Given today’s economic climate and the growing uncertainty within our own economy, I find many people who are looking for security, stability and longevity. Generally speaking a career in the civil service provides those things along with great health benefits and also opportunities for a pension after retirement. It also provides the opportunity to serve your county in other meaningful ways rather than through traditional honorable military service.
If you are considering a career in the Federal Government keep in mind, one of, if not the most critical component to getting your foot in the door, is writing your Knowledge, Skills, and Ability statements. Have no doubt; writing great KSAs is an exercise in writing, one that can be dauntingly laborious and arduous if you go at it with the wrong mindset. I like to think of writing great KSAs as an opportunity to sell you better than anyone else could ever do! Who knows more about you than YOU!
When it comes right down to it, KSAs are really just essays about you, nothing more. Your particular KSAs will be a collection of half-page to full-page, focused narratives, or essays, you include in your application package that highlight your particular knowledge, skills, and abilities on the selection criterion or factors desired within the vacancy announcement.
Great KSAs give specific examples of your paid and non-paid work experience, education, training, awards, and other honors you may have had. One area I see many people fail to focus on is their volunteerism. I have seen clients who haven’t worked for several years turn experience and training with their local PTAs into valuable, highly desirable experience. I’ve known women who while staying at home with their families, develop highly desirable skills through their devotion to their children’s education by volunteering at their schools PTA, participating in local and county level PTA activities, and by volunteering in their community churches and hospitals helping people who are sick, dying or incapacitated.
So be creative and resourceful as you ponder your own non-paid experience. My own son volunteers on a regular basis as part of his high school graduation requirements. He will be able to use those valuable and diverse experiences he is gaining throughout High School on his first resume as compelling relevant experience.
Remember, as you write your KSAs they are specifically written to support each area of knowledge, skills, and abilities listed in the vacancy announcement. Generally there are four to six KSAs required for each application. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the vacancy and unlike your resume, they are written in the first person. (I.E. I did this or that…)
Another point to remember is that first-level Human Resource professionals grade or “rate” your KSAs. They use a ranking system for each KSA statement. Your statements can range from superior to not acceptable, or may even be assigned a numerical score. There is no real rule of thumb as the rating systems vary from one job to the next. You will not know which of the KSAs you submit will be the ones the hiring managers consider to be the most important, that’s why you want to ensure that your have put your best foot forward in every KSA you write.
So, now you are ready to write your KSAs for the job you’ve just found in which you know YOU are the perfect candidate. You start thinking about your background and suddenly you say to yourself, what they heck is the delineation between my knowledge, skills, and abilities?
To help you understand, here is how the government defines each of these terms:
- Knowledge: An organized body of information, usually of a factual or procedural nature, which, if applied, makes adequate performance on the job possible.
- Skills: The proficient manual, verbal, or mental manipulation of data, people, or things. Observable, quantifiable and measurable.
- Abilities: The power to perform an activity at the present time. Implied is a lack of discernable barriers, either physical or mental, to performing the activity.
By these definitions, grammar and spelling are areas of knowledge. Bodies of information the applicant needs to perform a job, such as writing, editing, or proofreading. Typing is a skill. Measurable and quantifiable in terms of words typed per minute. On the other side in qualified terms, being able to maintain your composure in tense or stressful situations is ability. Here you are talking about a person’s ability to manage stress and do his/her job well while under pressure.
Now you know what KSAs are and how the government defines each of the terms. Here are seven rules you should always follow, every time you write a KSA.
- Give at least one or two good examples per KSA and remember don’t speak in generalities. Present very specific details about what you did and the results you achieved.
- Use different examples in each of your KSAs. Try not to repeat examples unless you can use the same example to highlight a different aspect of your experience.
- Fill each KSA with solid information. Do not pad your KSAs with superfluous words and phrases
- Write in the first person. Remember, you are talking about yourself and write in complete, well-structured sentences. Draw material for your KSAs from all aspects of your life and remember to consider volunteerism and other unpaid experiences.
- Don’t use Acronyms. Spell everything out. The government loves to use Acronyms but doesn’t necessarily understand your particular acronym acumen.
- Quantify your results. Again, you don’t want to speak in general terms, if you saved your company money by implementing a policy, procedure, a new way of doing something, state how much. Be specific. Don’t say I type fast when you can type 85 words per minute. Say so!
- Proofread, proofread, and proofread some more. No matter how many times spell checker tells you your document is free of spelling errors, proofread your KSAs. I have found typos and incorrect word usage in so many of the KSAs I have proofread. Be careful and ensure you have no errors by having someone else take a look at your finished product.
Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing well. If you are seeking federal employment and desire a job that is both rewarding and worthwhile, spend the time writing your KSAs, they are going to be the determining factor in whether you make it to the all important “best qualified” list that gets sent to the hiring official..
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