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problematique posted:Flag Day results: heading to Harare, Zimbabwe!!!!!!!! Congrats!
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Feb 26, 2014 05:36
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Stolennosferatu posted:I got booted in the QEP last year as well. What are you doing to prepare? I think I will rewrite last year's PNQs before I take this year's test. I'm taking steps to improve the overall package but as far as the written test is concerned, I'm doing this: 1. General knowledge weaknesses - As identified by the "DOScareers" app. They have a few hundred retired test questions within the app, spread out across 8 general subjects. If you go through them you can identify your weak subjects. I know what mine are so I'm putting in study time to try to close the gaps. Basically, this involves reading and working practice problems from cliffs notes, dummies, and AP books that I've collected. I'm fairly certain that I can raise my relative score ranking for next year. My only concern is that there is no real info on how much weight the QEP panel puts on the test scores. From FOIA discussions I've seen on the yahoo group, your FSOT results are scored in some way and included in the final tally, but no one really knows what formula and weights they are using to come up with the final results. Hopefully I'm not wasting my time trying to get a higher score on the written test. 2. Bio Section -I'm keeping a diary (seriously - also for my resume and the next QEP) - keeping better track of events and professional development activities I'm doing. 3. Essay - This section almost knocked me out of the running last time. My score was terrible and I just barely moved on. To improve, I've joined some of the essay study groups from the yahoo group and making more of an effort to do timed practice sessions. I hope to bag a 10 or higher in the next test. 4. QEP - I have no doubt that I'll pass the test again so I'm planning to start writing my QEP essays about a month before taking the test. I want to give myself plenty of time to work on these and not rush them at the last minute like I did last cycle. I'll also bring in more trusted people to review them. I just hope State doesn't decide to switch up the questions next year.
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Feb 26, 2014 07:27
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Just got my FSOT results. Passed!!
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Feb 27, 2014 19:26
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lushka16 posted:Just got my FSOT results. Passed!!
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Feb 27, 2014 19:31
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Passed as well! Are scores ok to discuss?
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Feb 27, 2014 21:32
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I've seen many people before post their FSOT results all over the internet and assume that is something acceptable to share. I'm a first time test taker and was shocked to learn that I actually passed with a 156! I was certain I bombed the essay, however I got an 8 (compared to my fiance's 7 when he thought he did amazing). So it's on to the PNQs... which have me terrified :/ Any advice from previous applicants? (Edited for misspellings... darn old laptop!)
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Feb 27, 2014 21:43
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vegaji posted:Congrats! I did too! I decided on a whim to try the test a few weeks back, and now I have to think for a week or so for my personal narrative answers and how to formulate them. Thanks! Same here, I did it on a whim. Pleasant little surprise today. What's the max score on the non essay parts?
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Feb 27, 2014 22:43
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lushka16 posted:Thanks! Same here, I did it on a whim. Pleasant little surprise today. Each component is given a T-score. Basically the range should be from 50-85 or so. The higher you are, the higher you are compared to everyone else. An 80 would mean you pretty much scored higher than everyone else. A score in the 50s would mean you were rather average. You can google T scores for more specific info.
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Feb 28, 2014 01:15
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Eked by with a 165 (55's across), and got a 10 on the essay. I'm glad I studied for the general knowledge section and essay, I probably would have done poorly without reviewing a bunch of the areas I wasn't familiar with. Edit: Redacted some stuff S w a y z e fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Feb 28, 2014 |
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Feb 28, 2014 01:51
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dylguy90 posted:Eked by with a 165 (55's across), and got a 10 on the essay. I'm glad I studied for the general knowledge section and essay, I probably would have done poorly without reviewing a bunch of the areas I wasn't familiar with. A 10 is impressive. I got a 6 last year  .
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Feb 28, 2014 02:53
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dylguy90 posted:Passed as well! Are scores ok to discuss? Scores are fine but IIRC specific questions, etc are not.
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Feb 28, 2014 03:32
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Congrats problematique! And everyone else who passed their things as well!
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Feb 28, 2014 08:49
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Stopped by the breakfast table today to say congrats in person, problematique, but couldn't find you. Probably annoyed your classmates quite a bit though, especially since I initially thought you were going to Kazahkstan. Congrats, regardless!
