An MSPB report says that despite the emphasis on career development programs as a means of qualifying to rise into the SES, working experience remains by far the most effective route and actually is growing in importance in recent years.
Candidate development programs have been emphasized again and again in recent years, including this year in several Obama administration memos and an executive order, as a way to create a pipeline to the SES. During the SES selection process, candidates must have completed such a program; show that they have experience or competence in five “core qualifications”; or possess unique skills that indicate probable success in the SES.
The core qualifications are leading people, leading change, being results-driven, having business acumen and being able to build coalitions. In addition, candidates are to show that they have interpersonal skills, good oral and written communication skills, integrity/honesty, and commitment to continual learning and public service.
The MSPB, using data from OPM, said that of SES appointees in 2015, 90 percent qualified on grounds of meeting the core qualifications, 7 percent through a candidate development program and 3 percent under the unique qualities standard.
The percentage qualifying under the core qualifications test was up by several percentage points over 2014, and up substantially over 2011, when it was 81 percent, and 2010, when it was 71 percent–and 28 percent had qualified due to completing candidate development programs.
Over that time, those getting SES positions through having unique qualities held steady at about 2-3 percent.
