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Since 1978, when the Senior Executive Service (SES) was established, SES positions have been highly coveted and competitive.
The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers guides for SES applicants, and the applications strongly focus on Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs), which are the basis of the SES application. When getting ready for your SES interview, you must be able to discuss the ECQs and must be able to demonstrate that you have strong competency in each ECQ area. The ECQ categories are:
You must be able to supply examples from your career and employment history to show mastery of all five competencies.
Get Expert Help With Your ECQs
Many candidates jump right into preparing for the SES since it is an attractive career path. A crucial component of SES career preparation is determining whether you are a good candidate for an SES career. You need to prove your qualifications with supporting SES Application information.
Decide if a federal executive position is the best choice for you. To do so, you will need to:
Before you apply for an SES career or invest in SES resume preparation, carefully consider whether you have the qualities to excel at this level of leadership. As part of your self-evaluation, you may want to ask:
You should pursue an SES career only if you can answer “yes” to each of the above questions.
Before you launch into preparing for the ECQs and writing your SES application, give yourself some time to really think about what an SES career might mean for you. If you have the qualities and qualifications, would you be happy in an SES career? Would it be a good fit?
Consider what your life would look like day after day and think about how the pressure and leadership would affect you. If you meet the following traits, you may find that an SES career might not make you happy, no matter how attractive the prestige is and how qualified you might be:
Sometimes, friends, family and colleagues can have insights into our qualifications and qualities we can’t see for ourselves. Talk to people in your life and ask them about the transferrable skills they have seen in you. Before writing your ECQs, ask people in your life if they can remember specific instances in which you demonstrated leadership, critical thinking, collaborative work, business skills, logistical acuity and management expertise. Friends, workmates and family may recall instances you’ve forgotten.
When analyzing your ability for SES positions, carefully consider what a senior executive is. Senior executives show a selfless ability to focus on the good of an organization or group and are able to make decisions in high-pressure environments. They take responsibility and can often pull people together, bringing out the best in individuals for the good of larger projects. They focus on the mission at hand and the goals of the organization.
Consider successful leaders you admire and carefully think about whether you can — and would want to — do what they do.
If you’ve decided that you are qualified for SES careers and want to serve in this way, you’ve made a choice that can advance your career while also helping you assist and lead at a higher level.
One of the first steps you will need to take is to carefully review your skills for the ECQs, so you can pinpoint where and when in your career you have developed ECQ skills and where you can continue to develop the skills required for senior executives. You may have already developed some of these leadership skills at various stages of your career:
Most people begin with personal leadership. In the earlier stages of your career, before you are responsible for teams, you are responsible for yourself. At this stage, you may be developing your writing and speaking skills as well as other communication skills. You may be honing skills in innovation, project management, performance management and talent management. Most likely, you are learning to take responsibility for yourself.
Once you are responsible for projects or teams, you can build on your leadership skills. At this stage in your career you may be focused on entrepreneurship, and you may be honing your skills in technology management, financial management, human capital management, program management and change management.
As your career moves to greater responsibility, you may be responsible for entire organizations or departments. This requires an external focus and negotiating power. At this stage of your career, you may be gaining political knowledge and partnership ability. You likely can develop and execute business and organization visions or missions and can use strategic thinking to accomplish missions.
At every stage of your career, there are several things you can do to further grow your executive and leadership skills in preparation for an SES career and for personal development:
Once you have examined how your career may have led you to develop ECQs, look closer at each ECQ and to determine how you may excel in each area (and, more importantly, how you can demonstrate that excellence):
This ECQ is about managing and developing strategic changes inside and outside an organization. As the world and an organization change, executives with this competency should continue to have a clear organizational vision and be able to implement that vision — or, if needed, adapt it — in the face of changes.
The OPM identifies six segments that make up this competency:
This competency involves leading people so that they work together to meet the objective and goals of an organization. It implies that an executive knows how to build teams and environments in which people work efficiently, feel comfortable, bring their best work and easily resolve difficulties.
