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I took the June FSOT and passed. It's broken up into 4 sections, one being a general knowledge smorgasbord of questions that I'd assume a graduating law student would do well on (questions on US governance, boilerplate IR questions- for context, I've got an MA in IR and didn't think anything on there was beyond college level poli-sci/history), an English grammar section that's honestly a lot less painful than the GRE, a series of management-style questions, and an essay. I'd heard the 85% fail statistic before, and I can't imagine why that is. However, even if you pass, they can decide to not process your application further. A friend of mine, who I would have thought was the personification of budding FSO, passed, and in the same letter, was told he wouldn't be invited to the next round. He could, however, start the entire process over again.
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Jul 7, 2009 20:59
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SWATJester posted:What happened after the test? As I understand it the hiring process is different than it was before with an oral exam. What was your next step, where are you now in the process? Also how long did you have to wait on stuff? I have to do 5 short essay questions of >200 words in length, that basically ask some more questions regarding management, ability to communicate across cultures, etc. Then, according to my letter, I get to wait until October to find out if I'm going to be invited for oral interviews. In all honesty, I get the purpose of the oral interviews and whatnot, but I think they grade the test the same way they pick the pope or something: toss each one on a fire, and if it smokes white, you pass, if it's black smoke, FAIL.
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Jul 8, 2009 17:17
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Perhaps a reach, but does anyone here work for USAID? I passed the FSOT and I'm waiting to hear back if I'll be going to the Orals, but in all honesty, I'm much more interested in the work that USAID does. I applied for a Crisis, Stabilization and Governance Officer job (junior) back in March, received an e-mail saying my qualifications were a match, and since then, nothing. I called USAID's HR and got a recorded message saying I *might* get a call for an interview within 2-8 months. Anyone familiar with their hiring process, or what it's like to work for USAID?
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Jul 30, 2009 19:53
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Grr8 posted:I want to register for the Test but it seems like the website is always down...any idea what's going on? It's a crap website. It once took me nearly 20 minutes to load the site when I was working on my QEPs. Keep trying, it'll go through eventually.
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Jul 31, 2009 06:07
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This is for the USAID Foreign Service Officer positions. For context, I applied for this back in motherfucking March.quote:Dear Applicant, Your tax dollars at work. 
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Aug 4, 2009 05:42
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pragan4 posted:Just got word that I didn't make it past the QEP. I'm not sure what that means, but I guess I'll wait until next June/July and take the test again. Yeah, I'm out too. Hopefully another year of time and language acquisition will help next time around. Still got my fingers crossed for USAID, though.
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Sep 14, 2009 18:37
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To those that passed: next stop, QEPS?
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Oct 28, 2009 23:08
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Vilerat posted:Dear Vilerat, That blows, man.  Do you have a link to where I can get my QEP score breakdown, just so I know where to better apply my slobber on DoS' knob for next time?
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Nov 13, 2009 20:04
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Going to re-register for the June FSOT. Only thing is... I'll be taking it in Cairo. Hoping my year in Egypt will lead to some better answers on the QEP and that my language pushes me into the passing grid. Inshallah!
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Feb 24, 2010 00:52
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SWATJester posted:I'm pretty sure that people pass/fail based solely on the bio portion of the FSOT. The rest of the test is pretty drat easy for someone with a solid college education with at least basic knowledge in civics and government. Most of my friends from my graduate IR program took the FSOT, and I'd say at least 80% passed the written portion. No one passed the QEPs (myself included), which at least gives a good deal of anecdotal evidence to that idea. I'd agree, for what it's worth. On another note- I have a buddy who's currently interning at State, and he's being informally mentored by an FSO in his particular office. This guy mentioned that there's a huge backlog of political officer appointments, and consequently, it'd be better to register as an economic or consular officer- apparently, he's an economics officer who has no formal background in Econ and instead works on a lot of political issues. This sound accurate to anyone?
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Feb 25, 2010 11:19
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That's kind of what I figured, but figured I'd check. I'd hate to register as a consular officer and spend an entire career stamping visas while waiting for assignment to something cool.
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Feb 25, 2010 14:33
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Well, I'm hopefully taking the FSOT again in Cairo. I've been reading my Foreign Affairs (thanks, Dad, for letting me leech off your online subscription), the Economist and I'm boning up on my Constitution again. This is probably going to be a two-three day endeavor when it's all said and done (ask me about lovely transportation in Egypt!), but hopefully, my acquired Arabic skills will nudge me further into the process this year.
