Before you can be appointed to the SES, your ECQs must be approved by a Qualifications Review Board. Image: ADragan/Shutterstock.com
By: Nancy SegalI am often asked about what someone needs to know about applying for a SES position. Here are 10 things I think are important:
1. You need to have SES qualifications; this means having specific accomplishments to document your leadership experience in each of the ECQs and any Technical Qualifications (TQ) required. Being qualified for the SES means having done more than just your job.
2. There is no time-in-grade (or veterans’ preference) for SES positions; that being said, the vast majority of successful SES applicants are supervisory GS-15’s or O-6’s (military). It is possible but not that common for successful candidates to be supervisory GS-14’s or O-5’s.
3. Not every SES posting requires a full set of ECQs. It is important to read the job posting carefully; some postings only require a 5 page resume (and perhaps separate TQs) to apply. Note that you’ll need to prepare ECQs if you are selected.
4. There are different kinds of executive positions; in addition to SES, there are also Senior Level (SL), Senior Technical (ST), Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service (DISES), and Defense Intelligence Senior Level (DISL), to name several. In addition, most excepted service agencies (the Federal Aviation Administration, the financial regulatory agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, etc.) have their own senior executive programs which have their own requirements; again, read the posting carefully.
5. Review the TQ before deciding whether to apply. If you cannot provide specific accomplishments for each of the TQs, you should probably “pass” on the posting.
6. SES resumes should be 5 pages, include evidence of your executive accomplishments (related to the ECQs and TQs), and include plenty of numbers to give your work context; the focus of your resume should be the last 10 years of experience. Be sure to include all information that the posting requires.
7. All requisite experience used for your Executive Core Qualifications (ECQ) needs to be from the past 10 years (this is from OPM guidance) and again should be from the requisite grades / ranks.
8. Use the CCAR (Challenge, Context, Action, Result) when preparing your ECQs.
9. Make sure your Result proves you solved the Challenge. Ideally, your results need to show a clear before and after with metrics.
10. Remember that your ultimate audience for your ECQs is not your supervisor—or even anyone in your agency; before you can be appointed to the SES, your ECQs must be approved by a Qualifications Review Board (QRB) convened by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). No one on the Board may be from your agency or know you. This means that your ECQs need to convey your executive leadership experience in an understandable way to people who do not know you and may not understand your work.
Nancy H. Segal is a federal job search expert. Following her own senior-level federal HR career, she founded Solutions for the Workplace LLC to provide a HR management perspective to astute applicants to U.S. government positions.
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