Leading people involves:
This competency means executives can take the actions needed to make measurable progress on goals and to meet objectives. This competency involves:
Virtually all organizations have human, technological and financial resources that directly and indirectly influence the ability to realize the organizational vision and meet organizational goals. Effective leaders can use these resources to help an organization meet objectives. Executives do this through:
Executives are able to build coalitions or networks to support their organization and to meet organizational goals.
Before you consider how to write the ECQs, ensure you understand each of the five ECQs (Leading Change, Results Driven, Business Acumen, Technical Credibility and Leading People) and what each ECQ entails. Once you are ready to sit down and write, you will want to list your top career stories focusing on executive leadership and results.
Before you start writing, make a list of each of the five ECQs. Beside each, write down in just a few words how you can demonstrate this competency. Take the time to really find all instances of leadership, technical ability, business acumen, leading change and results-driven behavior in your work history.
Look up specific figures, dates and other information to ensure your facts are accurate. Go through all the information and highlight or underline the most compelling or impressive facts that support the ECQs. These are the experiences you will want to highlight.
Use adequate white space and edit carefully to remove any wordiness. Keep things precise and to the point. It is important to write narratively, including as many relevant details as necessary to demonstrate your point. When trying to find the right tone, keep in mind how you might speak in an interview or formal presentation. Briefly explain any technical jargon and underline any important points to make your application easier to read.
Professional writers might set aside a piece of writing for days or weeks, so they can look at it later with fresh eyes. Do the same with your ECQs. Go over your answers again to tighten the language and to make your meaning more clear.
While managerial and project management experience may inform your responses, it is best to focus on your executive experiences. These examples will demonstrate how you used strategy, building coalitions and using conflict management to achieve results. Demonstrating leadership experience is key to the ECQ.
It is easy to get caught up in telling the story and neglect to focus on the right things. When emphasizing your skillset, focus on leadership, not technical skills, and the results, not the process. This way, you can prove that you know how to take charge and make things happen.
When writing your narratives, be sure to frame them in the CCAR format, which is the preferred OPM format. Make your response as specific as possible. Using the CCAR method, address the topics of:
While some of your experiences will fit best into one category, others demonstrate multiple qualifications. Talking about each of the core competencies in your narratives will further emphasize the connection between your experience and the qualifications.
Your reviewer may look at many ECQs, so striking the right tone from the beginning will help yours stand out. Avoid the extremes of stuffy and colloquial, aiming for a tone that will highlight your competencies and results. Every sentence should be concise, specific and in the first-person point of view.
It is ideal to find a mentor in senior leadership in an SES position who understands how to write ECQs. Ask them to look over what you have written and give you feedback. Consider asking more than one person to offer guidance about your ECQs. SES Writers is a great place to start.
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 hear this: “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.
While the ECQs are a crucial part of your SES application, there are other components to consider. For example, you’ll need to consider your resume, your cover letter and even preparation for an SES interview if your application is deemed to be impressive enough to warrant an interview.
Each element of the process could determine whether you get to pursue an SES job. Instead of spending all your time on your ECQs, be sure to focus your efforts on your resume and SES interview, so you have the best chance of landing the position you want.
Take advantage of our interview preparation and coaching packages. These give you a chance to practice your interview skills and receive professional feedback to ensure that your real interview is successful. To make your resume stand out, you can consult resume books for help. Shop our book selection for insider how-tos on landing federal and SES jobs as well as writing military to civilian resumes.
Applying for a federal executive job is a rewarding experience, professionally and personally. Executive experience offers you the ability to lead and impact the inner workings of the federal government. To get your SES dream job, do all that you can with your application to ensure high chances of success.
SES Writers will help make your ECQs the best they can be. Our SES resume writers work closely with you to develop your ECQs and to draw out the narrative of your success. Together, we’ll develop the strongest application possible.
Our SES writers specialize in SES applications, not general resumes, so you are paired with someone who has helped professionals succeed in securing an SES position and understands what it takes to submit a successful application. Our SES writing process includes interviews with you, a strict editing process and collaboration between you and our professionals.
Learn more about our SES writing process or contact us for a free consultation to find out more.
