"Let Us Increase Our Knowledge and kills to Fly in the Sky!!!".

The  importance of life  skills. In a constantly changing environment, having life skills is an essential part of being able to meet the challenges of everyday life. ... To cope with the increasing pace and change of modern life, students need new life skills such as the ability to deal with stress and frustration.

What is knowledge skills and abilities?

A KSA, or Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, is a series of narrative statements that are required when applying to United States Federal government job openings. KSAs are used to determine, along with résumés, who the best applicants are when several candidates qualify for a job. The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) necessary for the successful performance of a position are contained on each job vacancy announcement. In 2009 the Office of Personal Management asked federal agencies to stop requiring job applicants to fill out the questionnaires, to be phased out within a year..

KSAs are brief and focused essays about one's career and educational background that presumably qualify one to perform the duties of the position. A knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) is a concise essay about one's talent and expertise and related experiences (work, education, volunteerism) and accomplishments. A series of KSA statements are usually required when applying for most federal government and some state and city government jobs. KSAs are used as a metric to assess the capabilities of a prospective applicant in terms of likely ability to perform the duties of the job. Most government hiring officials look for a short, crisp, and clear KSA that emphasizes results or accomplishments obtained in previous work.

KSA statements are also known as Evaluation Factors. Other agencies sometimes call them "Rating Factors", "Quality Ranking Factors", "Knowledge, Abilities, skills, and Other Characteristics", or "Job Elements". The name can be just a name but it often influences content and length of the essay. Every agency has its own regulations, but most of the time the each KSA factor should be 1/2 to 1? pages long.

The below definitions are defined by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management:

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) - The attributes required to perform a job and are generally demonstrated through qualifying service, education, or training.
• Knowledge - Is a body of information applied directly to the performance of a function.
• Skill - Is an observable competence to perform a learned psychomotor act.
• Ability - Is competence to perform an observable behavior or a behavior that results in an observable product.

The scoring of KSA essays is based on a scale of from 1 to 100. Job applicants must score above 70 to be considered for the position. High scores are derived through answering the KSA question as specifically as possible, providing examples from previous employment or training that clearly demonstrate the applicant meet the qualifications.

How can you improve your professional skills?

Developing a skill requires three essential steps:

1. Get training. Attend a workshop, take a course, read an article or book, observe someone who excels at the skill. ...
2. Practice. Consider ways you can deliberately.
3. Get feedback. Assess your progress, identifying areas where you have improved and areas for continued growth.

Professional skills essential to success in science

Coming soon on this website… strategies and resources for developing your skills in areas such as:

• Writing
• Presentation
• Visualizing data
• Teaching
• Mentoring, management and leadership
• Networking
• Professional and ethical conduct

Importance of developing your skills

More and more, job roles are requiring formal training qualifications either because of legislative requirements or to meet the requirements of specific employers.

Developing your skills through further training provides significant benefits including:

Increase employment opportunities

Without doubt training provides increased employment opportunities. Today, even entry level roles in many industries require base level qualifications. By completing a training course, your employment opportunities become wider.

Increased career development opportunities

Developing a career in a chosen field is something many of us aspire to. Experience alone, in many cases does not suffice when employers are seeking to promote their staff. By undertaking further training, the opportunity to develop your career is enhanced.

Personal growth

Training not only provides you with the skills in a particular area. By undertaking further training you build your networking, time management, communication and negotiation skills.

Increase your knowledge and understanding of your local industry

Interskills trainers are experts in their fields – they are closely connected within their industry. This provides you with local industry knowledge to supplement your growing skills.

KSAs..........Why You Can’t Ignore Them.....

 Some job applicants, especially those looking for their first federal position, are not sure whether the KSA requirements apply to them or where a response is optional.  There’s an easy way to decide when to pay attention to KSAs.  In a word, ALWAYS.

 

Agencies may emphasize the most important aspects of a job by assigning relative weights to each KSA.  Others will designate particular KSAs as being Mandatory (M) or Desirable (D).  Obviously the job applicant will want to focus the most effort on responding to the more heavily weighted KSAs or the mandatory ones, but it is important to remember that you need to address every one on the list.  If a vacancy announcement makes no distinction among the position’s KSA, the applicant should assume that all KSAs are equally important.

