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For some reason, the Kabul craziness reminded me of this bizarre story from the '70s in Equatorial Guinea. The view from a relative is here. Both are .pdf files, by the way.
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Sep 5, 2009 04:16
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AKA Pseudonym posted:Some people seem to be trying to make it into some sort of Blackwater thing, which it really isn't. At most embassies the role these guys perform is done by local security companies. There are still Marines on duty but these guys guard the perimeter, keep an eye on the metal detectors, watch over the parking lot, and that sort of thing. I'm sure the duties are very different in Kabul but armed American citizens with military experience is more than most places get. The totally-not-gay hazing rituals are unique too as far as I know. Nah every defense security contractor I've worked with in the military (Triple Canopy, Blackwater, DynCorp, etc.) all had guys just like that. It's nothing different than the totally-not-gay-hazing rituals in the army.
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Sep 5, 2009 06:54
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Said good luck to a few goons who are flying out to Post over the next few days. My day is approaching pretty quickly. Then it's decision time to take the FSOT or not.
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Sep 5, 2009 11:44
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TCD posted:Then it's decision time to take the FSOT or not. Which way are you leaning on this?
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Sep 6, 2009 09:15
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Got my invitation to take the test, signed up for an Oct. 3 date.
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Sep 6, 2009 14:41
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poo poo I have heard nothing yet, no invitation. How did it arrive (email vs. snail)?
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Sep 6, 2009 14:58
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What do you guys think of/hear about/know about the DSS guys? Do they like it? Anything you can tell me about the position?
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Sep 6, 2009 18:34
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Most of the DS guys I know are pretty cool. And they always seem to have the best stories. They're mostly concerned with the security of the embassy and it's personnel in terms of both counter intelligence and safety. They also investigate visa and passport fraud and sometimes help other law enforcement agencies with investigations. The big downside is that a huge chunk of their jobs are domestic so they don't spend as much time overseas as most other FS people. And their first post is always domestic.
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Sep 6, 2009 22:18
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SWATJester posted:poo poo I have heard nothing yet, no invitation. How did it arrive (email vs. snail)? I got it via email. Check your spam folder/trash for any email from "fsot@act.org"
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Sep 7, 2009 04:53
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Just got my invitation today so they are definitely going through the queue.
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Sep 8, 2009 17:09
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Mine came in as well, will be taking it on the 9th next month. Should be fun!
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Sep 8, 2009 17:14
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For those wondering what to study: cliffsnotes.com -Economics -American Government -US History Know the constitution. Also know not only where countries/capitals are, but also economic things like where the copper belt in Africa is. I'm hearing similar advice from several officers here at post so there you go.
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Sep 8, 2009 18:01
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Thanks for the cliff notes suggestions. I have been mostly keeping up with The Economist and Newsweek and collecting a few practice tests. I was holding off on the practice tests until closer to test day, but now that its a month away I better start ramping things up. When you say to know things like the African copper belt, is it just economic relevance geographically, or how those things effect the nations they are in? I can't imagine they get that in depth in a mostly multiple choice exam.
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Sep 8, 2009 18:54
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nesbit37 posted:Thanks for the cliff notes suggestions. I have been mostly keeping up with The Economist and Newsweek and collecting a few practice tests. I was holding off on the practice tests until closer to test day, but now that its a month away I better start ramping things up. Hard to really put a finger on but it seems like they just want you to "know poo poo". Less specific figures and more general knowledge type things in the realm of US politics, history, and constitution and general economic "stuff" regarding other countries regions. I hope somebody else can chime in with something more specific cause I'm curious about that myself.
