How To Use the Government KSA Model To Improve Any Resume

With all the blather in this political election season about how government is broken and the only good comes from the private sector "job creators," one can only ask that if the government is that bad, how did it plop an SUV-sized scientific laboratory (rover) on the planet Mars traveling at the speed of 13,200 mph? Sure, the government isn't perfect and it isn't totally broken yet. And when it comes to resumes, someone in the government created decades ago the Knowledge, Skills & Abilities (KSA) model that can help anyone improve their resume.

While there's no published record of when the KSA model was first created, it has been used until recently in the supplementary statements of US Federal government job applications. I should note here that supplementary statements recently have been phased out to simplify the paperwork (yes, the government is trying to un-break itself) of job applications. But the KSA model can still be used to organize the way you write a resume so it stands out from your competition.

What is the KSA model? It's a rhetorical guide the breaks down a job candidate's skills and accomplishments into 3 categories. They are:

• Knowledge: includes all credentials, degrees, licenses, certifications and other expertise in a specific work discipline.
• Skills: includes all the observable job task duties that are performed to successfully perform the requirements of a job.
• Abilities: includes all the soft skills needed to successfully work on a team in a specific organization.

Developing a resume using the KSA model many times runs counter to how most people think about resume writing. Most people assume resumes should be short, sweet and brief. In many respects a short resume is all that's needed if you can personally hand your resume to a hiring manager and are given a chance to talk about why she should hire you. Unfortunately, this type of retail job seeking is going by the way side; it's been replaced by electronic middlemen -- job boards and social recruiting sites -- that integrate your career information in a database which is then anonymously searched via specific keywords. This type of candidate sourcing requires a job seeker to have a much more detailed resume. The KSA model can help you obtain it.

Let me give an example of how the KSA model can work for you. Due to the limited scope of this blog entry, I'll only discuss the "Summary of Qualifications" section that is on nearly all resumes. A typical summary section usually contains a few bullet points that telegraphs to the reader what the candidate has to offer. Here's a typical example:

Summary of Qualifications (Without the KSA Model)

• Adept at using word processing and spreadsheet software (MS Word, MS Power Point and Excel)
• Fast learner
• Thorough
• Highly adaptable
• Consistently meets job expectations and deadlines
• Fluent in English as a second language, both expressed and written

On first read, this summary seems okay. But, what's really wrong with it? Well, the main problem with this type of summary is that it is all too common. If you were to read 100 resumes, I'd guess over half would have identical summary sections. So, how does a recruiter differentiate between candidates with near-identical information? That's a good question. Whatever the way, it will take longer and time is not what most recruiters have. In the end, someone will be passed over.

Now, let's turn to a Summary of Qualifications that uses the KSA model:

Summary of Qualifications (with the KSA Model)

• Industry Knowledge: Consumer Goods, Transportation, Logistics, Ecommerce, Industrial Automation
• Management: Strong general management and leadership skills with experience in project planning and program management. Ability to organize and drive projects to timely completion, outstanding analytic and problem-solving abilities. Ability to communicate accurately and positively by telephone, e-mail, and other media. Demonstrated excellence in writing, editing and content design abilities.
• Supporting Skills: Gifted team builder and communicator who can interact effectively with individuals and departments at all levels within an organization. Can manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines in a high-pressure environment. Integrity and ability to establish credibility amongst peers. A strong work ethic and attention to detail.

This example is from an experienced project manager who has worked in many different industries. While this summary section takes some liberties with the KSA model, it generally follows the format. This candidate started with his industry knowledge. While he could have included his degree or certifications, he felt his vast industry knowledge was the best way to brief the reader on his employment value. Since he is a manager, his job-task skills are focused around his management skills. Finally, his abilities are describe in what he calls "supporting skills." Clearly, this a very detailed snapshot of the job candidate. It had immense market differentiation. It is so immediate that a busy recruiter would likely pick this candidate's resume over many others.

Here is another example taken from a resume of a military veteran. He also has taken some liberties with the KSA model. He has renamed the summary section "Key Attributes." No matter what the name, the  section is very effective at making the resume reader stop to read more. Here it is:

KEY ATTRIBUTES:

• Leadership/Team Building: Built a mission-focused, cohesive unit from one that previously had a severe morale problem.
• Problem Solving/Interpersonal Skills: Overcame the sub-standard leadership styles of supervisors that were detrimental to mission success through teaching and training these mid-level leaders on effective personnel management and appropriate corrective actions for minor infractions.
• Security Planning: Ensured the physical security on a military base for an open-to-the-public event of over 10,000 people. Months in advance planned security procedures with different sections (security, medical, fire department and police) to ensure a secure event and safety for all attendees.
• Management: Improved the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the Inspector General office. Provided customer service training through better communication.
• Policies and Procedures: Established an efficient, 24/7, information call center with quick resolution of issues and consistency of information. 

