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The four federal merit hiring essay questions

What the four questions ask, the 18 U.S.C. 1001 certification attached to them, and why blank is a safe answer.

The four federal merit hiring essay questions and the certification attached to them. Submitting these essays certifies, under 18 USC 1001, that you did not use AI tools or outside consultants to generate them. That is the federal false-statements statute, and a knowingly false certification on a federal job application is a federal crime punishable by fines and up to five years. Write them yourself, in your own words, or leave them blank. The four questions are: your commitment to the Constitution; government efficiency and how you have contributed or would contribute to a less wasteful government; how a specified Executive Order applies to the role; and your personal work ethic. Each answer is capped at 200 words. Agencies are required to ask all four, but answering is optional and the responses are not rated or scored, so they do not affect your qualification rating or your placement on a certificate. As of early 2026 there is active litigation claiming some systems will not let applicants skip these despite OPM calling them optional; if a posting blocks submission, answer briefly in your own words rather than abandon the application.

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Source: The four federal merit hiring essay questions — Military Transition Toolkit (https://www.militarytransitiontoolkit.com/diagrams/federal-merit-hiring-essays)

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  <img src="https://www.militarytransitiontoolkit.com/diagrams/federal-merit-hiring-essays.png"
       alt="The four federal merit hiring essay questions and the certification attached to them. Submitting these essays certifies, under 18 USC 1001, that you did not use AI tools or outside consultants to generate them. That is the federal false-statements statute, and a knowingly false certification on a federal job application is a federal crime punishable by fines and up to five years. Write them yourself, in your own words, or leave them blank. The four questions are: your commitment to the Constitution; government efficiency and how you have contributed or would contribute to a less wasteful government; how a specified Executive Order applies to the role; and your personal work ethic. Each answer is capped at 200 words. Agencies are required to ask all four, but answering is optional and the responses are not rated or scored, so they do not affect your qualification rating or your placement on a certificate. As of early 2026 there is active litigation claiming some systems will not let applicants skip these despite OPM calling them optional; if a posting blocks submission, answer briefly in your own words rather than abandon the application."
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  <figcaption>
    The four federal merit hiring essay questions. Source:
    <a href="https://www.militarytransitiontoolkit.com/diagrams/federal-merit-hiring-essays">Military Transition Toolkit</a>
  </figcaption>
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This diagram is drawn from The federal merit hiring essay questions, which cites the regulations and rate tables behind every figure shown here. If a rate changes, the guide and the diagram are updated together.

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