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Maybe we can retitle this 'The U.S. Foreign Service & FSOT Megathread'? It's certainly a lot more useful than the regular monthly threads, as happydayz noted. Business of Ferrets posted:So there is good and bad to consular work. My career consular colleagues almost universally love the work and the lifestyle. It wasn't for me, but don't let me dissuade people from considering a consular career; it could be the perfect fit. Wow, maybe Consular is the cone for me-- the positives are really exciting to read about, and the negatives don't sound all that bad. One negative that I've heard, and that would probably bother me quite a bit, is that there's something of a Cone Hierarchy, with the elite Econ/Political cones on the top, and (the somewhat easier to get into) Consular on the other end of the spectrum. My ego is a fragile, sensitive little creature, and I'd hate to be looked down upon because I enjoy doing the work that everybody else gripes about. Any truth to that? Pol-Mil is another area that I can see myself really enjoying; once somebody enters the political cone, how do they guide themselves into that line of work?
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Jul 27, 2009 09:30
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I completed the FSOT Registration several months ago under the Political Cone, and signed up for the exam on October 9th. I know how impossible it is to change cones later down the line, but is it possible at this early stage (prior to taking the exam)? If so, how would I go about doing it?
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Sep 25, 2009 08:29
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Vilerat posted:Email the help desk for the testing company. They are fairly quick at responding. Thanks, you were right about the speedy response! I wonder if its 1 year from the date of initial registration, or 1 year from the date of testing? Better news than I'd expected to hear either way. FSOT Program Office posted:It cannot be changed for this registration. If you do not want to test with your selected career track, you will need to wait until your registration expires in 1 year. Then, when you begin a new registration, you can select a different career track.
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Sep 29, 2009 05:04
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I took the FSOT two weeks back like a few others here. The test dates seemed designed to gently caress with me personally (last time it was offered just after a long flight from London to Tokyo, this time after I had worked a rough midnight shift), but I figured it would be better to take it unprepared, fail, and at least know what to expect for next time then to keep moving the goal posts further into the indeterminable future. Overall, the exam was easier than I thought, but I'm 50/50 on whether I passed or not. There were a lot of easy tech questions (not quite "what is a mouse" easy, but close), but also a fair amount of geographic/economic questions that I would have breezed through with a little studying. Oddly enough, I did worst on the biographic section-- to every "have you ever"-type question they asked, I responded with "yes I have, many times" and then attempted to provide a detailed narrative of every instance in memory. Three quarters through, I realize that my time management skills suck and I have 40ish questions left; my opus magnums become twitter posts as I desperately scramble to knock out the last few, only to run out of time with maybe 15 questions unanswered. The grammar section is easy if you have a good sense of 'what sounds right' and/or have any experience as an internet grammar nazi. I suspect the essay section's difficulty depends greatly upon the topic you're assigned-- I got a fairly easy one but still didn't really know what to say, so I skillfully blagged it and managed to get a full Intro-Body-Conclusion knocked out with time left over to review and edit. In a nutshell, the FSOT was easier than expected but still worth studying for (US Constitution, a little geography, basic econ, US history, etc); if I didn't pass this time, at least I know I can do it easily enough next time (hopefully after studying, eating a good healthy breakfast, and getting a decent night's sleep). *unrelated note: I got an automated email notification that DoS is accepting applications for Diplomatic Courier positions. If anybody wants to be the lovechild of Tom Hanks in The Terminal and Fry from Futurama, this may be for you! Suntory BOSS fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Oct 19, 2009 |
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Oct 19, 2009 16:32
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I passed, by the Grace of God, although I have a feeling it was probably by the seat of my pants.
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Oct 29, 2009 01:05
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Anybody have an informed opinion on whether or not the Orals are really as difficult as conventional wisdom suggests? Everything I've ever read (various internet sources, the Yahoo group, etc) describes it as being a brutal, exhaustive, extremely challenging test of the Thirteen Dimensions. Intelligent, highly qualified people prepare, practice and rehearse carefully, only to fail time and time again, and the statistics seem to suggest that fewer people walk away victorious than get into Harvard. Is it really that difficult, assuming one has decent social skills, composure and the ability to correctly execute spoken or written instructions?