He also does one thing more. He merges the KSA model and the core competencies that are stipulated in the Federal hiring requirements for the position he is applying for (Security Manager). These bolded-subheads make this section more skimmable. He is indeed a candidate with hiring appeal.

Download sample KSA statements at KSAdoctor.com.

How Competition Determines the Effectiveness of a Resume

When job seekers who've never had a problem obtaining a job interview begin experiencing long periods of no recruiter callbacks from their online resume postings or job applications, the natural response is to pursue a resume makeover. While this is a natural response, it may not always be a necessity.

If you've had success in the past with your current resume, what has changed? Most likely your resume has not. Rather, there must be something else that is interfering with your resume's effectiveness in "marketing" you. So, before you begin on the journey of a serious resume-rewrite, take some time to determine if there is anything else that's causing a problem the no response/no callback problem.

In general, there are many reasons why an experienced job seeker does not receive a telephone call for an occupationally specific interview. (I am excluding the calls for interviews that life insurance companies send nearly every job seeker who posts his or her resume on the most popular job boards.) One common reason for a lack of callbacks is excessive job competition.

Having been a job search consultant for over a decade, I've learned that most job seekers do not fully appreciate the level of job competition that exists in today’s job market, engendered by the precipitous adoption of online recruitment, and, more importantly, how this competition changes the resume sourcing or selection behavior of recruiters, which is the ultimate determiner of the effectiveness of a so-called "quality" resume.

What kind of competition am I talking about? 200 applicants is common. 1,300 applicants is possible. (As an aside, when an open position obtains over a 1,000 applicants, this is generally due to the centralized location of the job such that applicants are pulled in from the adjacent states within perhaps a 200 mile radius or the "collar" suburban areas.) When an employer or recruiter receives this many applications, there is NO way she will go through them all!

A couple of things go on with employers when they receive an excessive amount of applicants. If all these resumes are posted in a resume database, they will use a filtering parameter (education, salary history or specific job skill) to filter out a huge amount of applicants. Another option is that they will go through the pile and after identifying perhaps 25 high-quality applicants, they will pass over the remaining applicants. The final option (which I've heard happens in the Federal job sector) is that they will divide all the applicants' resume in three piles and give 3 different hiring managers a stack. Any error in the application package or a grammatical error will get the applicant disqualified.

So, how do you solve this problem?

Avoid the ‘distribution’ solution. Basically, this is the "shot gun" technique where you apply to anything in the hopes one application will hit the mark and get you an interview. The problem is that when there is a lot of job competition, everyone is using this failed technique. It only causes gridlock in the hiring pipe line. In addition, the job seeker has a tendency after getting frustrated to begin applying to jobs he is not fully qualified for. (In one case I know of, the employer got so many unqualified candidates, she set aside the entire stack of resumes and hired an external recruiter to source "qualified candidates.)

Be selective and only apply to jobs you are truly qualified for. That is, if you possess a unique or "desired" skill the employer is seeking, use that skill as your search keyword to find jobs. Now, I'm not referring to everyday skills like MS Excel. Rather, something truly rare such as Ruby-on-Rails  or switched mode power supplies or Basecamp. This requires a lot of self-screening on your part. This will result in fewer jobs but by self-screened jobs you will find jobs where you are very competitive for.

Remove the middlemen out of the hiring equation. Take a break from the job boards for awhile. Make a list of twenty-five employers that are (a) local and (b ) you really want to work for because the company has always interested you. Then, go to their websites, search for jobs, post your resume, and set up job alerts on their career sites. Many times jobs will be posted there that are not indexed by a job-ad aggregator or posted on the popular job boards or simply overlooked. This will result in fewer applicants and less competition.

If you indeed have rare skills, and are very experienced, then go to Linkedin or other social recruiting platforms. But only if you have a rare skill. There is a lot of buzz about social recruiting. While it is true that job recruiting is moving to social recruiting, the actual hiring based via social media is still only about 3.5% of  all hiring sources and far behind referrals at 28%.

