Step 3: KSAs and Essays for Questionnaires

The KSAs or the Questionnaire Essays are Part 2 for most federal applications. The KSAs are “graded”, so the narratives are really an EXAMINATION. The scores are usually 5-3-1. You want to get a FIVE to get BEST QUALIFIED.

The KSAs are critical to the success of your application. The best KSAs are stories about your best experiences and accomplishments that demonstrate that you DO have the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for a position.

GET PROFESSIONAL HELP WITH KSAs IN THE CCAR FORMAT … Select your KSA and Essay service from our menu of options for 3 budgets:

KSAs and Essays Full-Service Writing

Expert KSA and Essay Writing. Services include: one set of fully-written and professionally-edited narratives (for up to 5 factors/KSA questions). These KSAs can be edited / tweaked and re-used for other KSAs for a similar series. Some of the KSAs will be usable for numerous positions, such as: Ability to Communicate Orally. Ability to Communicate in Writing.
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Targeting GS 5 through 9 positions

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Targeting Mid-level, Analyst and Specialist Positions (GS 11 through 15, $64K to $127K base salaries)

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Targeting Senior Executive Service, Executive Level Positions (SES, $117K to $162K base salaries)

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KSAs and Essays Consultation and Education

Let’s talk about your accomplishment examples that will best demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities for a certain position. Don’t write KSAs that are off-target, too short, too detailed, or not relevant. We can help you write KSAs that will answer the question. Get help, don’t guess. Once you have a good set of KSAs, you will be better prepared for other announcements.

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Targeting GS 5 through 9 positions

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Targeting Mid-level, Analyst and Specialist Positions (GS 11 through 15, $64K to $127K base salaries)

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Targeting Senior Executive Service, Executive Level Positions (SES, $117K to $162K base salaries)

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KSAs and Essays Critique / Edit with Track Changes

Let us edit what you have already written. Includes: two hours of consultation and editing time; line-by-line editing using track changes in MS Word; additional proof-reading after you make final changes.
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Targeting GS 5 through 9 positions

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Targeting Mid-level, Analyst and Specialist Positions (GS 11 through 15, $64K to $127K base salaries)

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Targeting Senior Executive Service, Executive Level Positions (SES, $117K to $162K base salaries)

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HELPFUL ARTICLES:
Let CCAR Drive Your KSAs – a very popular article written by K. Troutman and edited by Brian Friel from www.govexec.com in 1999 – but still correct for today’s KSAs. Today’s best KSAs are still written in the Context-Challenge-Action-Results (CCAR) format. The only difference today is length. Today’s KSAs are 1/2 page to 2/3rds of a page. In 1999 the length was a full page (or two pages) per KSA.

The Lowdown on KSAs – another popular article on the basics KSAs that STILL APPLY 10 years later from www.govexec.com from Kathryn’s Career Corner newsletters. KSAs have not changed much, only they are shorter! That’s good news!

Self-Assessment Questionnaires (sometimes up to 120 question) are also popular with federal human resources managers to find the best candidates. Our Certified Federal Resume Writers and consultants will advise you in selecting the best answers to questions and edit your essays / KSAs for the Self-Assessment Questionnaires. Kathryn Troutman writes about answering Self-Assessment Questionnaires for monster.com.

STRATEGIES FOR WRITING KSAS:
LENGTH: Each KSA narrative is typically 1/2 to 2/3rds of one page. Or each example is usually about 350 to 400 words. It’s a great idea to have some KSA examples ready to apply for positions. Then you will be ready to apply for federal positions with confidence. We can interpret what the human resources specialists want to see in the KSAs and help you write the best examples. Our services will include coaching, editing, and/or writing the best narratives for the position.

DATABASE: Create a KSA Database. Once you have one good set of KSAs or essays, you will be ready to apply for a number of job announcements. You can just edit each example with keywords from the question and COPY AND PASTE the answers into the on-line forms. This is the best way to get prepared for KSA narratives.

KSAs in the resume? Sometimes the announcement will ask the applicant to cover the KSAs in the resume. Read this article by Kathryn Troutman on the topic from www.monster.com.

KSA BUILDER – you can get started writing your best accomplishments with our KSA Builder! Used by thousands of jobseekers every year.

Click here to see the salary range for each GS level »