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Nov 3, 2009 14:53
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Thanks Business of Ferrets! I'm not sure if the Orals are even possible to study for (at least, not in the conventional sense), and I think the structure may play to my strengths, so perhaps I'll just show up and wing it...assuming I'm ever fortunate enough to be invited.
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Nov 3, 2009 16:51
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I hope none of the people I'm going up against have more managerial experience than organizing a company BBQ, or I might be in some trouble. This poo poo is depressing. edit; The deadline for Personal Narrative submission is the 17th- any idea how long an invitation or rejection notice might take? Suntory BOSS fucked around with this message at 10:40 on Nov 17, 2009 |
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Nov 17, 2009 04:23
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CherryCola posted:edit: oh hey, someone from the State Department said this in a facebook group. Aw... I'd read earlier in this thread that results were expected around MLK weekend. I'm not too optimistic about getting an invite, personally. My experiences were pretty lackluster and the only thing keeping a sliver of hope alive is the fact that I felt equally dismal about my chances on the written exam.
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Jan 16, 2010 05:20
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Another QEP victim here... What can I say, the system did its job-- at this stage in my life, I'm admittedly lacking the experience necessary to become a good Foreign Service Officer. Despite that relatively stoic outlook, I'm a little uncertain about what steps I should take that might make me successful next time. I only have vague ideas on what the board wants to see.
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Jan 28, 2010 11:06
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Took the FSOT at Embassy Tokyo last Thursday, pretty sure I passed again. Not that it matters, since I'm more likely to be hit by a meteorite than pass the QEP, OE and security/medical reviews. Still, a nice ego boost 
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Feb 13, 2012 04:27
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I like that the acceptance letters now include a breakdown of your score. I don't like that I thought I was hot poo poo for getting an 8 on my essay, before realizing that it was on a 12-point scale 
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Mar 2, 2012 01:27
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Eonwe posted:So, I've been studying for the FSO exam, and it really looks fairly straightforward. My understanding is that a very small percentage of the people who initially take the FSOT exam actually become officers. What process weeds candidates out so much? I don't know the numbers, but I'd imagine a certain number of people fall out of the process at every step of the way. X% fail the written exam itself X% pass but decline to submit their QEP X% submit the QEP but do not receive an invitation to the oral exam X% are invited to the oral exam but decline (perhaps can't afford to fly to DC) X% wash out during group exercises/interviews X% fail the medical/security review X% make it to this point but are not offered/do not accept an appointment It's a long, drawn out process and inevitably a lot of people will lose interest, or maybe gain employment elsewhere. It isn't a perfect system (and not half as meritocratic as State likes to claim), but I think the FSO corp's high retention rates can partially be attributed to the long hiring process filtering out everybody except the folks who REALLY want the job.
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Apr 19, 2012 04:06
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Business of Ferrets posted:Why do you think this? Because of the PNQ process? Pretty much. State has a history of biased hiring and the PNQ's lack of transparency does not inspire confidence. I suspect disproportionate numbers of privileged Ivy League grads pass the mystery panel because the average community college grad working retail simply isn't able to compete... let alone cough up the cash for (perhaps multiple) flights to DC. None of this really criticism, just an observation that FSO hiring is not magically exempt from the same influences and biases as the rest of society.
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Apr 24, 2012 04:05
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Business of Ferrets posted:Dude, that report is from 23 years ago. State is basically a model employer when it comes to Equal Employment Opportunity issues. Pale, male, and Yale has pretty much gone by the wayside. I'm not arguing discriminatory practices or EEO violations, I'm arguing that some WASP Harvard grad who served in the Peace Corps, founded his own NGO and works for a multinational corporation is going to be able to write far more successful PNQ entries than a community college grad working part-time at Best Buy and struggling to make ends meet. I'm just not convinced that this opaque black-box selection process is an improvement over being judged by FSOA performance alone-- at least publish evaluation criteria or something. I'll add a disclaimer that I got shot down by the PNQ and was pretty salty about it, although I don't think my admitted bias diminishes the validity of the argument. State does a good job, but it could be doing much better..
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Apr 24, 2012 07:32
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My sincere condolences to his family, what a horrible, horrible thing to happen. I remember Vilerat posting about Baghdad but had no idea he followed that up with Libya. Thank you for your service to your country, and for your encouragement to everybody interested in the Foreign Service.
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Sep 13, 2012 01:26
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