I have a very general question. I am in the process of responding to KSAs (Knowledge Skills and Abilities) for a Federal Government job. One of the statements I am supposed to respond to is in regard to my understanding of the "General Practices and Principles of Laboratory Science". As I sit down to begin my response, I am struck by the vast possibilities for my answer. This is such a grand question, I am suddenly at a loss for where to start.

Several things have occurred to me. For example, I could begin with statements regarding my knowledge of each area of the laboratory (Blood Bank, Micro, etc.). Or I could reference my knowledge of QA, laboratory guidelines, or lab management.

In short, I would love input from other forumers. What do you think of when you hear the statement "General Practices and Principles of Laboratory Science"? Also, if anyone has experience responding to KSAs for a federal job, I would be very interested to hear about your experiences.

Thanks in advance for such a general question.

welll what i can gather is that they are not asking for your experiences in the fields but they wanna test your knowledge on general laboratory practices.. how to do a basic research in a lab... do and donts kinds... that is wat i feel.. i may be wrong.. its a big deal so please take more opinions..
good luck!!

Is this a specific job? as in do you have a specific area you are applying for (blood work, or microbiology or genomics). If it is you could describe the principles of lab work around that specific area. Otherwise, perhaps some kind of general statement about good laboratory work- safety (and appropiate guidelines), etc etc and then specific examples from your experience might be useful.
This is the first time I've seen a question like this, it seems quite hard to answer.
Hopefully some more advice will come your way.


Good luck for the job

Thanks for those respones Pradeep and Lost.

To clairfy, the position that I will be applying for is as a generalist at a VA hospital. Which, unfortunately, makes things more complicated because, as a generalist, there are a wider variety of areas that may be referenced.

Also complicating things is the nature of KSAs. What they are looking for is tangible experience. In other words, I will be explaining why I understand these general principles, what I accomplish in my daily activities that demonstrates my understanding, and what the outcome of my actions were.

I won't go into more detail about the KSAs. I just wanted to point out that I need to derive some specifics from such a general statement...hence, my quandary.

Anyway, I already feel better getting some input from other professionals. Thank you for taking the time to respond with such productive input!

Hi Vatekk,

I have encountered this question in some of my applications. I asked one recruiter exactly what they meant, and she told me that she wanted a summary of my most-used applicable skills, describing how they related to the desired skills advertised. She also wanted me to connect my applicable skills to each project they were used in if possible.

Good luck!

Regards,

lab rat

Thanks lab rat!

That is of great help. That makes sense. Responding to that statement will be much easier taking that route.

I think contacting the recruiter for clarification is always a good idea and shows initiative. I will do the same for any further clarification.