Although these are still the small minority among SES applications, there is a trend among federal agencies to streamline the initial phase of the SES hiring process. In these cases, instead of requiring full ECQ narratives, you are required to integrate all five ECQs into a five-page resume. Sometimes you also have to integrate a couple of TQs.
Most recently, we’ve even seen the Internal Revenue Service place a three-page limit on resumes for their Candidate Development Program, and all five ECQs still had to be included.
In these types of applications, you have two basic options in order to integrate ECQs/TQs effectively:
Option 1: You can develop a regular five-page resume and then make sure you include at least one specific accomplishment in the work history that demonstrates each of the ECQs and TQs. Some people who use this option prefer to be subtle, and leave it up to the reader to search for the content in their resume.
We don’t recommend being so “subtle.: Instead, you can “tag” the accomplishments for the reader with things like “(Leading Change)” to denote a specific ECQ, or something like “(Knowledge of federal financial policies and regulations)”—depending on the content of the particular TQ you are demonstrating.
Option 2: You can develop a five-page resume that starts off with an “executive summary” section that clearly addresses each ECQ in one concise paragraph. Some people like to label the paragraphs, while others simply bold a few keywords and phrases to make it clear which ECQ is being addressed.
Whichever option you decide to take, be sure to include concise and action-results based accomplishments that align with the titles of the ECQs (“Leading Change,” “Leading People,” etc.) and TQs.
While you won’t have the space to address all 28 ECQ competencies as you would in a full ECQ essay, it is still best to weave in as many as you can, if not all of them. In addition, always read the job announcement very carefully, because sometimes the agency will include “target competencies” for each ECQ, which actually makes it a little easier to address them.
Finally, although both of these approaches can be effective, if done properly, we have seen people have the most success with the second option.
Lee Kelley is an Iraq war veteran, former Army Captain, and author who now serves as the senior writer on CareerPro Global’s writing team. Leveraging the company’s vast expertise in assisting thousands of SES and federal job seekers, Lee has personally developed hundreds of resumes and more than a thousand ECQs. He is also the Director of Training and Veteran Transitions, and has provided USAJOBS resume-writing workshops to hundreds of federal employees and military personnel. In addition, Lee co-authored the book, Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service: How to Find SES Jobs, Determine Your Qualifications, and Develop Your SES Application. His latest book is titled, Inside Marine One: Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine, and the World’s Most Amazing Helicopter.
Executive Core Qualifications - ECQ 