 A key point to remember about all KSAs is that they must be job-related.  An agency cannot ask for anything in a KSA that is not in the job’s position description.

  The Writing Part.....

 Do not assume that reviewers will pull the information out of your application package and pick up the salient points.  They will not.  Even if there were time for such insight, reviewers/ evaluators are not allowed to infer anything.

 Hints to follow when developing your KSAs:

 

                 Read the vacancy announcement carefully

,                 Gather the information needed to begin writing

,                 Be specific

,                 Be precise

,                 Get to the point

,                 Do not ramble

,                 Use lots of examples

,                 State specifically what you have done

,                 Do not use acronyms

,                 Present yourself in “clear and plain” language

,                 Do not borrow language from the position description

HOW TO WRITE RESPONSES TO KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs)

If you apply for a position announced in the KSA format you should respond to the KSAs. You have to describe your experience and how it relates to each of the KSAs. How do you do this? Where do you start? What do you need to think about?

 To help you do this, we have divided the process of writing KSA responses into 4 steps.

 Step 1. Read the KSAs very closely.

You need to make sure you understand what the KSAs are and what they mean. This step is critical. If you do not understand each KSA, you will not be able to write good responses. A KSA by itself tends to be general in nature. The vacancy announcement usually contains a brief summary description of the duties of the position. Read this summary description very carefully.

 Step 2. Review very thoroughly all the experiences you have had and look for things that relate to the individual KSAs.

This step is really a "brainstorming" session. You need to review your experiences and find things that relate to the KSAs.

 Let us say the KSA that you are writing about is the ability to communicate orally. You need to think about all of the times when you use oral communication skills.

 Examples: While you were a File Clerk you instructed other clerks on new filing procedures; as a Management Analyst you had to present recommendations on workflow procedures to members of top staff.

 Also, consider relevant education, training and self-development activities, and any awards received.

 Examples: A training program in effective briefing techniques that you completed or an award you received that relates to your ability to communicate orally.

 Do not forget experiences you have had in non-work related areas (volunteer activities) or in school related activities.

 Examples: While you were a Cub Scout Leader you acted as the Chairperson for a fund raising activity; while a student you were a student council representative.

 These experiences are just as valid as work-related examples as long as they are relevant to the KSA about which you are writing.

Try reviewing your experience in order from the earliest experience to the most recent experience so as not to miss any job or experience that is relevant to the KSA. You should review your total experience both paid and volunteer, and training for each KSA and look for situations that apply to the particular KSA. This is because experience that you have in one job or one area may apply to more than one KSA.

 Example: The KSA Ability to meet and deal with members of the general public and the KSA Ability to coordinate the activities of a subordinate staff- both involve skill in oral communications.

 Do not worry about being repetitious in writing KSA responses. Each KSA is rated separately by the subject matter expert (SME)/promotion panel and as long as the information you give is relevant, it does not matter if you have used it already in another KSA.

 To help you with this step we have attached a chart showing one method you can use to organize your thinking when you begin to review your experience.

 Step 3. Analyze the experiences you have identified

This is where you scrutinize the experiences you identified in step 2 and zero in on the things that really matter in what you do or have done. It is where you identify how you use the knowledge, skill, or ability in your job or experiences. This kind of information is at the core of the KSA process. (This process is sometimes called "Task Analysis.") You need to ask specific questions about the experience you have identified. The answers that you come up with will be used to complete the actual writing of the KSA (Step 4). Examples of the kinds of questions you need to ask about your experiences follow:

What kind of knowledge or skills do I use in my job?

What are the steps, procedures, practices, rules, policies, theories, principles or concepts that I use in my job?

How do I apply the knowledge, principles or concepts that I use in my job?

How do I apply the knowledge that I have to accomplish my work?

 

What kind of supervision do I receive?

How is my work assigned?

What is my responsibility to accomplish work?

How independent are my actions?

How is my work reviewed?

 

What guidelines do I use to accomplish my work?

Are the instructions that I use to perform my work in written or oral form or both?

Do I use procedural manuals?

What other written procedures do I use?

What kind of oral instructions do I use to perform my work?

