There are a lot of great aspects about government jobs-which is probably why there's such stiff competition for them-but one thing you may not enjoy is the application process. In addition to sweating over the usual resume and cover letter, you'll probably have to tackle at least one KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities). It's kind of the governmental equivalent of the essay portion of the SATs. If you're looking into a federal job for the first time, you may wonder whether KSAs are required-or whether they apply to you. The answer is yes. They're not optional, at least not if you want to land the job.

KSAs are necessary because government employers want to determine how your specific knowledge, skills, and abilities lend themselves to a specific job posting. It separates those who are qualified for the job from those who are best qualified. So there's a lot of weight given to how you answer these questions. How do you successfully tackle these KSAs and get called in for that elusive interview? Follow these tips.

•Read the instructions carefully. That may sound elementary, but you'd be surprised at how many people don't follow the directions. If the posting asks for a three-quarter to one-page response, don't give them one-quarter of a page. Right away, you're telling them that either you don't care what they want or you're not paying attention to what they want-not exactly a plus with the government.

•Brainstorm your answers. After reading the KSA question-most of which are fairly vague-it's time to brainstorm how your past experiences translate to what the KSA is asking. If you need to discuss your ability to communicate in writing, for example, brainstorm all of times you've successfully communicated an idea to one person or a group of people in writing. Did you develop a newsletter to keep staff up to date on new policies? Even your idea to pass out an agenda at staff meetings to keep everyone on track counts.

•Answer the question they're asking. If a KSA asks about your interpersonal skills, don't veer off course into another area. Also, don't include random information that the scorer must interpret. If you include "I'm a secretary" in your response, you may think that conveys your ability to relate to a variety of different people. But it's not up to the scorer to analyze your responses for possible meanings; spell it out for them. "I'm a secretary, so I come into contact with dozens of people on a daily basis and have developed top notch interpersonal skills as a result. For example..."

•Write clearly and professionally. Don't rush through your KSA responses. You may be tempted to just "get it done," but because these responses can make or break your chances at a job, you'll want to spend the time it takes to get it right. Don't attempt to dazzle them with complex sentence structure or five syllable words. What they're looking for is a fit between their job and your demonstrated knowledge, skills, and abilities.

•Use examples, example, and more examples. The best way to express your skills on paper (or online) is by including examples of past accomplishments in your KSAs. And don't worry about repeating yourself. Each KSA is taken as a separate unit, so using the same example to demonstrate different abilities is fine.

•Provide concrete numbers. Don't say you did a job "well." If your KSA asks about supervision skills, give specific percentages of increased productivity, decreased waste, or number of people you trained.

•Avoid acronyms. Spell everything out. Those reading your KSAs could probably figure out the acronyms, but why would you want to make them do so?

•Request an edit. Ask a friend with great grammar or editing skills to take a look at your responses before you submit them.