Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: How to Write an Effective KSA

Everyone groans when they have to write knowledge, skills and abilities. While it IS time consuming, it doesn’t have to defeat you. First, let’s look at what they actually are.

When a government agency is announcing a position, they will identify the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) necessary for the job. They will ask applicants to write half a page to a page describing their experience in each of these areas. Sometimes an applicant will have to address up to eight different KSA’s. These narratives are in addition to a complete résumé so you can imagine, it can take some time to compose all of these pieces.

The purpose of the KSA is to assess prior work experience and to predict future performance on the job.

Some KSA’s are common, such as “the ability to communicate orally and in writing” or “the ability to analyze a complex situation”. Others are very specific, to the point of purposely targeting individuals who have done that specific job in the past.

The Office of Personnel Management admits some of the problems with requiring KSA’s are the discouragement of qualified candidates due to the time and labor necessary, the labor required to analyze every application that is submitted, and artificially helping applicants who may not be suited for the job, but are excellent writers (or hire excellent writers) to compose their KSA’s.

Despite the problems OPM sees with knowledge, skills and abilities, we still see them commonly on federal job announcements. So, here are a few tips on how to handle them when you do come across them.

Think of it as an accomplishment. Select ONE past accomplishment related to the KSA and describe it in detail. You will need to explain the role you played in the accomplishment and then the impact of the accomplishment itself.

Some like to use the Context, Challenge, Action and Result formula or CCAR. If you address all four of these in relation to an experience that demonstrates your knowledge, skill or ability, you should provide enough data to prove to the examiner that you meet the requirements. On the other hand, if you simply repeat the KSA and don’t give evidence, you will not be providing enough supporting evidence.

Pick your most sophisticated example. If you are addressing the KSA “able to communicate in writing,” it would be more advantageous for you to talk about a standard operating procedure you wrote as opposed to an email you wrote to the commanding officer. Always try to think of the example that represents your most outstanding accomplishment.

Follow the directions carefully. If the announcement says to address the KSA separately, then you need to answer it on a document separate from your résumé. If it tells you to answer in your résumé then just be sure to specifically address the KSA, DO NOT just repeat it, really give an example that shows you meet the rquirement.

Try not to leave one unaddressed. Even if you have to resort to a personal experience in order to prove that you have a specific KSA, it’s better than leaving it blank.

Hopefully these tips will help you feel more confident and capable. If you need further assistance, of course you can always contact me for help.

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