How much judgement do I have to use to apply the guidelines for my job?

Are the guidelines I use very easily applied or do they require interpretation?

How difficult are they to interpret?

 

How complex is my job?

What is the nature of the work that I do?

For example: Tasks are clear-cut and directly related to each other; or the work involves different and unrelated processes and methods; or the work consists of broad functions and processes of an administrative or professional nature?

 How difficult is it to identify what needs to be done?

For example: Little or no choice in deciding what needs to be done; or it depends on an analysis of the situation as there are many alternatives; or extensive analysis is required to even define the nature of the problem.

 How difficult or original is the work I do?

 How does my work affect other processes or individuals?

Who do I have contact with on a daily basis?

Why do I have contact with these individuals?

What is my role in these discussions or meetings?

  For example: To provide information; to receive information; to influence or advise someone; to convince someone of something.

 If you have done a thorough job on steps 1, 2 and 3 in this process, you now have a good understanding of the KSAs and lots of facts about your experiences. You also have a better understanding of these experiences. You are now ready for the last step.

 

Step 4. Show how the facts you have gathered about your experience relate to the individual KSAs.

You need to tell about the experiences you have had in a way that clearly shows how they are related to the knowledge, skill, or ability. In other words, you need to show a link between your own experience and the KSA. Do not assume that the link is obvious to someone else even though it may be obvious to you. The SME/promotion panel member(s) who(m) rate your application can only credit what you tell them in your KSA response. They will not be able to give you proper credit for your experiences unless you give them specific examples showing how and why your experience is related to a particular KSA.

 In telling this to the SME/promotion panel, remember a few important facts:

 *It is the content of your responses that is rated and not the writing style that you use. It is acceptable to use brief sentences or phrases as long as the SME/promotion panel knows what you mean.

 *Very long responses do not guarantee a high rating. Give the SME/promotion panel direct and to -the-point responses.

 *Do not use abbreviations, acronyms, or jargon. Chances are the SME/promotion panel will not know what you are talking about if you write this way. They will be able to give proper credit for your experience if they do not understand what you have done.

 

HYPOTHETICAL KSA #1

 SECRETARY, GS-5

 KSA Title : Ability to write non-technical correspondence.

 Sample Responses

KSA Response #1:

I type letters every day. Sometimes I have to type them from a draft that the manager gives me. I also use form letters or the manager tells me that he wants me to write. I write memos requesting supplies or advising employees of training classes. I have been a secretary in my unit for 3 years and always finish my work quickly and correctly.

 KSA Response #2:

I am the secretary in my unit. I handle the writing of responses for most non-technical correspondence received in the unit and for all administrative matters within the unit. I respond using various form letters that we have. Sometimes I have to draft a letter from start to finish depending on what the inquiry is about. For example, an employee may need a statement regarding leave balances, which I would write or I might have to write a memo to the warehouse regarding supply shortages. When the manager writes memos he will give them to me in draft form and I will rewrite them to ensure proper grammar and to put them into the right format.

 Which response is better?

The writer of the first response seems to be confusing typing with writing. It is not until the third sentence that we get some specific information regarding a writing activity. And then, in the last sentence, the writer gives us some new information (how long the writer has been a secretary and how well the writer does the work of the position) that has nothing to do with the KSA as defined for the job. Remember that the SME/promotion panel rates your responses as they relate to the Crediting Plan. If what you have written is not relevant to the KSA, it will not relate to the Crediting Plan either and you will not receive any credit for it.

 The second response gives more relevant and useful information. The writer has provided specific information related to the KSA and has given examples to show the kind of writing that is being done. This response has given the SME/promotion panel enough information to properly credit the writer's experience.

 

 HYPOTHETICAL KSA #2

Management Analyst, GS-12

KSA Title: Ability to communicate in writing.

Sample Responses

KSA Response #1:

One of the most important things I do in my position is prepare reports and studies of the various components in our organization. They always have to be written in a clear and concise manner and often involve very complex issues like organizational structures, work methods and procedures, manpower utilization, delegations of authority and other issues. I usually have to pull together a lot of different information and from difference sources. I usually have to work within very short time frames to produce a really needed study or report. Below are some examples of the material I have written.

