Senior Executive Service
OPM Tips for Writing Effective ECQ Statements and Accomplishment Record Narratives

Abstracted from OPM’s Guide to Writing Senior Executive Service Applications

Published June 2010 – NEW Information from OPM

http://www.opm.gov/ses/references/GuidetoSESQuals_2010.pdf

INTRODUCTION

In the 21st century, Government executives face special challenges. They must be visionary leaders with a strong commitment to public service. They must be able to apply “people skills” to motivate their employees, build partnerships, and communicate with their customers. Finally, they need solid management skills in order to produce optimum results with limited resources.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) helps make sure the Government selects strong leaders by developing the core qualifications used to test new career appointees to the Senior Executive Service (SES) and by administering peer review boards which evaluate whether candidates possess these essential leadership qualifications.

The Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) were developed in 1997 after extensive research on the attributes of successful executives in both the private and public sectors. They were revalidated and reissued with a few modifications in 2006. In their current form, they represent the best thinking of organizational psychologists, human resources professionals both at OPM and other agencies, and Senior Executives themselves.

The ECQs are:

• Leading Change
• Leading People
• Results Driven
• Business Acumen
• Building Coalitions

In 2008, OPM piloted two new methods for selecting members of the SES, the Accomplishment Record and Resume-based methods. Both of these methods continue to be based on the ECQs. However, the Accomplishment Record method differs from the traditional approach to selecting SES members in that applicants are not asked to address the five broad ECQs but rather on a select few of the 28 executive competencies underlying them. The Resume-based option is even simpler, with the applicant showing possession of the ECQs in a standard resume format.

In order to keep this Guide up to date, with these developments, we are reissuing it with descriptions of the new methods and sample write-ups. In this way we hope to make it even more useful to Senior Executive Service candidates as they strive to assess and describe their executive qualifications, in preparation for review by selection officials.

In addition to helping applicants, the Guide will be useful to individuals charged with reviewing executive qualifications, including agency personnel and executive development specialists and members of agency Executive Resources Boards.

All current vacancies for career SES positions and SES candidate development programs at departments and agencies across the Federal Government appear on OPM’s official job website located at http://www.usajobs.gov/seniorexecutives.asp.

Expert ECQ Writing and Developmental Editing Services are available to ensure that you write the best ECQs.

Appendix B: Tips for Writing Effective ECQ Statements and Accomplishment Record Narratives………………………………………………………………………………… 35

These are the same tips that The Senior Executive Service Writers, Consultants and Trainers will encourage you to follow when writing your SES ECQs and totally application. These are great! Kathryn Troutman

Stay Focused

• Focus on leadership rather than managerial and technical abilities; all three are important, but leadership is more important.
• Follow the Challenge-Context-Action-Result model.
• Each ECQ or competency should contain specific, job-related experiences with specific accomplishments.
• Focus on what you have accomplished personally, but don’t exaggerate.
• Show that you have the qualifications needed to succeed in the Senior Executive Service.
• Address the fundamental competencies over the course of the complete ECQ narrative.
• Never combine any of the ECQs or competencies.
• Never address an ECQ or competency by referring the reader to other parts of your application (e.g., resume).
• Avoid using an identical example for more than one ECQ or competency.
• Avoid a “laundry list” of activities without context, actions, or accomplishments.
• Focus on your vision for the organization not your personal vision.
• Focus on recent experience, education, and training. Some reviewers consider experience that’s over 10 years old to be stale.
• Highlight awards or other forms of recognition that relate specifically to an ECQ or competency, e.g., “Human Resources Manager of the Year.”
• Include non-Federal experiences (e.g., private sector, volunteer and professional organizations) if they support the ECQ or competency.
• Include relevant formal education or training that has enhanced your skills in a particular ECQ or competency.
• Don’t forget to include examples of special assignments and details.
• Include special qualifications if relevant to the position sought: public speaking, publications, languages spoken, membership in related professional organizations or scientific societies, or expertise in a technical area (e.g., budget, information technology).
• Show measurable results, especially in terms of improved customer service, increased efficiency, productivity, or money saved.

Expert ECQ Writing and Developmental Editing Services are available to ensure that you write the best ECQs.

Appendix C: English 101 Revisited and Other Tips …………………………………. 36

More excellent Plain Language writing tips can be found in the Federal Resume Guidebook, Plain Language Writing Chapter!

• Absolutely no typos or grammatical errors.
• Use personal “I” instead of third person.
• Write in short, complete sentences (subject, verb, proper tense agreement).
• Use common words and expressions instead of bureaucratic ones.
• Economize on words and expressions, but not to a cryptic extreme.
• Avoid vague statements.

Good: I briefed Congress.

Bad: I conducted a briefing to key Congresspersons and their staffs. (10 words.)

Good: I produce two weekly radio shows, one monthly television program, and a bimonthly newsletter to 10,000 employees located in 12 regional offices.

Bad: I manage various communication processes to field offices.

Avoid acronyms unless you spell them out several times in the application.

Format

• Follow the instructions in the announcement carefully; ignoring page limits or other formatting requirements may jeopardize your application.
• Material should be easy to read:
• Use paragraphs or bullets to separate items.
• Use headings and subheadings to indicate categories.
• Use all capital letters, bold or italics to highlight important information.
• Leave some white space; don’t type margin to margin.
• Avoid using small size type.
• Don’t make reviewers hunt for experience (e.g., “see attachments”). Put all relevant information in the write-up.
• Application should be neat, clean, and typed.
• Make sure photocopies are legible.
• Don’t attach copies of training certificates, awards, or position descriptions.
• Number all pages.
• Don’t assume Spell-Check and Grammar-Check will catch all the errors; review every word.

Tone

• Be friendly and professional, not stilted, formal, or chatty.
• Avoid passive verbs; use active verbs with the personal “I.”

Good: I established a new team structure that eliminated the need for six supervisors (only 13 words; concise, clear, good use of personal “I” with an active verb).

Bad: The establishment of a new team structure was considered one of my best accomplishments in that it reduced the need for six supervisory positions (too long–24 words; stilted, awkward sentence structure, too passive).

References

• Make sure that individuals you reference can attest to your ability to perform the Senior Executive Service job and can speak to your specific competencies in the Executive Core Qualifications.
• Contact references and tell them about positions for which you have applied.
• Be sure reference information is current (e.g., telephone numbers, addresses).

More Tips

• Avoid statements that describe your personal beliefs, philosophies, or commitment to social or political causes unless they are necessary to describe the results you have achieved.
• Don’t reveal information about your political affiliation or activities unless you are using experience as a political appointee to qualify.
• Don’t identify your race, sex, national origin, color, religion, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor.

And Finally…

• When you’re finished, ask three people (preferably dispassionate and knowledgeable individuals) to review your application.

Expert ECQ Writing and Developmental Editing Services are available to ensure that you write the best ECQs.