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Sep 8, 2009 19:29
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Vilerat posted:Hard to really put a finger on but it seems like they just want you to "know poo poo". Less specific figures and more general knowledge type things in the realm of US politics, history, and constitution and general economic "stuff" regarding other countries regions. I hope somebody else can chime in with something more specific cause I'm curious about that myself. I've passed the written exam twice now, once in 2004 and then again this year. They seem to have moved pretty far away from the "african copper belt" style question in the general knowledge section, and have a lot more really dumb computer related questions. For example "what software program do you use to 'browse' the internet?". I've never found much benefit in studying for the written test, but if it makes you feel better, the study guide is pretty accurate about what you should be doing. To get the best bang for your study-buck, review the constitution and especially the amendments and what they mean, major legislation of the 20th century (there is always a question about the War Powers Act), and major supreme court decisions (major like Brown vs Board, Plessy v Ferguson and Roe v Wade). A thorough review of English grammar can help immensely on the language usage section. As for the biographical section, every time I see it all I can say is "what the gently caress". How that section gets graded is a complete mystery to me. I did prefer the written version of the biographical test to the computerized version. In the written version it was clear from the tiny amount of space that they gave you that you have to keep your examples very short. The computer version is misleading, it has a huge box to type in and the keyboard just cutting off at 120 characters. As for the essay section, as far as I can tell grammar and spelling are more important than anything else. Last time I got a very poorly worded, extremely ambiguous essay question, and spent the first half the test writing and rewriting the same two paragraphs uncertain whether I was on the right track. Finally I just wrote down some bullshit that, in retrospect, wasn't much more coherent than the question itself. I passed, barely, so they must not have cared too much about the actual strength of argument. It used to be the case that you had to score in the top 15%, and you automatically qualified for the oral exam. Now you pass if you score in the top 50% but then go to the QEP.
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Sep 8, 2009 20:12
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xanthig posted:I've passed the written exam twice now, once in 2004 and then again this year. They seem to have moved pretty far away from the "african copper belt" style question in the general knowledge section, and have a lot more really dumb computer related questions. For example "what software program do you use to 'browse' the internet?". I've never found much benefit in studying for the written test, but if it makes you feel better, the study guide is pretty accurate about what you should be doing. To get the best bang for your study-buck, review the constitution and especially the amendments and what they mean, major legislation of the 20th century (there is always a question about the War Powers Act), and major supreme court decisions (major like Brown vs Board, Plessy v Ferguson and Roe v Wade). Anything beyond major landmark decisions or just basic stuff like you'd find on this site? http://www.landmarkcases.org/
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Sep 8, 2009 21:14
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FYI this was posted on one of the facebook groups for taking the test. It may or may not help ease your mind with the tests:An FSO posted:Back to the original question, let me as an FSO associated with recruitment explain a little about deficit career tracks. We tend to reserve the word 'critical needs' for languages so deficit career tracks is the term I will use here.
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Sep 8, 2009 23:44
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Vilerat posted:Anything beyond major landmark decisions or just basic stuff like you'd find on this site? I think if you know what each of those cases listed in the left hand colum was about and what each decided, you're good to go. It helps that the test is multiple choice. One note about the scoring the written test. I wrote in for my score and when I got it back it gave me a bunch of numbers like 55, 60 and 70. It took some digging to figure out what those numbers meant. They are the T-scores. basically they take your raw score of (right answers/ total questions) and figure out how much you differ from the mean in units of standard deviations. They then multiply result by 10 and add it to 50. So a score of 50 is average. A score of 70 (50 + (2 standard deviation *10)) is better than 95% of the people taking the test. 154 is just slightly less than the top 50% of scorers, so saying that it hasn't changed in years is misleading because the only reason you would change the number is if you wanted to accept more or less candidates into the next stage.
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Sep 9, 2009 19:33
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To be fair she did qualify years as since 2007, so it hasn't been that long. fake edit: Thanks for the breakdown on what those scores mean. The number of 154 she gave didn't really mean much since I had no idea how the points worked.
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Sep 9, 2009 19:45
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So I'm about to graduate college with an Int. Relations and minor in Russian, always figured I'd try to get into another agency but I figured I'd give the FSOT a try. Just registered today, hopefully I didn't miss the deadline. I've seen some books on the FSOT, anyone know if they are worth getting? Also, should I start cleaning up my Facebook account now? Have some photos in Russia and some of them are less than professional. Edit: Also am I too late in registering for the upcoming test? Gin and Juche fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Sep 10, 2009 |
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Sep 9, 2009 23:25
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poo poo, nothing yet from ACT about dates or sitting for the test, is this bad?