 Staffing Reports/Workload Reports -in particular I am involved in the WMS/FTE weekly reports -this includes components in Fiscal Control and also DTB PLUS studies. These studies are done on an "as needed" basis and involve many operational and technical issues. They only are required when management sees a need for them and specifically requests an analysis. We set up a team and review the targeted work. These reports require a lot of data gathering activity. Director's reports-These also involve a lot of data analysis from the HAL reports and are sent to the Director's Staff Advisor.

 

KSA Response #2:

I write technical and administrative memos and study reports, which identify actual and potential problem areas in interrelated work processes, the underlying source of operating difficulties, trends, significant management accomplishments, merit/deficiency situations and areas of imbalance. These papers always include recommendations for improvement in the studied areas. Example of the kinds of studies or reports I produce are as follows:

 I write memos, which represent the Regional Office (RO) position on proposed procedures or work processes. This involves evaluating the affect of alternative actions on the work processes under consideration and how best to use manpower and resources and the identification of other alternatives worthy of consideration. This almost always involves the consolidation of information and comments from multiple components into one memo representing the Regional Office position on a given issue. An example of this type of product is the formulation of office comments on the design of the new national fishery control system user's comments, a committee reviewed the release to evaluate if all pertinent work processes were included and to identify possibly more efficient design alternatives. In most cases I consolidated the comments of the committee and formulated the final office comment memo.

 I have been involved in periodic reports on national TS/incubation workloads since 1978. These reports were researched and written by a team of analysis. The final product was usually consolidated from other area reports and consolidated report issued to the Secretary.

 I also wrote position papers detailing the Regional Office position on administrative, workload processing, or work measurement issues. An example of this type of product is a memo prepared for Central Office in July 1989 stating the RO's position on the issue of productivity measurement in the field stations. This memo presents our views on the Secretary's Productivity Analysis Project and pointed out what was considered flaws in their basis assumptions. It then listed the major problems with areas, which should be addressed in order to provide valid productivity measures for all the field stations. The RO's concerns and ideas concerning the elements necessary for an acceptable productivity measure were presented.

 In addition, I have also completed 6 semester hours of writing courses in college. I am presently the corresponding Secretary for Tri Sigma National Sorority.

 Which response is better?

The writer of the first response has "borrowed" some of the language from the duties described in the vacancy announcement in order to tell the SME/promotion panel what he/she does in the job. Unfortunately, this does not give the panel any more specific information about his/her experience than they would get by reading the announcement. The examples given by the writer sound like they could be relevant to the KSA, but the writer does not provide any specific information to explain how these activities relate to the KSA. The writer also uses a lot of acronyms. These are sure to confuse a SME/promotion panel and should not be used without explanation. Finally, the writer does not tell us what his/her specific role is in any of these activities (i.e., what is the meaning of "I am involved in...", what is the writer's role when he says "We set up a team..."?).

 The second response gives more relevant and specific information. The writer gave a general introductory statement, which acts as a background to the examples that follow. The first and last examples are very specific and give enough information so the SME/promotion panel will understand what the writer does and how it relates to the crediting plan. The second example of this response falls short of the other two examples. The writer uses some jargon (TS incubation workload) which may mean little or nothing to the SME/promotion panel. It is also not clear what the writer's involvement was in the activity described in the second example (i.e., what is the meaning of "I have been involved in periodic reports" -should the SME/promotion panel assume that this means involvement as a writer or just as a team member?). Regardless of this problem, the second response is the better of the two responses.

 In each of the hypothetical responses you have just read, the second response, although the better of the two, is not the best response possible. With practice you could write an even better KSA response.

How can I improve my skills and knowledge?

In addition, you can boost your job skills by doing the following:

1. Complete job specific short training courses.
2. Find a mentor or supervisor to help you develop and build your skills.
3. Attend workshops, seminars and skills refresher courses.

Increase Your Knowledge and Skills

If you’re career minded and driven to succeed, you understand the importance of continually increasing your knowledge and skills. Ongoing training and education can boost your career growth and unlock your full potential. In this article, we encourage you to increase your knowledge and skills by focusing on three key areas.