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Feb 28, 2014 14:36
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problematique posted:Flag Day results: heading to Harare, Zimbabwe!!!!!!!! Awesome! I'm right next door in Malawi. A lot of the offices at your post provide services for us so maybe we'll cross paths at some point.
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Feb 28, 2014 20:47
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Would any kind souls be interested in reviewing my Statement of Purpose for a Fall Internship? Tha nks!
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Feb 28, 2014 23:20
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Congrats on everyone who passed! Look forward/hope to work with you all soon! On an unrelated note, can anyone recommend a decent non dive/non-sports bar type place that is either in Alexandria or fairly close by and metro accessible? I'm starting to get cabin fever.
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Feb 28, 2014 23:29
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McCallans I think is the nicer of the two Irish bars on King. The other is Murphys. Flying Fish has sushi and karaoke some nights. I don't go to Old Town much, sorry, maybe someone else will have better suggestions.
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Feb 28, 2014 23:50
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Gravel Gravy posted:Congrats on everyone who passed! Look forward/hope to work with you all soon! Ray's the Steaks (has a bar in it; Also the old location/Rays THe Burgers or whatever has a bar nearby it too!), Northside Social (warning: hipsters but its very good), Spider Kelly's, plenty of place is on H St; a few more in georgetown if you don't mind walking a km from GWU station. Both K St and Clarendon station has a bunch more that are often-filled by es muy federales. Or you can make it to eastern market. It has been awhile since I've been in DC, so I don't know if the old haunts are still around. But those should be good starting places!
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Mar 1, 2014 06:46
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Skandiaavity posted:Ray's the Steaks (has a bar in it; Also the old location/Rays THe Burgers or whatever has a bar nearby it too!), Northside Social (warning: hipsters but its very good), Spider Kelly's, plenty of place is on H St; a few more in georgetown if you don't mind walking a km from GWU station. I haven't really been to Arlington though it looks like I should probably ditch the metro and take the car. Seems to be a good number of restaurants on the corner of Washington Blvd. and Clarendon, think that's where I'll try to go. Bet parking is gonna suck. Appreciate it. Gin and Juche fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Mar 1, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2014 15:02
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Nutrimentia posted:Stopped by the breakfast table today to say congrats in person, problematique, but couldn't find you. Probably annoyed your classmates quite a bit though, especially since I initially thought you were going to Kazahkstan. Congrats, regardless! Sorry, I wasn't around breakfast that day! What are you at FSI for? I just PM'd you my name in the GAL. Bruxism posted:Awesome! I'm right next door in Malawi. A lot of the offices at your post provide services for us so maybe we'll cross paths at some point. Did not know Harare did that, assumed Joburg/Pretoria was the big regional hub for services. How much longer are you in Malawi? I just PM'd you my name as well. edit: Which one of you goons is actually in DC right now, or plans to be this summer? I just realized I've never actually met anyone in person. Maybe an update of page 1 is in order. problematique fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Mar 1, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2014 17:53
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Gravel Gravy posted:I haven't really been to Arlington though it looks like I should probably ditch the metro and take the car. Every place he listed is within walking distance of a metro stop.
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Mar 1, 2014 18:30
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problematique posted:Sorry, I wasn't around breakfast that day! What are you at FSI for? I just PM'd you my name in the GAL. I'm in DC but don't add me to any list. Until I get a more permanent position, anyway. psydude posted:Every place he listed is within walking distance of a metro stop. I'm aware of that. But I live in a part of Alexandria where it would make more sense to drive there as opposed to driving to Huntington, parking, waiting 20 mins for a train, riding it all the way to Rosslyn, and then back down Orange. Never mind taking the metro back at night when they have fewer trains running. Wasn't trying to be an rear end, I did appreciate the advice. I was considering going to downtown DC, I didn't actually consider Arlington.
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Mar 1, 2014 18:39
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There's a lot of great stuff in Arlington! Lots to do in the Clarendon/Court House area.
