Being Reviewed by the Qualifications Review Panel

Being Reviewed by the Qualifications Review PanelBeing Reviewed by the Qualifications Review PanelA Qualifications Review Board (QRB) is a panel of Senior Executive Service (SES) members who decide whether a candidate for SES membership will be admitted. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) administers SES processes, which include assembling QRBs and overseeing the activities of each one. While the U.S. Office of Personnel Management ensures boards adhere to process requirements, boards make independent decisions about SES candidates. Review Panel Composition OPM provides a staff member for each board that serves as the QRB Administrator for each board, conducts a briefing about the hiring selection methods used by agencies, gives instructions about the certification process, answers questions from QRB members, and provides any other guidance and staff support as appropriate, states OPM. Each board is made up of three executives from different agencies. At least two of t he three must be career public servants. One of the three must have served on a QRB before. This composition helps OPM de-emphasize technical skill and promote transferable leadership skills in the SES. This independent and objective review is intended to ensure that the (U.S.) government is hiring executives with the qualifications needed in todays environment, especially the ability to lead in times of change,and that technical expertise does not outweigh leadership skill in the selection of new senior executives, OPM says. Board Members Volunteer to Serve Board members volunteer their time and effort. Their motivation for volunteering is to ensure the federal government has a quality stable of applicants ready to fill leadership positions. Volunteers have the opportunity to leave a mark on the SES beyond their own careers. Boards help the federal government maintain a baseline of excellence in top-tier career service positions. Those interested in volunteering should work wit h their agencies human resource offices or contact OPM directly. Communication among board members about board geschftsleben is privileged. OPM may release the names of individuals who have volunteered on QRBs. OPM does not release the makeup of particular boards. All Qualifications Are Reviewed and Considered QRBs evaluate the credentials of those applying for admittance into the Senior Executive Service. Admittance allows career federal employees to assume some of the highest leadership positions in the federal government. Senior Executive Service members compete for jobs directly supervised by Presidential appointees. A candidates approval by a QRB is no guarantee of a job it only means the candidate can legitimately apply. QRB members evaluate each candidate based on the executive core qualifications, but members do not limit themselves to only those factors. The QRB is responsible for the fair and objective assessment of all case documents in the candidates QRB case to dete rmine if the candidate possesses the required executive core qualifications (ECQ). Board members do not limit their assessment of executive qualifications to the candidates ECQ documentation statement they consider all of the information included in the application package. The candidates qualifications taken as a whole must demonstrate that the individual has the leadership qualities needed in todays SES, OPM says. SES candidates are not compared to each other in QRB deliberations. Instead, candidates are evaluated individually on their own merits. Anyone deemed worthy of approval is approved without competing with other candidates. A Focus on Succession Planning Succession planning is essential in all levels of government. While hiring processes should be open competitions, managers need to groom likely successors. When promotion opportunities arise, current employees need to be ready to step into roles with greater responsibilities. If an organization has a person who can pro mote into a new job, that person can likely be up to speed more quickly than someone entering the organization from the outside. QRBs play a vital gatekeeping role for succession planning in the highest levels of the federal government. By playing this role, QRBs set baseline expectations for the leadership skills possessed by SES members.

