US Foreign Service & FSOT Megathread: Where Dreams Come True & Even Lawyers Get Jobs

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > US Foreign Service & FSOT Megathread: Where Dreams Come True & Even Lawyers Get Jobs

GhostOfTomNook: Aug 17, 2003; El gallo Pinto no pinta,
el que pinta es el pintor.

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?

About 3 weeks after the June test I got my results and the next step is the personal narrative--apparently they use the answers to those questions and the test scores to determine if you're invited to take the oral exam.

I've heard that there is a lot of waiting. Even if you pass both tests you could end up waiting up to 18 months. If you aren't high enough on the list to get a job by then you have to start the entire process over again. There are lots of horror stories about people taking the oral exam 10 times, but the process works pretty well because every foreign service officer I have met is pretty smart and qualified.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2009 00:33

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 20:23

GhostOfTomNook: Aug 17, 2003; El gallo Pinto no pinta,
el que pinta es el pintor.

Happydayz posted:

5.25 out of 7 to pass. However then you get put on an order of merit list and racked and stacked with everyone else who passed.

What you need to stand a realistic chance of getting hired varies depending on what cone you want and how competitive the selection is. I think they've gone down to a 5.4 for the political cone, whereas previously you wanted a 5.6 or higher to stand a good shot.

How do you go about computing a hypothetical score? The written exam score is rolled into that possible 7, right?

# ¿ Jul 21, 2009 19:33

GhostOfTomNook: Aug 17, 2003; El gallo Pinto no pinta,
el que pinta es el pintor.

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.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2009 16:44

GhostOfTomNook: Aug 17, 2003; El gallo Pinto no pinta,
el que pinta es el pintor.

Xelly posted:

Well, okay, I guess� At the risk of sounding like a total dope, here�s my situation.

I�ve been considering Foreign Service for several years. I want to work in some sort of diplomacy job for the rest of my life. I want to travel, I want to learn 100 different languages, I want to be exposed to the same amount cultures, and I want to have an impact on the world in some way because of my work abroad. I have a particular interest in Africa. I am lucky because I�ve just been accepted to the Peace Corps and in October I�ll be leaving with the first batch of teachers to return to Rwanda since the genocide (yay field work!).

It�s been a growing concern of mine that Foreign Service does not have a place for my interests. In simplest terms I�m not sure which track to choose because I�m not sure any of them serve my purpose. I don�t want to work in a consulate rejecting visas all day long; I want to prevent conflicts and resolve international disputes (e.g. stop wars). I want to be the person who sits in meetings with foreign ministers and convinces them not to let ships filled with weapons from China dock in their country. This is not to say that I�m not willing to work my way up, because I would totally work in a consulate and push papers all day long if it meant I could eventually do what I wanted.

I�m in this to be the job. I don�t want kids, and even if I did I wouldn�t want to subject them to a constantly uprooted lifestyle. I don�t want to be posted in Stockholm or Paris. I want to go where I�m needed and help facilitate peaceful relationships between nations (like I always imagined a diplomat would). Some of the things I have been reading make the politics track sound a lot less active than I would enjoy, and the diplomacy track just doesn�t have that much information on it for me to make an educated decision.

So you said you work in the politics division; do you feel as though your work has made much of an impact on the nations where you have been stationed or has your work been more personally fulfilling in nature? There really isn�t a wrong answer to this question either. I�m just trying to make the best decision for myself.

I think you should do the Peace Corps, work really hard, make contacts in Rwanda and the NGO community and go from there. There's no easy way to get to the career you want, so you just have to be lucky and work hard. A master's degree in international conflict resolution or something similar will probably be required at some point.

Look to see if there are any Master's International programs that interest you.

# ¿ Sep 23, 2009 03:17

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