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Mar 1, 2014 20:12
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Tyro posted:There's a lot of great stuff in Arlington! Lots to do in the Clarendon/Court House area. Yeah, there's a lot between Ballston and Courthouse.
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Mar 1, 2014 21:18
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problematique posted:edit: Which one of you goons is actually in DC right now, or plans to be this summer? I just realized I've never actually met anyone in person. Maybe an update of page 1 is in order. I'm here!
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Mar 2, 2014 00:14
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javacup1107 posted:So it's on to the PNQs... which have me terrified :/ I'm no expert: my experience consists of going through the FSO application twice and getting through it both times. (I wanted to have a second candidacy on the register in case my first candidacy expired.) So, taking my limited experience into account, here's my advice for the PNQs: If there's a substantive knowledge question, where they ask why you're right for the track you picked, look at the places in the State Department materials where they explain the duties of that track. They highlight different aspects in different materials, so look at all of those descriptions. Then, put together a very concise paragraph or two, where you do one of those professional "Tell me about yourself" spiels, highlighting your accomplishments and experiences--but selecting particular ones that are pretty much the same as or parallel to characteristics or skills required for the duties of the track you picked. If there are parts of the track's duties where you don't have as much experience, you can say something about how you're eager to do more of those kinds of activities. I found it useful to then close out this response by explicitly saying the track would be an optimal fit, given the accomplishments/skills/interests that I'd highlighted. For answering the other questions, I made sure to follow the STAR advice that career-counselor types put out: https://www.google.com/search?q=situation+task+action+result I made myself think up all kinds of situations where I would be able to argue, without having to provide a lot of background detail, that I personally made something good happen by using the kind of skills they're asking about. I made myself get over feeling icky about bragging about myself or making a big deal out a situation that wasn't earth-shattering: the situation doesn't need to be earth-shattering, and you do need to brag about yourself (albeit without being arrogant). For example, for one of my stories, I just talked about how I fulfilled a particular class assignment. For another, I talked about how I organized a study group and got people to participate. I just made sure the stories were ones where I played the main role and things turned out well, and then I made sure to tell the stories in a way that made it clear how I used the skills to get a positive result. Once I figured out which stories I would use--and they had to be ones where I could list a verifier who wasn't a family member--I wrote them up using a guide to help me figure out what words to use and how to pick exactly which aspects of my behavior and the situation to highlight. The guide I used was the chart that begins on page 46 of this PDF: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/89591.pdf It details the ways in which Foreign Service Officers are supposed to demonstrate Intellectual, Interpersonal, Communication, Management, and Leadership Skills. Where there was space for me to also show for the question on, say, Management Skills, that in the course of being awesome at the Management thing they asked about, I also showed some leadership and good communication skills, I'd throw that in as well, but made sure it wasn't at the expense of talking about what the specific question was asking for. Then I just went through my responses and worked on really tightening them up. In case you're worried about the character limits: I did use abbreviations in a particular way. In my response to the first question, for example, I mentioned the full name of an organization where I work and the full subject area I worked on. After each of those things, I put the initials that are commonly used as abbreviations for them in parentheses, and then used the abbreviations for all the responses thereafter. Also, I'm sure it's better to avoid this, but I did let myself use ampersands in cases where I had a list of things that included a compound item on the list (e.g., "we had pancakes & syrup, bacon & eggs and orange juice"). I also didn't use the Oxford comma and made sure not to double-space between sentences. Of course, any advice here is superseded by what the PNQ directions tell you to do. Make sure you answer the questions they give you and follow all their instructions. [edited to fix at least one typo] Shotar-Didi fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Mar 2, 2014 |
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Mar 2, 2014 02:39
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problematique posted:Did not know Harare did that, assumed Joburg/Pretoria was the big regional hub for services. How much longer are you in Malawi? I just PM'd you my name as well. Our DAT and HR Officer roll out of Harare. We borrow people from all the neighboring posts, actually.
