Monday, June 3, 2024
5 Quick Tips for a 5-page Resume-Based SES Application
By Nicole Schultheis, JD, Senior SES Writer / Consultant
Resume Place, Inc.
June 3, 2024
Nicole Schulthies’ Top Five Tips for your
5-Page Resume-Based SES ECQ Application
ONE. Use clear, simple, and direct language. Use first person implied, steer clear of jargon, and replace buzz words with real words. Get rid of useless adjectives and adverbs and use strong, interesting nouns and verbs instead. Use active (“Led $4M program…”) not passive voice (“Was responsible for…”).
TWO. Display real leadership accomplishments – especially those at the program or enterprise level – and describe them in leadership terms. In other words, no “helped,” “supported,” “was tasked to” etc. Synopsize them in CCAR (Challenge-Context-Actions-Results) summaries that reveal your actual leadership challenges and your actual leadership actions that delivered mission-focused, organizational outcomes, with at least 1 key example (but preferably 2) aligned to each of the 5 ECQs subjects.
THREE. Use metrics to describe duties and responsibilities as well as organizational outcomes. Size of budget managed? Number of employees supervised? Percentage change achieved through your efforts or what period of time?
FOUR. Focus on recent and relevant jobs and accomplishments, devoting most of the job block space to GS-14/15 jobs and accomplishments within the past 10 years, less to jobs/accomplishments at the GS-13 level, and very little to jobs and activities that took place more than 10 years ago or were at even lower levels.
FIVE. Respect the eyes and sensibilities of your readers. Which means pay attention to aesthetics, proofread your work, respect white space on the page, and use the right words (for example, it’s “tenets” not “tenants”). Achieve consistent formatting. Use Word’s tools as well as your own common sense to help you achieve and maintain a consistent style (for example, if it says “U.S.” in one place it should not say “US” elsewhere; if it says “long-term goals” in one place it should not say “long term goals” somewhere else).
*Nicole Schultheis: Her full bio may be found here:
https://resume-place.com/about/nicole-schultheis/
SAMPLES AND RESOURCES FOR WRITING THE 5 PAGE SES CDP FEDERAL RESUMEWriting the New SES Application, 2nd Edition
http://www.fedjobtraining.com/books/the-new-ses-application
Tips from the book!
GREAT TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR SES ECQS!
Chapter two of the book —
- Write Your Top Ten List of Accomplishments
- Map your Top Ten into the ECQs Leadership Competencies
- Expand your ECQs into the required Context-Challenge-Action-Results format.
- Edit them into your 5 page SES resume
ALSO, TWO EXCELLENT SAMPLES OF THE 5 PAGE SES RESUME IN THE BOOK!
Requests for Quotes for SES ECQs and the 5 page SES resumeRequests for QuotesSES Writing / Developmental Editing / Consulting Services
$260 per hour
Average time required for the 5 page SES resume: 10 to 12 hours
We need your Top Ten List of Accomplishments to begin the writing!
We need a minimum of 7 days to write any SES ECQ project.
Average time required for 10-page Traditional ECQs:
15 to 17 hours.
DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING OF YOUR DRAFT:
We can provide developmental editing after YOU write a draft.
Quotes for developmental editing costs: one hour: $260
Kathryn Troutman is the Founder and President of Resume Place, Inc., a Federal Career Consulting business located in Baltimore, MD. Her firm specializes in writing and designing professional federal resumes, as well as consulting, coaching and education on the federal hiring process. She is the author of many best-selling federal career books, including the Federal Resume Guidebook, 7th Ed. See the books at https://resume-place.com/books/
Troutman is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable media guest, appearing on Beverly Jones’s Jazzed about Work on NPR’s WOUB, Carol Fishman Cohen’s 3, 2, 1 iRelaunch (Relaunching Your Career), Mark Miller’s Repurpose Your Career, and numerous times on Mike Causey’s Your Turn show on Federal News Network. Her business, The Resume Place, had been featured in The Washington Post. To hear interviews of this top federal jobs expert, click here.