Five Reasons Why the Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) Competencies Are so Important

1. The 28 competencies represent what is most important to the Office of Personnel management (OPM).
2. The members of the Qualification Review Board (QRB) look specifically for evidence of the various competencies in your essays.
3. The competencies provide a great decision-making tool for matching your unique career stories with specific ECQs.
4. Even after selecting potential topics, it can be difficult to drill down and provide specific stories in each of the ECQ categories. However, you can (and should) use the competencies in each ECQ as the “lens” through which you tell your stories.
5. If a college professor gave you “extra credit” for addressing specific points in an essay, your overall score might drop if you did not take the extra credit opportunity. Think of OPM as the professor, and the competencies as your best chance of improving your overall “grade.”

When ECQs Don’t Make the Cut…

Over the past decade or so, our Senior Executive Service (SES) writing team here at CareerPro Global has helped thousands of people develop ECQs (Executive Core Qualifications) that represent their accomplishments and executive potential in the best possible way.

Most of the time, our clients come to us for help early in the process. But sometimes, we get these calls: “Please help! I wrote my own application materials, and was offered an SES position, but my ECQs were disapproved by OPM!”

In these situations, we look at the problem areas and work with the client to get his or her ECQs up to par. Obviously, each set of ECQs is different, and each person’s career stories are unique. Still, let’s highlight some of the issues and best practices that we used on many of our “ECQ rewrites,” all of which have resulted in resubmission and subsequent OPM (Office of Personnel Management) approval.

Issue: Examples were more than 10 years old.

Best Practice Applied: Challenged client to provide examples from within the past 10 years (5-7 years is the “sweet spot”).

Issue: Examples were vague and did not use the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) format.

Best Practice Applied: Partnered with client to restructure examples and to ensure each one began with a clear CHALLENGE/CONTEXT paragraph, which served to “set up” the story by describing the individual’s job title, the timeframe, the scope and complexity of the organization/position, and then the “problem” or challenge that needed to be overcome/changed. Next, restructured each example to include three to five paragraphs of ACTIONS, followed by a robust RESULTS paragraph.

Issue: No evidence of executive leadership. ECQs read like project management descriptions.

Best Practice Applied: Worked with client to present examples that were “executive in scope,” such as influencing senior decision making, coordinating with interagency partners, participating in and leading strategic planning, changing major business processes, and achieving results that impacted the entire organization/enterprise/industry/division.

Issue: No evidence of the competencies in some, or all, of the ECQs.

Best Practice Applied: Educated client on how the competencies in each ECQ are the best guide for selecting which stories to use. If a particular story can’t be told naturally by addressing the competencies in that ECQ, then it may not be the best example.

 

Barbara Adams is the President and CEO of CareerPro Global, Inc. (CPG). She has been on the leading edge of SES application development for decades. Committed to providing world-class service, she has also built an SES writing team that has assisted more than 2,500 clients develop their application materials. Ms. Adams has been featured on T.V. and radio and as a presenter at numerous career conferences. She is the co-author of the book, Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service: How to Find SES Jobs, Determine Your Qualifications, and Develop Your SES Application.

 

SES Candidate Development Program: Are you Prepared to Apply?

Many SES CDP Programs are scheduled to open in 2014.

SES Candidate Development Program – Are you Prepared to Apply?

What is the SES CDP? It’s the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program that helps candidates get ready to take on Senior Executive Service positions.

This is a good route to take if you’d like to get promoted to an SES job from within, or even if you’re applying from the outside, the SES Candidate Development Program is a great head start. Many Senior Executive Service professionals get their start by entry into this program and you can too. Allow us to partner with you to develop your very important Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program resume and get your foot in the door for a future SES position.

What Does the SES Candidate Development Program Involve?

This program not only will help you get your application ready to gain employment or on the executive leadership track in the Federal government, it can also help you get additional experience to add to your federal resume and application package so you can jump when an SES job is available. SES jobs typically don’t stay open for very long, so let our SES Resume Writing Team help you be fully prepared for when that opportunity comes.

The SES Candidate Development Program also offers SES training for future positions. How does SES training work? Activities that help candidates learn the Five Executive Core Qualifications will be a boost when it’s time to get ready for your SES Application package. You’ll be groomed for an SES job using your skills as a leader, which will be further honed by SES tutoring.

Essentially, you’ll already be prepared with the skills you need once you get hired for an SES position. This will definitely set you apart from the other applicants and will ensure your success and future hiring prospects.

 

What Does the SES Candidate Development Program Involve?

This program not only will help you get your application ready to gain employment or on the executive leadership track in the Federal government, it can also help you get additional experience to add to your federal resume and application package so you can jump when an SES job is available. SES jobs typically don’t stay open for very long, so let our SES Resume Writing Team help you be fully prepared for when that opportunity comes.

