and PMP cert.  I can’t say enough good things about AP from my perspective.

Here is what I got when I chose AP (really AP chose me). The AP leadership are veteran leaders who understand the value of personal and professional growth. They are fully invested in allowing employees to pursue avenues that will help them grow. I believe AP leadership does this because they want employees to be better equipped for life at the end of their employment relationship (whenever that may be) than when they started. I think it is significant that the AP leadership is fully aware and, in some respects, expecting that this will mean that some employees will move out of their organization to find a better fit for them based on the growth and experience gained while at AP. That is exactly what happened in my situation. I am forever grateful to AP for the opportunity to serve with them and their joyful spirit in allowing me to engage in other opportunities that better fit my gifts and talents.

One of our focuses early on was to establish a company that had an efficient and responsive recruiting function, as opposed to the norm in our industry, which is commonly referred to as the “recruiting black hole.” For open positions, we intend to provide an initial response to candidates within 48 hours of applying. Some companies put job seekers through a long application process without providing timely, if any, feedback. Our applicants know where they stand right away. This is something we’ve strived for, and I think we’re actually much better than most at, (although I don’t think we’ve touted it enough). Our business is professional services, so constantly improving our recruiting function has to remain a priority.

Also, once on board, we inform our customer-facing employees as to what the company staff is working on behind the scenes, we educate all our employees on how federal contracting works, and we keep everyone in the loop regarding the status of current and future contracts. This transparency is one aspect of our operations that differentiates us from other companies in our industry. And it helps us to retain our employees. We have high-performing employees and guide them on their career paths; keeping them informed of new opportunities can be the difference between a resignation and a promotion.

Veteran outreach is another goal. This company was founded and is run by veterans. We understand the needs of veteran job seekers, and our bond with them compels us to assist them in finding fulfilling employment. We have very recent examples of our recruiters and staff continuing to assist veterans in their job searches, even after they’ve decided to work elsewhere.

Working with a client like Assertive Professionals is a real treat. They handle every interaction with our team with great care and professionalism and are excellent communicators. We have enjoyed watching them grow over the past few years. It truly is a privilege to be a partner in their continued success.

Assertive Professionals has been a trusted partner from the beginning.  They joined a contract that was being extended for an indeterminate amount of time and were able to provide qualified, cleared, and professional staff for positions which had been difficult to fill. The management team has been easy to work with and responsive to short notice changes which happen more often than they should.  I wouldn’t hesitate to work with AP in the future and look forward to those opportunities.

Retiring from the military is already stressful, finding a job during a pandemic made it even worse. I quickly accepted an offer from a large company with really good ratings. I was not excited about working for a large company. After leaving the military, the last thing I wanted was to be another cog in a large machine. However, I brushed it off and moved on with the offer. In the process of onboarding with this company, I had phone calls with HR that felt like I was just another task on their list. I was emailed links to complete onboarding requirements and interacted with websites to complete everything. I received little feedback or status updates on time-frames, benefits or start dates, nor was I asked if I had any questions. During this time, I realized I was not exactly sure who hired me, all I knew is the name of the person who interviewed me, who I never heard from again. 

While I was going through this Nicole, from Assertive Professionals, gave me a call to talk to me about my resume which she received from a friend of mine. I let her know I already accepted an offer from another company. She was understanding but took the time to talk about available positions benefits and what they had to offer compared to what I may experience with other larger companies. After talking to her I realized this is what I wanted to do. Together we compared my resume to some open positions and found one that fit me. Unfortunately, this position was filled by another company and because AP is a small company, I doubted they would be able to find another position for me. However, Nicole said she would not give up and would find me a position.  A couple weeks later she was true to her word and she found a great position.   

Once the position was accepted, I received many calls from Steven, the Program Manager, who walked me through the entire process and let me know what to expect and gave me a start date. This was all during the peak of COVID while information was changing daily due to the ever changing government safety protocols. However, AP continued to update me and ensured that the position was secure regardless of COVID. The CEO of the company also contacted me to ensure I was onboarded correctly and I was registered for all my benefits. I have now been with the company since July 2020 and feel like a member of the team, equal in value to the leadership at the top, and not just an employee ID.  

Working with Assertive Professional is always a great experience, AP’s approach to aligning their service delivery expertise with DoD and IC mission goals and objectives is a contributing factor to the exceptional support they provide to both government and industry partners.  This delivery excellence is evident in the new opportunities and expansion capabilities we’ve been able to explore over the last couple of years as we continue to scale in the classified community.