SES ECQ Best Practices

Learn to Write Your Own ECQs With Our ECQ Best Practices Course

Price: $900

Course Overview:

Are you considering applying for a Senior Executive Service (SES) position? Then you’re probably like most people, who don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed by this graduate-level writing assignment. Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) are the heart and soul of most SES applications and the final standard by which you will be evaluated after being selected for an SES position.

Well, in this popular first-of-a-kind online course, the most experienced writing team in the careers management industry will teach you how to write your own ECQs. CareerPro Global has assisted more than 4K federal, military, and corporate professionals in developing successful SES applications. We also published the first book on developing SES Applications (Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service, 2011), along with a second edition, released in 2020.

The course provides clear instruction, proven best practices, and a step-by-step process for understanding the ECQ assessment process, choosing which of your career accomplishments to showcase, and of course writing those stories as effectively as possible and in compliance with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) standards. After you complete each ECQ, we have even included a reminder/checklist to ensure you captured the 28 executive competencies and utilized the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) format that OPM expects.  This and all of our online courses include specific learning objectives and built-in knowledge checks to give students (and their leaders) peace of mind that the best practices are not only being shared, but fully understood before the course is complete.

Don’t worry if this feels little overwhelming at first . . . you’re not alone! ECQs are challenging for everyone, and our clients include seasoned GS-15s from across the government, colonels and generals from all military branches, senior scientists, PhDs, MDs, attorneys, college professors, corporate executives, and numerous other professionals. However, with this kind of expert training, more than five hours of video-based instruction, our signature ECQ builders, and samples, the process becomes much more manageable, and your chances of success increase dramatically! If you would prefer editorial feedback on your ECQs, we recommend you take the ECQ Mastery course.

Training Objectives:

The goal of this course is to simplify a daunting writing exercise by making sure students understand the OPM standards and that they have a clear process and powerful tools for writing their own ECQs. In addition, the online format allows students to set their own pace and access the course for three months, during which time they can watch the videos over and over again and access the training from anywhere, anytime.

Course Outline:

• Best practices lecture and coaching via video
• Leading Change overview, scenarios, and sample
• Selecting your Leading Change topic(s)
• Step-by-step process for writing your ECQ using our signature builders
• Leading People overview, scenarios, and sample
• Selecting your Leading People topic(s)
• Step-by-step process for writing your ECQ in the CCAR format
• Results Driven overview, scenarios, and sample
• Selecting your Results Driven topic(s)
• Step-by-step process for writing your ECQ in the CCAR format
• Business Acumen overview, scenarios, and sample
• Selecting your Business Acumen topic(s)
• Step-by-step process for writing your ECQ in the CCAR format
• Building Coalitions overview, scenarios, and sample
• Selecting your Building Coalitions topic(s)
• Step-by-step process for writing your ECQ in the CCAR format
• Competency checklist
• Formatting and submitting your ECQs to the hiring agency

CareerPro Global is excited to share 31 years of experience using all best practices to ensure all compliance issues are addressed with the Qualification Review Board (QRB.) Allow us to teach you how to write passing ECQs through the lens of how the QRB will rate your ECQ stories.

It’s not easy to write Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) that both stand out and fully support your intended position. That, however, is exactly what you need to avoid rejection—and with the right ECQ training, it can be an exciting challenge! CareerProPlus offers several options for ECQ writing courses and workshops. With our clients successfully receiving job offers, we know what it takes to effectively connect the dots between your past experience and the needs of potential employers.

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The Key to Powerful, Effective ECQ Writing

Do you possess the critical leadership skills needed to make it as a 21st-century executive? You’ll have to prove it. The Office of Personnel Management calls for a demonstration of five Executive Core Qualifications in every application for an SES position or SES candidate development program. These include:

• Leading Change
• Leading People
• Results Driven
• Business Acumen
• Building Coalitions

In addition, each ECQ must be supported by a predetermined selection of 28 core competencies, including creativity, team building, human capital management, among others. Finally, across these five qualifications are five shared competencies that also need to be demonstrated in your writing—interpersonal skills, integrity/honesty, oral communication, written communication, continual learning, and public service motivation.

In our Senior Executive Services training courses, we will teach you to effectively create ECQs using up-to-date and all best practice exertise of how to flesh out examples of your leadership skills in motion by relying on the Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) format with the competencies interwoven in each ECQ. These narratives show, firsthand, how you embody the core qualities that employers are seeking. Because the ECQs weigh in so heavily on candidate selection, it’s important to avoid common errors.

Most Common ECQ Writing Mistakes

It’s imperative your ECQ is flawless, but people still make mistakes. Here are some errors to keep a vigilant eye out for:

• Using outdated examples
• Not addressing all competencies
• Not using the CCAR format
• Not including results -quantitative or qualitative
• Grammar, spelling, font size, margins and many more

Learn to write ECQs from one of the top SES resume services in the business through our ECQ training. Our ECQ Writing Workshop entails:

1. Discussion and requirements of SES application requirements
2. Learning to write ECQs through the lens of the QRB
3. Learn to only use best practices
4. Discussion and drafting 10 ECQs utilizing our signature ECQ builder
5. Discussion and brainstorming regarding how to integrate the 28 core competencies into your ECQ narrative
6. Writing your ECQs with the instructor to ensure strong Challenge-Context-Action-Result (CCAR) stories are presented to include the leadership competencies

One-day or two-day Senior Executive Services training courses will be hosted onsite for groups of 10 or more. Computers in the classroom are required.  The course includes Roadmap to the Senior Executive Service publication with CD-ROM, ECQ builders, ECQ samples, and other helpful resources. This is a very interactive workshop. No matter your current understanding of the Senior Executive Service ECQs and their requirements, you can always learn more!

Online ECQ Workshops

If an onsite ECQ training isn’t feasible or convenient for you, we’ve created two online courses designed to teach you how to write ECQs that convert your resume using all best practices and through the lens of the QRB. CareerPro Global has the knowledge and experience to prepare you for your SES job search. We’ve put technology to work for you, and have provided the following experiences capable of readying you for hire:

• ECQ Best Practices: Leaning on the CCAR format, this course will take you step-by-step through the process of developing strong and impactful descriptions. Take the program at your own pace with three months of access to our online resources. In addition, we give you the option of an individual training program. Ask us how you can get personal assistance in crafting effective ECQs on your employer’s dime.

• ECQ Mastery: If you’re looking for an SES training workshop that takes your skills to the next level, you’ll benefit most from our ECQ mastery class. This course provides all of the guidance found in Best Practices and adds two manual review and feedback sessions utilizing the expertise of our SES ECQ specialists.

Fine-tune your Senior Executive Service ECQs for maximum impact and avoid the mistakes that can block you from your organization of choice.

The Advantages of Taking ECQ Writing Workshops Online

We put our ECQ writing courses online to make them accessible to a larger group of people. You can take them on your own time, determining the pace based on your schedule. If you get busy at work, you can take a couple of nights off without any long-term impact. You also don’t have to worry about child care because you can study in your home.

Our knowledge is built on our experience. We have written more than 55,000 military and federal resumes — more than any other company. You can learn from the insights we have gained from this experience.

Registration and ECQ Training Workshop Availability:

Contact Lee Kelley at lee.kelley@careerproocenter.net or Barbara Adams at badams@careerprocenter.net for availability, pricing, and registration information.