by Amin Huffington

Dreamfedjob - Turning unemployed into employed.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA’s) are a method used to rate and rank minimum qualification candidates. Under this method, the position description is analyzed to identify those KSA’s necessary for optimum job performance in that particular vacant position. During the ranking process, the candidate’s input will be rated against predefined levels of experience. The KSA’s listed on the Merit Promotion Vacancy Announcement are the employee’s opportunity to present to the personnel staffing specialist their work experience, education, and volunteer experience as it relates to each KSA. It is each employee’s decision on how best to present him/herself in writing.

It is important to note that since KSA’s are used to rate and rank minimum qualified candidates that the failure to submit a KSA will result in disqualification for the advertised position.

WRITING A RESPONSE TO KSA’S:

As you begin the process to respond to a KSA, you may wonder:

How do I get started?

What kind of information do I include?

What kind of training is relevant to the KSA?

Does my volunteer experience count?

The answers to these questions vary greatly, based on each individual’s experience and background. However, there are established guidelines and suggestions which may assist you in the development of strong, clear, and concise KSA’s.

How to Get Started

To begin you should:

Gather your reference material such as your old resumes, past and current copies of position descriptions, copies of narratives for individual awards, and college transcripts.
Review the KSA titles listed on the Vacancy Announcement to determine whether you have held jobs which had duties that directly relate to the listed KSA’s.
Draft your experience in chronological order.
Title each position by organization (i.e., company, agency, office, etc.), and list employment dates.
In the introductory sentence be sure to state your job/position title, series, and grade level. Don’t make the reader guess the type of positions you have held.

Type of Information to Include:

Concentrate on the KSA you are writing about, and for each position express only the duties you performed which directly relate to that KSA. For example:

A KSA titled “Ability to communicate verbally and in writing,” explain the duties in positions you have held that require you to communicate (i.e., receptionist, trainer, or instructor, etc.).
Give examples of the different types of written communication you have done (i.e., technical handbooks and procedures, response to congressional inquiries, presentations, or training given, etc.).
List college courses or other training that demonstrates your communication skills (i.e., Composition and Writing, Public Speaking, or Speech, etc.).
Extra credit for training is given for college credit courses taken on an employee’s own time and initiative. The course may not have been paid for by the government. Courses taken from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) or a private vendor, when the tuition and employee’s time is paid for by the government, are not considered for extra credit, but as part of work experience.
Volunteer experiences should also be listed, if appropriate to the KSA title. Experience as treasurer of the PTA or scouting organization would be appropriate for a KSA title such as “Ability to work accurately with figures.”

NOTE: Only your response to the KSA’s should be attached to the application form. Unless requested in the vacancy announcement, letters of appreciation, performance appraisals, documentation of awards, and other types of personal reference material should not be attached.

Looking for the Right Words

Reviewing your position description will help formulate your ideas and translate them into a written format.

Use your own words.
Position descriptions describe jobs, not people, and how they impact their jobs.
Write clearly and concisely (some classic examples of not writing what you mean: “I always classify myself and then check my classification;” “I am skilled in handling myself”). Be sure you say what you mean.

Don’t be afraid to use the word “I” and active verbs such as:

I composed letters…..
I analyzed travel regulations…..
I compiled statistical data for reports…..

Avoiding the use of the first person leaves the reviewer to wonder who really did the work. “Sixty conservation plans were prepared,” is an example. By whom – you, the whole office, the janitor?

Don’t be modest or humble. If you don’t tell them who will? You are trying to sell yourself. You want your name to be referred to the selecting official.

· The KSA’s are each employee’s opportunity to present him/herself to the personnel staffing specialist.

· You want all of your education and experience to count.

Do’s and Don’ts of KSA’s

DO’S

Read carefully the vacancy announcement for the position for which you are applying. Underline the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by the position.
Describe your work experience so that you emphasize the work that used the skills required by the advertised position.
Express accomplishments in specific terms. Use numbers or kinds. For example, “prepared four initial review drafts of series, designed and installed 70,000 feet of terrace, wrote a monthly column for 3 weekly newspapers with a combined circulation of 40,000.”
Use active verbs to describe what work you actually did. Be specific.
Keep your experience examples brief.
Use your own words in filling out the experience blanks.
Include all experience, whether paid or volunteer.
Arrange your experience in chronological order.
If you lack certain experience, say so, but mention pertinent training and say that you would like the chance to apply it.
Be consistent between the resume and your KSAs.
Have your KSA’s typed or write/print so that each word is legible. Make sure it and supporting materials are neat and clean. Nothing turns off a rater faster than a messy, coffee-stained application. They can’t rate it if they can’t read it. Employers want resourceful, professional employees who will reflect credit on the agency. If you can’t type, persuade a friend, or hire a typing service.
Have the application package reviewed by a colleague or first-line supervisor to ensure the materials are complete and well worded.

DON’TS

Don’t exaggerate.
Don’t be humble.
Don’t describe the work of the organization, generally, or the work of others.
Don’t omit church, community, or club work.
Don’t make your KSA’s a “challenge” to the reader. Hard-to-read KSA’s seldom receive full credit in the evaluation process.
Don’t assume that because the raters know you personally, that they know what a good job you do. The rates may be more impressed by someone who took the time to tell them.
Your response to a particular KSA should stand on its own. Don’t refer the rater from the KSA response to the resume or to attachments. It’s a sign of laziness.
Don’t “snow” the rater by trying to pass off philosophy for knowledge or experience.
If it takes two staples to hold the packet together, it’s probably too much “stuff.” Limit each KSA response to about one and a half pages, typewritten and single-spaced.
Last, but not least, don’t lie. People do check references, so when selling yourself, resist the temptation to aggrandize.

Summary

Remember, your Resume and KSA responses are the first step in your climb up the career ladder. Give them the time and attention they deserve. Don’t be afraid to seek help in preparing your resume or KSA responses from your personnel officer, a supervisor, or trusted professional friend. Many people are genuinely interested in seeing others grow and advance. Managers, particularly, want to see their employees accept new challenges in the areas where they are most needed. If you have a good relationship with your supervisor, enlist his or her help. Often, others can help you assess your strengths more objectively than you yourself sometimes might.

Finally, edit and proofread. And, edit and proofread again. After all, if you can’t get your job application right, what can you do?

Monday, August 22, 2011

KSA Help