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May 24, 2010 23:55
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So I took the FSOT in Cairo today. Overall, it went pretty smoothly- there were about six people taking it, including myself and my girlfriend. We took it at the US Embassy in Cairo, and it was actually proctored by a *real-life* FSO! After I finished the test, I talked with her a little bit- only about 30 seconds or so- and found out that it took her a few times to pass as well, but eventually she made it in. Also a highlight- we had one guy in the group who: a. couldn't remember his user name or password when it came time to log in to the testing suite. b. couldn't remember his cone that he registered for. "Uh...I think it was public economics?" was one thing he said. and c. at the end when we were walking out, escorted by another FSO, he said, "So hey- what question did you guys get for the writing portion?" The FSO turned and looked at him with this big, wide-eyed expression as if to say, "What part of NDA did you not understand?" :facepalm: Although just watch- ten to one this guy makes it to the OA and I miss the QEP cutoff again.
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Jun 8, 2010 21:46
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CherryCola posted:YES YES YES YES YES YES YES Got the same e-mail from one of my buddies, who was a fellow student in my IR MA program and actually works for State in the ECA department. I eagerly started retooling my resume and crafting my cover letter in my head, when my mail client beeped at me. One of my old professors got the same e-mail, and sent it to the entire politics program at my university. Now, this thread is abuzz about it. Best of luck to all of us that are applying- the way this thing has spread demonstrates how in demand these jobs are.
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Jun 12, 2010 00:24
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Boondock Saint posted:So the test wasn't that bad...although the essay portion felt a little rough. I think that the writing section is meant to do just that, and also, to weed out the professional test takers who try to compose a five-paragraph essay a la the SAT/GRE. By nature of the time limit, you're pretty much forced to write a memo rather than an actual essay.
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Jun 13, 2010 12:25
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Eh, never mind. pantslesswithwolves fucked around with this message at 17:28 on Jun 15, 2010 |
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Jun 15, 2010 17:06
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Hey Skandiaavity, is your e-mail still down? I sent you a message the other day.
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Jun 19, 2010 19:13
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Cool. Mentioned my username in the body of the e-mail, let me know if it got lost in your spam folder. Gmail's spam filter has been problematic for me sometimes, I almost failed a student for failing to take the final exam. Randomly checking my spam folder revealed that he had been e-mailing me to tell me that he'd broken his leg in three places in a car accident and wouldn't be walking for a while, much less taking finals for an English class.
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Jun 20, 2010 00:10
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Skandiaavity posted:aaaaaaa... 683 emails since this morning... now getting on top of things.. Just got the e-mail. Will be following up on this like a rabid wolf on a tender, unguarded lamb, and you've earned my profound thanks even if nothing pans out with this!
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Jun 22, 2010 22:49
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TCD posted:I tried to get on SA for 4 hours tonight. That's how awesome our internet is here in Rwanda. Not to bump from the last page, but where did you go in Egypt? I'm currently in Alexandria, and I would have loved to have hosted you for a day had I known you were in my neck of the woods or given you some travel pointers. Hope you had a good time! pantslesswithwolves fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jun 25, 2010 |
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Jun 25, 2010 02:59
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TCD posted:Cairo on business for a week, and then the Nile sights including Valley of King/Queens etc. Skipped Alexandria for Sharm el-Sheikh. However, if I had known about a goon in Alexandria, that would have swayed the travel plans. Well, standing invitation to any and all goon visitors to Egypt- if you make it to Alex, I'll do my best to show you around. Fridays work best for me. I'm here til September. Hope you had fun all the same- what'd you think of Sharm? I hear that place is a tourist hellhole, and I'm honestly a fan of the more remote towns in the Sinai.
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Jun 26, 2010 00:23
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xanthig posted:I guess I passed, but I haven't gotten any notification yet. On the other hand, the PNQ section is open to me now. Yeah, you passed. My QEP was available as a choice this morning, but I didn't receive my results letter until about 15 minutes ago. Personally, I wouldn't re-use the same answers. Who knows whether they cross check those things.
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Jun 30, 2010 16:44
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Hoo boy, telephone test on Egyptian Arabic, here we come. Time to cram like MAD and pretend like I don't speak English for the next three weeks!
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Jun 30, 2010 22:08
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The amount of harmful and/or/yet amazing things that could be done by an entire embassy staff run by goon FSOs. Don't tell me you haven't let your brains run wild with the possibilities.