How To Make Your Resume Come Alive With Hiring Appeal

All writings, documents, art, movies, videos, music, architecture are the artifacts of a culture. If an archeologist a thousand years from now dug up (or accessed in a database) the aforementioned artifacts, he would learn a lot about American culture today. In general, what would he learn? America today is a dynamic, creative and innovative culture that is infused with energy, enthusiasm and a desire to excel. If plunking a SUV-sized rover on Mars -- a planet human beings may never really visit-- is not an example of the innovation and search for excellence, I don't know what would be.

Now, if we were to expand the definition of 'cultural artifact' to resumes, what would the typical archeologist of the year 3012 conclude about American culture today in 2012 if he read thousands of them? It's a pretty simple answer to imagine: boring, unimaginative, and unenthusiastic. To the cynical archeologist, he may even think "a decaying culture."

The hypothetical opener to this blog entry is meant to be a humorous segue into into a serious question and topic: Why are so many resumes not read? In other words, if resumes in the resume databases of the large job boards number in the multi-millions, why are so few called for job interviews?  The common answer is a lack of training or qualifications. But that answer is too simple and generic. As I will demonstrate later in this entry, the answer lies in the lack of hiring appeal the typical resume today possesses.

If you were to have read as many resumes as I have --perhaps 5,000 over a decade--you would readily see that most resumes "read" the same and are uninteresting. Why? Part of the reason, I suppose, is the common, job-seeker habit of looking for a resume sample on the Internet and imitating it. But that's not the sole reason. Another reason is a lack of resume-writing training. If you suggest to a job seeker that he needs to get more training to be competitive, he will actively pursue more education or an industry certification. But suggest to the job seeker that he needs "job readiness training," and you receive a dumb look or the telling roll of the eyes that suggests, "you don't need any training to look for a job!" Perhaps that's why he is unemployed.

All other reasons aside, the primary reason why resumes are not read or candidates not called is the resume lacks hiring appeal. That is, the resume lacks information that suggests to the recruiter this person is a rare candidate and a great match for the job he is trying to fill. In other words, uninteresting resumes do not get read because they are after thoughts; the job seeker does not understand that a resume is primarily a marketing tool, that is, a personal-product brochure of what he is trying to "sell" to the employer. Boring resumes lack the salesmanship aspect of all job search campaigns.

Here's an example of a resume from a successful, technical salesman with a 20 year track record of achievements. He spends most of his 2-page resume communicating the following career information:

• identifying potential resellers
• researching target customers in reseller markets and creating contact information
• writing copy for all marketing, product instruction and reseller training material
• training reseller sales and service staff
• making joint sales calls with reseller sales people
• working trade shows, with or without reseller sales people
• creating and promoting workshop
• design marketing campaigns and webinars
• creating new markets for products
• identified software solutions to enhance this product
• wrote 175 page manual on software programs
• developed Windows OS software programs where there are gaps in our software offering

The above is a list of duties that all software salespeople perform on a regular basis. While this information is commendable and does suggest someone who understands his business and can probably start making an impact from the first day of employment, by and large, the information is so often repeated that his resume makes a recruiter yawn because there are hundreds of resumes in the Monster, CareerBuilder or LinkedIn resume database that say the same thing. It also suggests a disconnect between his being an experienced performer for many years and the casual job of writing his resume. In other words, he didn't put much effort into writing the resume. Early in the hiring process, while the employer and job seeker are trying to build a relationship, a job seeker does not need to suggest subtle negatives into the mind of the employer.

In defense of this job seeker, he does list his special accomplishments (sometimes called "achievements") on his resume. He has won some awards and published some software books. Of course, winning an award in a Business Plan writing contest is nice but if that's all he achieved, then he should be looking for a technical writer job, not a VP of Technical Sales. Having a business plan writing award on a resume and detailing how this award turned into a financed technical start up is something one would expect of a VP of Technical Sales. This is an achievement that could have come alive with hiring appeal had he invested more time in communicating the value he brought to the company, organization or local economy as a result of the award. He did not.

He mentioned at the very last line of his 2-page resume that he "earned 'President Circle' sales awards for my employer most of the years that I worked there." Looking at his resume, he states he worked there for 20 years. He apparently earned many of these sales awards. Yet, it is barely mentioned and he never details what all these awards involved.

To make his resume come alive with hiring appeal, he could have created a section called "President Circle Sales Awards." Then he could have detailed the reason he earned the award for each year. This is how he could have done it:

President Circle Sales Awards

• For expanding the company's market share of technology products in a 3-state region that generated $1.2 million in new sales (2005--2007).
• For building new relationships with the University of Illinois system that resulted in an initial contract for $500K (2003-2004).
• For developing a sales training program for product resellers that resulted in expanding the customer base by 20% (1999-2002).