The SES Candidate Development Program also offers SES training for future positions. How does SES training work? Activities that help candidates learn the Five Executive Core Qualifications will be a boost when it’s time to get ready for your SES Application package. You’ll be groomed for an SES job using your skills as a leader, which will be further honed by SES tutoring.

Essentially, you’ll already be prepared with the skills you need once you get hired for an SES position. This will definitely set you apart from the other applicants and will ensure your success and future hiring prospects.

 

Check out our SES CDP Services:  http://www.seswriters.com/SES-Candidate-Development-Program.shtml

Integrating the Competencies into Your “Leading People” Narrative

by Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global, Inc.

With very few exceptions, almost every Senior Executive Service (SES) position you apply for will require you to submit Executive Core Qualification (ECQ) narratives. While it is obviously important to ensure the examples you provide match the ECQ titles of Leading Change, Leading People, Results Driven, Business Acumen, andBuilding Coalitions, that’s actually not enough. The best way to write ECQs is to first select a topic that makes sense for that particular ECQ, and then look at the specific competencies and ask yourself whether you can address most or all of them effectively.

For example, let’s talk about Leading People. Imagine a senior military officer who is retiring after 20 years of distinguished service and trying to enter the SES. Now, imagine that he/she is writing his/her Leading People narrative. This individual is clearly a strong leader, and had led organizations of more than 1,000 people and provided executive oversight to 12 different organization comprised of more than 100,000 people stationed around the world.

Now, let’s say this individual provides a great description of all this leadership, but focuses purely on leadership philosophy and the complex missions the organization had to accomplish. Shouldn’t those folks in the Qualifications Review Board (QRB) still be able to tell what a great leader this person is? Maybe, but maybe not. Even though this individual is clearly a seasoned leader with worldwide experience in a variety of field and office environments, the ECQ likely won’t pass muster and the board will deny it.

Why?

Because the competencies were not addressed. The important thing to remember here is that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has been very specific about HOW it wants examples presented. So, even though every example is different, every career is different, and there is no “cookie-cutter” way to write an ECQ narrative, there are certain criteria that a strong ECQ should meet. First, OPM wants specific examples presented in the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) format. However, more importantly, OPM wants the examples to be expressed through the “lens” of the competencies. If these criteria (along with a few others) are not met, the board will probably reject the applicant’s ECQs.

Let’s get back to our example. It’s not enough that this individual provided an example that clearly “proves” his/her leadership experience. Unfortunately, this applicant failed to tell the story though the lens of the competencies. In other words, while providing this great story of leading large organizations through major challenges, this individual failed to describe how he/she built the team, developed individual members of the team, leveraged diversity, and managed conflict (the four competencies required for Leading People).

One of the best ways to ensure you address the competencies in any ECQ is to turn those competencies into questions, and then answer those questions in the “action” section of your narrative. Regardless of what a great leader you are, and how logical it seems that your Leading People examples demonstrate your leadership, go back to the competencies. If you don’t weave those into the narrative, you are at serious risk of being rejected by the QRB. Here are some of the questions you might ask when writing up your Leading People narrative:

• What did you do to specifically build a more cohesive team environment? Did you hold weekly meetings or social gatherings, or provide incentives, awards, time off, etc.? (team building)

• Did you have to handle conflicts between two or more employees or offices? What did you do to resolve the situation constructively? (conflict management)

• Did you provide opportunities for or encourage staff to enroll in professional development opportunities or extend anyone’s responsibilities to a higher level of job description or expectation? (developing others)

• Did you encourage female candidates in a traditionally male-dominated field or recruit to minority groups? (leveraging diversity)

• Did you select teams for projects that included a diverse mix of individuals—professionally, educationally, culturally, etc.? (leveraging diversity)

• Did you utilize intern programs, fellowships, or other professional development programs to recruit young talent? Did you then arrange for them to be mentored into the mainstream? (developing others/leveraging diversity)

You can find job-winning, OPM-approved samples of SES application packages and a complete set of ECQ builders in our book, Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service. Get your copy today by clicking on this link or searching the title on Amazon.

 

Barbara Adams is the President and CEO of CareerPro Global, Inc. (CPG). She has been on the leading edge of SES application development for decades. Committed to providing world-class service, she has also built an SES writing team that has assisted more than 2,500 clients develop their application materials. Ms. Adams has been featured on TV and radio and as a presenter at numerous career conferences. CPG recently sent a team to instruct senior officials at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, in best practices for developing their SES application materials. She is the co-author of the new book, Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service: How to Find SES Jobs, Determine Your Qualifications, and Develop Your SES Application.