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Sep 10, 2009 02:17
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I had a long chat with a recent FS retiree today and got tons of good information. I don't remember everything off the top of my head, but here are a few things: When it comes to languages, State values grammatical correctness in speech more than accent and fluency of command. If in an hour-long conversation you have more than 10 grammatical errors in a foreign language, you need to practice your grammar more. Pick up one of the hard languages as early as possible even if you don't plan on staying in that region. You continue to get the additional pay for knowing the language even if you aren't using it, and over a career this will add up to a few hundred thousand dollars. Apparently a lot of FSOs have trouble leading moderate lives when they aren't getting the official luxury treatment, and consequently they retire pretty much broke. If you're smart with your expenses, savings, and investments, though, you can retire with a few million dollars in the bank. State is a very conservative organization, so do not go in thinking that you are going to shake things up. Being outspoken will get you nailed as being a hotshot. Your reputation is everything and should be protected carefully. It's a very small and insular community, and pretty much everyone will at least know your name if you're in the community for long. Getting that sweet post in a nice country may come down to someone recognizing your name and recalling something that a colleague said about you. Certain regions are known for certain styles. The work in Europe is boring, but life is nice. Latin America is like Latin America... a little but there's still action. The Far East is serious business. Africa is a dead-end shithole both professionally and personally.
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Sep 10, 2009 04:37
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Smeef posted:Pick up one of the hard languages as early as possible even if you don't plan on staying in that region. You continue to get the additional pay for knowing the language even if you aren't using it, and over a career this will add up to a few hundred thousand dollars. This is no longer correct. You must re-certify every five years and will only receive Language Incentive Pay (LIP) while posted to a country where the language in question is a primary or primary-alternate language. The money is nice, though. quote:Apparently a lot of FSOs have trouble leading moderate lives when they aren't getting the official luxury treatment, and consequently they retire pretty much broke. If you're smart with your expenses, savings, and investments, though, you can retire with a few million dollars in the bank. These days, most of the FSOs I know retire with nice nest eggs, especially if they have purchased a house or houses and had renters pay their mortgages while serving overseas. The retirement plan, too, is quite good. He is right that if you are smart with your money you can do well for yourself. quote:State is a very conservative organization, so do not go in thinking that you are going to shake things up. Being outspoken will get you nailed as being a hotshot. Pretty much true, but things are changing slowly. quote:Your reputation is everything and should be protected carefully. It's a very small and insular community, and pretty much everyone will at least know your name if you're in the community for long. Getting that sweet post in a nice country may come down to someone recognizing your name and recalling something that a colleague said about you. This. This. A thousand times, this. quote:Certain regions are known for certain styles. The work in Europe is boring, but life is nice. Latin America is like Latin America... a little but there's still action. The Far East is serious business. Africa is a dead-end shithole both professionally and personally. This is way too broad, but I like it (lots of FS folks would disagree, though). And it is also one reason why I am in East Asia!
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Sep 10, 2009 10:30
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SWATJester posted:poo poo, nothing yet from ACT about dates or sitting for the test, is this bad? I heard or read somewhere that they're staggering test seat invitations throughtout the month of September so I wouldn't panic just yet, but you could always give ACT a call and see what is up, right?
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Sep 10, 2009 15:41
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Gravel Gravy posted:Also, should I start cleaning up my Facebook account now? Have some photos in Russia and some of them are less than professional. How about you (and everyone else in the drat world) just realize that Facebook is for you and your friends only and set everything to private so nobody can look at your poo poo without being your friend, or tag you in poo poo without your permission? It takes 5 minutes to do and I am absolutely baffled as to why people do not do it. I'm a professional, but I like to party and I like Facebook too. There's no reason to "clean up" your Facebook as long as it is set to highest privacy settings and your default photo isn't of you puking while riding backwards on a donkey. I'm of the belief that work life and private life are separate worlds and what I do on my off time (provided it's not illegal or unsavory, and I'm not going around saying I represent my employer) is none of my employer's business. Unfortunately, potential employers don't seem to understand those boundaries and will try to get all up in your Facebook. You should do what you can to prevent it though. I didn't mean this to be an angry diatribe but I hate how you have to pretend you're some sort of robot to get a job these days. Defleshed fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Sep 10, 2009 |
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Sep 10, 2009 15:45
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Smeef posted:Africa is a dead-end shithole both professionally and personally. I am just curious how true this is? It saddens me to hear it because I wanted to be in Africa, at least for a while. Either the North or sub-Sahara. If I went there and ended up not liking it personally thats one thing, but it really suck if it also meant career issues. I also want to 2nd Defleshed's comments on social networking sites. I really wish employers didn't use them to weed people out, but they do and all you can do is protect yourself with privacy settings. What these sites really need to do is have new users start with the highest privacy settings and then have them downgrade them on their own, instead of leaving things more or less open on sign up like they do now. For the time being just think of it as an extra step in the super fun process of searching for employment.
