One Voice Laments the Potential Passing of KSAs
We blogged earlier about the oft-rumored demise of the essay-style Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) questions that are a prominent part of many federal employment applications. Most people have greeted this news with much rejoicing, but we ran across this opinion piece at GovermentExecutive.com that has some contrary opinions. Brian Friel argues that KSAs serve a purpose similar to cover letters – requiring applicants to articulate specific reasons that they are the best person suited for the job. Friel goes further, and claims that if a person is not willing to spend the time answering KSAs, perhaps they aren’t suited for government employment at all:
But if the “best and brightest” are so turned off by the need to submit lengthy documentation supporting their claims that they are indeed the best and brightest, then perhaps they really aren’t well-suited for jobs in a paperwork-intensive environment such as the federal government.
What do you think? Is a resume and cover letter enough to prove you’ve got the chops to make it in federal government, or is there a compelling reason to have applicants address the specific skills the job requires in this unique form?