{"id":5033,"date":"2015-10-10T15:59:26","date_gmt":"2015-10-10T22:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/?p=5033"},"modified":"2015-10-12T10:56:00","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T17:56:00","slug":"ksas-the-walking-dead-of-federal-hiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/about-gov\/education\/ksas-the-walking-dead-of-federal-hiring\/","title":{"rendered":"KSAs: The Walking Dead of Federal Hiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"federal<\/a>Recently, I was working with a client whose job announcement included four Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) in the qualification requirements. As I began to discuss with him the best approach, he quickly informed me that \u201cwe don\u2019t have to write KSAs anymore.\u201d I told him that this is only partially true. As of 2010, candidates for federal jobs were no longer expected to address these required competencies in separate written narratives\u2026at the initial application level.<\/p>\n

In these new, enlightened days of \u201ceasier\u201d application through USAJOBS, we have been told that we no longer have to labor over the development of these 1-2 page, detailed narratives\u2026you know, those tricky essays that were so cumbersome to write that many highly talented people threw up their hands and walked away from federal employment simply because the application process was simply just too confusing, too time consuming, and too much trouble!<\/p>\n

KSAs are dead! Right?<\/strong> No! Wrong!<\/strong> KSAs are still being required! I have clients who told me they were selected to provide more information and asked to produce KSAs within 24 hours,<\/em> by the end of the week<\/em>, and even on-the-spot<\/em> at the interview<\/u>!<\/p>\n

While KSAs are no longer required in narrative essay form for some<\/u> job announcements, they are NOT dead<\/u> and applicants do themselves a big disservice by dismissing them.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These quality ranking factors are still very much a part of the vetting process that goes into selecting candidates for federal positions. They can actually be a big part of the \u201cmake or break\u201d criteria of landing a federal job or promotion. They are critical in the Job Family Position Classification Standard of OPM\u2019s Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.<\/p>\n

Despite not having to write<\/em> the KSAs at the application level, it is wise to incorporate them into your career marketing, along with your matching experience, into your r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Part of my philosophy of \u201cmake it easy to get hired\u201d<\/strong> is to bake the KSAs into your r\u00e9sum\u00e9. The gatekeepers who stand between a candidate and a dream job don\u2019t have time to look, search, or pour over your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 to find your qualifications that align with the required KSAs.<\/p>\n

It is important \u2013 no \u2013 it is CRITICAL TO YOUR SUCCESS that these KSAs are easy to find on your r\u00e9sum\u00e9. This is done by first including each KSA phrase and following up each statement with an example from your experience where you not only performed the task, but you rocked it by creating a quantifiable impact on your organization.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a solid formula for how to breeze through these statements that are going to help you qualify way ahead of your competition and help you get hired! You have probably heard that KSAs should be CCAR stories\u2014Context, Challenge, Action, and Result. If you like writing, you were probably able to manage these KSAs pretty well. If writing is not your favorite thing, you might have hit a roadblock.<\/p>\n

For many years, I have used my own method of writing to help my clients flesh out what really matters in a CCAR story. I noticed my clients always got hung up right at the beginning\u2014the first \u201cC\u201d-Context.<\/p>\n

I created a new method to help them not only get past the roadblock, but knock it out of the park with impact. <\/em><\/strong>Writing EFFECTIVE KSAs or narratives will be easier if you use the STCARI method<\/strong> of writing<\/strong>\u2014pronounced: stuh-car-ee.<\/p>\n

I truly believe that by thinking of a SITUATION rather than context, your brain will open up to all sorts of possibilities for KSA writing. My clients have benefited from this method because it eliminates the roadblocks when you think about a situation.<\/p>\n

These are the initial questions I ask my clients:<\/p>\n