1. Industry Skills

Increased Industry skills and knowledge give you the capacity to work as a professional in your chosen industry. For example, an electrical apprenticeship will give you a Class A license to work in the Electrical Industry. Likewise, a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering equips you for a variety of roles in the Chemicals Industry (and related industries).

Industry skills can be developed by pursuing further qualifications. Higher qualifications equip you for more responsibility, more senior roles and increased salary potential.

2. Job Skills

Job skills are specific to your current role. For example, a Payroll Officer needs specialised job skills to use Payroll software. Job skills and knowledge will increase naturally as you become more experienced in your role. In addition, you can boost your job skills by doing the following:

• Complete job specific short training courses
• Find a mentor or supervisor to help you develop and build your skills
• Attend workshops, seminars and skills refresher courses

3. Transferable Skills

Transferable skills are useful in every life situation. Communication, teamwork, negotiation and problem solving are examples of transferable skills. Depending on your personality, some of these skills will be your natural strengths; others will be weaknesses. For example, outgoing personalities usually have excellent communication and teamwork skills, but often have poor organisational skills. Work on your weakness by:

• Reading self-improvement books
• Participating in any free staff training workshops provided by your employer
• Getting involved in community programs, sports and after hours activities that improve transferable skills

In Summary

Success in today’s competitive job market depends upon how well you differentiate yourself from other job candidates. Working to continually increase your knowledge and skills will set you apart, making you the obvious choice for recruiters.

How to Increase Your Knowledge and Skills – Related Articles

Professional Education

• Further Qualifications
• Universities
• Training and Short Courses

Vocational Training

• Industry Pathways
• Traineeships
• Apprenticeships
• Industry Recognised Training Providers

It’s both important and rewarding to continue to develop your skills and move forward, but when you are very busy it isn’t always easy to get the head space to consider things properly.

Here are some tips that can get you thinking about your next career steps:

1. Set structured time aside to consider your next move. Those who are directly employed, especially in larger organization, have appraisals and formulated training programs. It’s worth copying the nine-to-fivers and giving some structure to the whole process of thinking about your career. Put some time to give this real thought on your calendar—perhaps even one day a week over the course of a month—and pick a quiet time of year when you are not going to be swamped with work projects.

2. Consider where you want to be. It may have been the type of exercise you carried out when you originally decided to become a freelancer, but to figure out next steps you need to consider the place you want to be. You may want better earnings but you also should also consider the non-financial benefits of any type of work. Is it interesting? Does it give you flexibility? What’s important to you and your family?

3. Find the gaps in your skill set. Are there any gaps in your set of skills? You may have already received some feedback from an employer which identified where you could improve. There may be jobs that you wish you could bid for, but you’re missing particular experience or qualifications. Pinpoint these holes in your resume as opportunities to better yourself.

4. Focus in on your strengths. It’s always worth thinking about what you are good at, especially if you are not using your full potential in your current role. A popular book Now, Discover Your Strengths, written by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton, is a good starting point.

5. Talk to other people about your career. Discussing your career, particularly with peers in the same field can always stimulate ideas. Of course talking to friends and family who know you well can also tease out what you really want to do with your work life. For a different perspective, if you have a great working relationship, you may even want to discuss it with some of your employers.

6. Do your research. The time-consuming element of working out any potential career move, however small, is doing your research. A Google search may well be your starting point but eventually you will probably need to focus in on a specialist source by contacting a professional association, reading relevant books or magazines, surfing subject-specific blogs and forums or visiting an educational institution that specializes in your field.

7. Consider all your options for improvement. Career development can take many shapes so it’s worth thinking about different types of options. Here are few examples:

• Enroll in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)
• Check out our resources to grow your business
• Learn or improve a language
• Take a new Upwork test
• Enroll for a part-time course which fits around your work
• Go back to school and earn a new degree
• Set up a regular meeting with a colleague to discuss the latest developments in your industry and pool your knowledge!

It’s worth thinking about your career regularly and you may want to repeat the exercise at the same point next year, a little like an annual review. It may also be worth doing mini-appraisals after each major project. Remember, it is your career and it never hurts to keep moving!

What are the steps you carry out to consider improving your skills? If you have any thoughts or tips let us know in the comments below!