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Mar 2, 2014 23:11
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A hearty gently caress you to all the posters here. I finally registered an account and hope to become a regular poster here. Actually, that all depends on how things go with my OA (which got postponed because of the snow in Washington). So yeah, this is my third time applying for the Foreign Service, but my first time making it to the OAs. Last year and the year before, I got gently caressed in the QEP stage. I REALLY don't want to go through this process again, so I hope things go well--whenever my OA is rescheduled. Right now I am stranded in my $250/night hotel room while the government is shut down. It has been snowing heavily ALL LOVING DAY. Hopefully the BEX assessors will take pity on us when we show up to the assessment (hopefully tomorrow) frazzled and visibly uncomfortable. Oh, and a big thanks to all of the posters here. It took several days, but I finally read through all 219 pages of this thread. This job sounds so exciting and unique. Anyway, I'm happy to be a goon! Now I just hope to become an FS goon!
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Mar 3, 2014 19:25
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Welcome aboard  Now that you're a real life forums member and Lowtax has your tenbux, you can use the big boy and big girl words. I remember shortly after I registered, because I had been lurking, my mind wanted to substitute in the filter words too. Crummy timing with the snow! Good luck at the OA.
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Mar 3, 2014 19:36
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Shotar-Didi posted:I'm no expert: my experience consists of going through the FSO application twice and getting through it both times. (I wanted to have a second candidacy on the register in case my first candidacy expired.) Thanks so much for this! Since the PNQs are so competitive, it's hard to get anyone to talk about this, but it really helps me out. Not having something to go off of is hard for me and this definitely helps
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Mar 3, 2014 21:07
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javacup1107 posted:Thanks so much for this! Since the PNQs are so competitive, it's hard to get anyone to talk about this, but it really helps me out. Not having something to go off of is hard for me and this definitely helps I'm also thankful for your insight, I'll be keeping this in mind when I face the PNQs.
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Mar 3, 2014 22:23
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Thanks for the welcome, Tyro. Looks like I can take the OA tomorrow as long as the government is not closed. I see a bunch of snowplows cleaning the roads, so hopefully tomorrow the government will be open or on a 2-hour delay. I am ready to get this over and done with. I am pretty optimistic about my chances. I have been participating in a weekly study group since early February and I have read a lot of blogs about what to expect. I attempted all my practice case exercises in 60 minutes as well. It's too bad that almost everyone else from my study group will be taking the OA on a different day because of today's cancellation, but oh well. I'll let you know how it goes. Also, I thought using "loving" and "gently caress" was the standard way of talking here. I thought it was pretty entertaining.
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Mar 4, 2014 00:37
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zzonkmiles posted:
 It's also not normal Dept. talk either 
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Mar 4, 2014 01:29
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zzonkmiles posted:Also, I thought using "loving" and "gently caress" was the standard way of talking here. I thought it was pretty entertaining. No worries, like I said, I did too at first. I still sometimes do it in my head for laughs. This is the site to check for the status in case you don't already have it: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/snow-dismissal-procedures/current-status/
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Mar 4, 2014 03:15
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Tyro posted:
Just turned up 2 hour delay tomorrow.
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Mar 4, 2014 04:00
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Shotar-Didi posted:I'm no expert: my experience consists of going through the FSO application twice and getting through it both times. (I wanted to have a second candidacy on the register in case my first candidacy expired.) Also wanted to throw in my thanks for this. Really helpful And welcome new guy! It's admirable that you became a goon for this thread - I did it to play EVE.
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Mar 4, 2014 08:44
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zzonkmiles posted:Also, I thought using "loving" and "gently caress" was the standard way of talking here. I thought it was pretty entertaining. Nope, it's an auto-filter for people without accounts, and people will sometimes jump on you for using it once you're registered. SA is a great community, just proceed slowly and you'll be fine.
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Mar 4, 2014 10:03
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 Hi OMS, yes I know your husband works in IT. Yes, when I say log off/log on, I really mean log off/on now. It doesn't matter that you did it two hours ago - it matters if you did it after I asked you try this to fix the problem. Annnnnd it works now.
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Mar 4, 2014 11:47
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Best one I ever heard was "I set up a wireless router at home. This can't be that difficult" from a high-ranking person while we were designing the campus-wide wireless network at FSI.
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Mar 4, 2014 11:54
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Wow, gently caress my former boss. Thanks for welping $20 million in investment because you have a grudge against me.
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Mar 4, 2014 18:38
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