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Jul 2, 2010 03:13
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Well, I'm off to take my SCNL test in Arabic. Wish me luck- despite practicing with my Egyptian friends as much as I can, I think that there's a lot more that I don't know than there is that I do. At least this won't hurt me if I fail, but I could use the .5 point boost. Good luck to anyone else who's taking a SCNL test! Edit: Oof, that was brutal. I felt prepared for it, but it's seriously hard to carry on a conversation over speaker phone without using the visual cues that you get with face-to-face interaction. Additionally, my lovely Egyptian landline kept causing pops and clicks that interfered with my ability to understand the guy, but fortunately, I feel like I hit the current events question out of the park as it was one that I spent a good deal of time researching and accumulating associated vocabulary with it. We'll see how I did in the week, but man. I'm still sweating buckets over here. pantslesswithwolves fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Jul 16, 2010 |
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Jul 16, 2010 14:38
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Unrelated to my SCNL woes, but... Are you an IT geek, or do you have experience with web design and website management? Do you speak Portuguese? Are you eligible for a SECRET security clearance? If so, shoot me a PM. I got forwarded an e-mail by a DoS insider regarding a webmaster position that requires some Portuguese language skills.
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Jul 16, 2010 19:45
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If you can get a security clearance, you'd probably be good. Actually, I'd imagine the IC would also want someone with your skillset even more than State.
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Jul 20, 2010 00:03
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Pompous Rhombus posted:I've got a feeling I'm gonna hate life if/when I ever go for a TS or above You and me both. Between the idiotic poo poo I did in college and the foreign contacts I have from traveling in the Middle East, my SF-86 is going to be as thick as a loving phone book and will probably need an appendix.
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Jul 21, 2010 00:11
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Vilerat posted:The omnibus skill code conversion program is a success. I'm now an IMS from IMTS. Congratulations!
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Jul 27, 2010 20:07
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xanthig posted:Congratulations Vile Rat. When did you take your test? I took mine about 12 days ago for Arabic and haven't heard back yet.
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Jul 28, 2010 01:01
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Well, I just found out I didn't make the cut for Arabic. Better luck next time, I guess. If I make it past the OA's, I'll get to retest. Shame, I could have used that .5 point bump to get me past the QEPs.
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Jul 29, 2010 11:09
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Well, count me in on the "failed the QEP" group hug. I'm still waiting to hear about the CEP stuff and whether or not my 94 gets me to the next round or what. I'm also planning on moving to DC in mid-October, and hearing poo poo about how bad the market is there is making me feel reallllllly nervous. This after I've heard people gushing about how jobs seem to be falling off the trees in DC.
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Sep 9, 2010 09:16
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Congratulations, Vilerat! I know you can get a section-by-section score breakdown for the actual FSOT, but is there any way to get one of those for the QEP? My results letter doesn't say anything about it.
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Oct 7, 2010 17:57
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I took my FSOT on 8 June 2010, and got my (passing) results on 30 June 2010. 4800 words in 30 minutes? You said you were passionate about the subject, but that's 160 words a minute! Did you run a coffee IV on yourself right before the test?
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Oct 7, 2010 19:27
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This is making the rounds with my friends at State. http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7587243/
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Nov 9, 2010 03:03
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CherryCola posted:Alright dudes, I just scheduled my test for Feb 7th. Let's see how this goes the 2nd time around! Wait, what happened to your job offer with NGA? I read your post in the DC thread about your poo poo experiences with Ruthi Postow, and my heart goes out to you because my girlfriend's going through the exact same thing. Minus the offer with NGA.
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Jan 12, 2011 05:40
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nm posted:I thought that with super critical needs it was before the QEP. I passed the FSOT last year, and got notification to schedule my SCNL test along with my instructions for the QEP. Didn't pass either. Kinda on the fence if I should go through the whole thing againthis year- I actually got a job I really enjoy (private sector) but I think I should probably push that as far as I can to get a better QEP score and work on my Arabic.Pamchenko, I applied for a Crisis/Governance/Stabilization JFSO job a few years back, and never got a response after they sent an email saying they were re-reviewing every application six months later. That's the kind of work I'd love to do someday- do you have any colleagues/friends who do that work? What have they said about it? Also, what kind of clearance do you have to get for AID? I looked but never found the answer beyond "applicants must undergo a security review" or something to that effect. Oh yeah, welcome to SA!
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Apr 17, 2011 23:51
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