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Sep 10, 2009 16:46
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nesbit37 posted:I am just curious how true this is? If you want to go to Africa, that shouldn't be a problem. An Africa-focused career could be a shortcut to an ambassadorship; there are not too many political appointees clamoring to go to Africa. And there are lots of opportunities to work above one's grade in the Bureau of African Affairs (AF), whether overseas or in Washington. Personally, you couldn't pay me enough to take my family to Africa. But people do. Do keep in mind that Egypt and the Maghreb are part of the Near East bureau, not AF.
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Sep 10, 2009 17:27
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Defleshed posted:How about you (and everyone else in the drat world) just realize that Facebook is for you and your friends only and set everything to private so nobody can look at your poo poo without being your friend, or tag you in poo poo without your permission? It takes 5 minutes to do and I am absolutely baffled as to why people do not do it. I'm a professional, but I like to party and I like Facebook too. There's no reason to "clean up" your Facebook as long as it is set to highest privacy settings and your default photo isn't of you puking while riding backwards on a donkey. I do have it set to private, but last year I was applying for an internship with a different agency. It was highly recommended that we applicants do clean it up, suggesting that they had ways around it. Maybe they were bullshitting, maybe not. Edit: Sweet, just got approved for the test. Gin and Juche fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Sep 10, 2009 |
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Sep 10, 2009 18:32
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That makes sense with the bureaus. I figured Egypt was in Near East but was not positive about the Maghreb. Algeria is where I have the most interest in the North, but I am getting way ahead of myself. Lets see how all the test and other processes go.
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Sep 10, 2009 18:39
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Business of Ferrets posted:If you want to go to Africa, that shouldn't be a problem. An Africa-focused career could be a shortcut to an ambassadorship; there are not too many political appointees clamoring to go to Africa. And there are lots of opportunities to work above one's grade in the Bureau of African Affairs (AF), whether overseas or in Washington. What do they even mean then by "bad for your career" It sounds like Africa is where you want to work, there are some big benefits to your career.
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Sep 10, 2009 20:12
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Smeef said "Africa is a dead-end shithole ... professionally..." so I took that mean you go to Africa you advance slower or something along those lines.
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Sep 10, 2009 22:08
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There's nothing wrong with being posted in Africa professionally. I have never been aware of any AF bureau stigma or anything along those lines.
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Sep 11, 2009 01:19
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I think probably the retiree was just trying to convince Smeef not to go to Africa. I have heard that the AF bureau is one of the worst-managed of the geographic bureaus, but I didn't hear it from anyone who had worked there, so I can't say if that is true or not.
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Sep 11, 2009 04:43
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Hi everyone, just dropped in to say that I'm taking the test next month and I'm aware that the process is very hit or miss. I had a back up plan of going to South Korea to teach English/learn Korean. Is there any problem with security clearance if I do live in South Korea for a couple years?
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Sep 11, 2009 07:56
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Shouldn't be a problem. Just try to stay out of North Korea.
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Sep 11, 2009 08:03
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I've recently become a bit interested in the Foreign Service, and I want to know how much my language skills would help a potential application. I'm a senior in college, and thanks to a high school AP class, I have the equivalent of 1 year of high school Spanish. Granted, I haven't really spoken Spanish in four years. Additionally, my school offers a only a year's worth of Arabic classes, which I'm enrolled in right now. Is an elementary understanding and command of these two languages worth anything?
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Sep 11, 2009 23:30
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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.
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Sep 14, 2009 16:44
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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. This is what really sucks about the QEP. There is no feedback whatsoever. FSOT has score breakdowns. With the FSOA you at least have a feeling for how you've performed in each section. With the QEP it could be because your roommate put an ASCII cock at the bottom of your personal essay, and you'd never know.
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Sep 14, 2009 16:49
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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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I got my invitation to the Oral Exam today. I guess they didn't hold my P/N story, of getting arrested in China and then talking myself back to freedom, against me.
xanthig fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Sep 15, 2009 |
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Sep 15, 2009 02:21
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