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Four Steps to Writing Responses to Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

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.

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