Most new jobs today are created in small businesses. These companies need people who can perform immediately. They do not have the time or finances that old brick-and-mortar companies of decades past had to develop new employees. Hence, a resume that comes alive with hiring appeal is going to be a reflection of our business times. That is, a resume that demonstrates stellar performance. Anything else is an old dinosaur bone.

The Impact of a Resume Objective Statement

A quick review of articles, blogs and books on resume writing techniques reveals two philosophies regarding the use of resume objective statements. One philosophy cautions against the use of a resume objective because it limits the potential job opportunities the resume owner could be considered for. The other philosophy recommends the use of a resume objective statement because it assists recruiters who are looking for a job candidate with a specific set of skills and experience.

On the face of the matter, both of these philosophies sound sensible. But when they are considered in the context of the today's job market, which is best described as weak-to-moderate demand and possesses a lot of available talent, a one-size-fits-all philosophy regarding resume objective statements may be unwise. So, let us examine in this piece a resume with three types of objective statements: none, weak and strong. How do these three approaches impact the resume in terms of its ability to attract a busy recruiter in a competitive field of qualified candidates.

No Objective: Resumes written with no objective statement are like college compositions or essays without a theme statement. That is, they are difficult to begin because without a distinct theme, they lack a clear purpose or direction. Without a clear direction, the writer has a tendency to include irrelevant information. Perhaps the most egregious example of irrelevant information included on a resume is marital status. More common types are hobbies or personal biographies. Sometimes this information was included on resume in the distant past when it was common to have a mere handful of job candidates sourced through newspaper ads and the adherence of EEO guidelines was perhaps lax. However, today's generation of recruiters are seeking specific skill sets that match the requirements of a client's job requisition. When there are too many lines of irrelevant information in a resume, it is harder to skim, read or digest rapidly. In other words, the resume has a lot of "static" and has a greater likelihood of being set aside.

Weak Objective: One of the most common objective statements on resumes is written in the general form of  "I am seeking a career opportunity where I can use my skills to the benefit of the organization." There are different iterations of this type of objective statement that may include the type of skills or the desire to add new skills as the result of being hired. This type of objective is weak because it is a job seeker centered objective statement, rather than an employer-centered statement. In other words, it is written from the job seeker's viewpoint and in terms of what the job seeker wants from an employer. While most employers like to know at some point in the hiring process what job seekers like to do in order to hire someone who enjoys her/his job, during the sourcing process, most recruiters are attempting to target job candidates who are likely to satisfy the needs of the employer first. A weak objective statement is an improvement over a resume with no objective. At least the job seeker is focused on his/her need to identify or communicate relevant job skills. Hence, this type of resume will not have as serious of an irrelevancy problem as the "no objective" resume. But since it is written from the viewpoint of the job seeker, it will tend to be written as a personal career biography. In other words, it will be a job history document rather than a comprehensive, job marketing document. Since it will be crafted only in terms of what a specific job seeker has experienced, it may lack communicating the full range of capabilities of a job seeker. Compared to other qualified job seekers with either more experience or a more comprehensive delineation of capabilities, the job candidate may risk being passed over.

Strong Objective: This type of objective statement is commonly called the "targeted objective" for a resume that is written for an employer in a specific industry who is seeking a job candidate with a specific skill set or job role experience. A common way to craft this type of objective is "I am seeking a career opportunity as administrative assistant in the financial services industry where computer proficiencies in MS Word, Excel and Access are critical." This statement provides a very detailed portrait of what the job seeker hopes to provide to the employer upon hiring. In this respect, it is an employer-centered objective. It communicates in a direct and confident manner that invites a recruiter to spend more time with the resume. In this way, it is much more of an effective job marketing tool. But the primary impact of the strong objective is that it sets the rhetorical control (theme) of the resume and holds all the resume components together in a cohesive fashion. Each section of the resume -- summary, profile, experience, education -- will be written such that they will support this strong objective. This type of resume can be skimmed very fast and its information is easy to digest. It has a greater likelihood of receiving a callback simply because it is both persuasive and has maximum market differentiation. The common complaint is that the strong objective is much too specific and will prematurely eliminate the job candidate from other open positions. This complaint does not necessarily reflect reality. When a recruiter sees a candidate who really stands out from other candidates, the recruiter is likely to contact the candidate to begin building a relationship.