USAJOBS Merit Hiring Plan

The 4 essay questions — and why Climbr won't write them for you.

Every Federal competitive-service posting at GS-05 and above now includes four short, free-response essay questions. Here are the exact prompts, the certification you sign, and honest, non-drafting guidance.

Read this first

Climbr will not draft, edit, or outline these essays — the certification requires your own words with no AI and no consultant, and we don't help you sign a false statement. Here's what we CAN tell you.

The certification you sign

“You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (AI) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot.”

Pasting AI-written or AI-edited text into these answers, and then signing the certification above, is a false statement on a federal job application.

The four prompts, word for word

Quoted directly from the May 29, 2025 Merit Hiring Plan memo — this is public government record. Responses cannot exceed 200 words per question.

Question 1 · Constitution & founding principles

200-word limit

“How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience.”

Type your own words — Climbr never drafts or edits these. Nothing here is saved or sent anywhere; it disappears when you leave the page.

0 / 200 words

Question 2 · Government efficiency & effectiveness

200-word limit

“In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes.”

Type your own words — Climbr never drafts or edits these. Nothing here is saved or sent anywhere; it disappears when you leave the page.

0 / 200 words

Question 3 · Executive Orders & policy priorities

200-word limit

“How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”

Type your own words — Climbr never drafts or edits these. Nothing here is saved or sent anywhere; it disappears when you leave the page.

0 / 200 words

Question 4 · Work ethic

200-word limit

“How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples, and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position.”

Type your own words — Climbr never drafts or edits these. Nothing here is saved or sent anywhere; it disappears when you leave the page.

0 / 200 words

What OPM says about how these are used

“Answers to these questions are not scored or rated.” Agencies are told to treat answers the way they would treat a cover letter.

“If an applicant does not answer the questions along with their application, they will not be disqualified or screened out.”

“The questions also must not be used to impose an ideological litmus test on candidates.”

In practice

OPM says they're optional and unscored; in practice some application forms have not allowed blank answers, and the policy is under active litigation — check the announcement.

What Climbr can tell you

•Read the prompt closely and answer the actual question asked — reviewers see the same four prompts on every application, so a generic answer stands out.
•Answer from real experience. A concrete, specific, true example beats a polished generic one — and it is the only kind you can certify honestly.
•Respect the 200-word cap per question — the May 29, 2025 memo states it as a hard limit ("responses cannot exceed 200 words per question"), not a suggestion.
•Never include classified or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), even summarized or paraphrased — describe duties and policy work at the unclassified level. (Climbr's résumé tools run an automatic CUI scan before anything reaches AI — see /build-resume.)
•These essays are separate from your résumé. The federal two-page résumé rule is about your résumé's page count — it does not apply to these answers.

Sources — last verified July 12, 2026

Federal hiring policy has moved fast on this topic (memo, then guidance, then litigation, inside about a year) and could change again. Always check the specific vacancy announcement you are applying to — it is the authoritative source for what that posting actually requires.

Climbr helps with the rest of your application

We'll never touch these four essays — but your résumé, your two-page federal format, and matching you to real GS postings are exactly what Climbr is built for.

Create a free account Check your federal résumé →