Is it Possible to Over-prepare for a Job Interview

Is it Possible to Over-prepare for a Job InterviewIs it Possible to Over-prepare for a Job InterviewPreparation is one of the basic tenets of searching for a job. If you show up underprepared, youll rarely leave a good impression. For that reason, we always recommend researching the company and job for which youre interviewing. But can you over-prepare to the point where you hurt your chances of being hired? Put simply yes.As one of the leadinginterview prep, career coaching, and professional resume writing services, ResumeSpice knows that over-preparation can result in sounding like a robot instead of an authentic human being. You might also back yourself into a corner. If the interview doesnt go according to the script youre writing, you might freeze and, strangely, come off as unprepared.When prepping for an interview, look to these three tips for guidancePrepare for your interview, but dont memorizeIf youve spent countless hours Googling interview questions, writing out answers, and practicing your responses like your interview is opening night on Broadway, youre going to sound rehearsed and inauthentic. Instead, look up common questions and simply jot down a few bullet points youd like to get across about each one. Yes, practice, but dont memorize your answers. You should be able to deliver a great answer without sounding scripted.Speak to your strong pointsSpend time thinking about your experience and hintergrund and what unique strengths you bring to the table so that you can honestly answer questions. Really think through the job and why youre a great fit for it. Have relevant accomplishments in mind that youre ready to talk about and which showcase your skills and abilities.Be yourselfSure, you might look great on paper. But if you appear nervous, jittery, or give canned answers, youre not going to get hired. Employers want to hire people who have positive attitudes and are enthusiastic about the job. So dont deliver stiff answers, even if you think theyre the right ones. Instead, let your personality shine through and show the hiring manager why youre interested in the job.Remember, theres a big difference between being well-prepared and sounding rehearsed. You need to think about why youre a great fit for the job and be ready to get specific with examples. But you dont need to script exactly what youre going to say ahead of time.Do you need more help preparing for interviews?Call the team at ResumeSpice Our team of career consultants and career coaches can help you prep for any interview situation.

10 Reasons Your Resume Isnt Getting You Interviews

10 Reasons Your Resume Isnt Getting You Interviews10 Reasons Your Resume Isnt Getting You InterviewsIf youre sending out lots of resumes without getting many calls for interviews, its time to conclude that your resume isnt doing its job. If youre like fruchtwein people, youre making at least a few of these mistakes- which will put your resume promptly in the no pile.1. Its generic. If your resume reads just like dozens of other candidates, no employer is going to call you. Your resume needs to convey that youre an exceptional candidate, not just an average one whos no different from other applicants. Which leads us to2. It just lists duties and responsibilities, not accomplishments. In a job market thats flooded with candidates, a resume that reads like a series of job descriptions wont excite a hiring manager. What will excite a hiring manager is a resume that shows a track record of achievement, so you need to list specific accomplishments, not just duties.3. Its full of dense para graphs rather than bulleted lists. Employers will only skim your resume initially, not read it word-for-word, and large blocks of text are hard to skim. An employer will take in mora information about you if you use simple bulleted points.4. It leads with your education, even though youve been out of school for more than a few years. Generally, your education should go beneath your work experience, because employers are most interested in what work experience youve had. Leading with your education just buries what will make you most attractive to an employer.5. It doesnt include the dates of employment for each job youve held. Employers want to know how long you were at each job and when. Resumes without clear dates are an immediate red flag that make hiring managers suspect youre hiding something.6. It wastes space on things that are irrelevant, like descriptions of your employers business. Some candidates devote two to three lines per job to describing the employer itself- its siz e and the nature of its business. Hiring managers might want that information when you move to the interview stage, but your resume isnt the place for it. Your resume should focus on you and you alone.7. Its not specific. Employers want concrete specifics. Its not enough to say that you revitalized a department or publicized a program. What exactly did you do and what did it result in?8. It includes everything youve ever done, rather than just the highlights. The longer your resume is, the less likely an employer is to see the parts you want them to see. The initial scan of your resume is about 20 seconds- do you want that divided among three pages, or do you want it focused on the most important things you want to convey? Short and concise means that employers are more likely to read the parts you most care about.9. It includes irrelevant details, such as your age or your childrens names. Yes, people really do this. Employers dont care about these details, and including them will c ome across as naive and unprofessional.10. It describes you in subjective terms. Your resume is for experience and accomplishments only. Its not the place for subjective traits, like great leadership skills, strong writer, or creative innovator. Hiring managers generally ignore anything subjective that an applicant writes about herself, because so many peoples self-assessments are wildly inaccurate theyre looking for provable facts. If you have those traits, list the accomplishments that demonstrate them instead.Alison Green writes the popular Ask a Manager blog, where she dispenses advice on career, job search, and management issues. Shes also the co-author of Managing to Change the World The Nonprofit Managers Guide to Getting Results, and former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization, where she oversaw day-to-day staff management, hiring, firing, and employee development.