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qwertyman posted:I just passed the FSOA. Maybe there will be a new diplogoon in the near to mid-term future! Now time for the awkward clearing process and maybe the double-awkward interview with the current office! Grats! We've touched a bit on this already, but can anyone weigh in on how best to work with CDOs (other than the obvious - be candid, show dedication, etc)? I'd absolutely go anywhere, but I'd prefer to knock out some language training now so that my wife can finish out a 1 year contract here in DC. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this kind of hope. Is it worth bringing up and attempting to work around? e: I'm terrible at reading -- double grats! The Mantis fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Jun 10, 2014 |
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Jun 9, 2014 21:30
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I have a quick question: On the application I filled out in anticipation of taking the FSOT, I noticed that it was missing a language catagory for American Sign Language. Or, any sign language, really! I thought this was kind of strange, because one of the test questions in the practice FSOT was editing a paragraph about a US Deaf Interpreter! So is sign language considered a foreign language by the US Foreign Service? I realize ASL may not exactly be spoken worldwide, but there's deaf people in every country, and most of them use some form of sign language. Just wondering if this is something I should stress as one of my strengths, or something that nobody will give a poo poo about.
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Jun 10, 2014 00:02
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The Mantis posted:Grats! I'm sure I or someone else would be happy to read over your PNQs as you move forward. For CDO's, being polite/respectful & following protocol is probably what they want to see. You may want to consider revising your bid list so there is a country with language training? Doesn't hurt to try. Captain Bravo posted:I have a quick question: On the application I filled out in anticipation of taking the FSOT, I noticed that it was missing a language catagory for American Sign Language. Or, any sign language, really! I thought this was kind of strange, because one of the test questions in the practice FSOT was editing a paragraph about a US Deaf Interpreter! So is sign language considered a foreign language by the US Foreign Service? I realize ASL may not exactly be spoken worldwide, but there's deaf people in every country, and most of them use some form of sign language. Just wondering if this is something I should stress as one of my strengths, or something that nobody will give a poo poo about. To answer, no. ASL is not considered a foreign language by FSI. You will not get points for it. Additionally I understand that each sign language has their own rules/grammar/syntaxes, let alone regional dialects, it gets confusing... You can however use your experience as a way to demonstrate overcoming communication obstacles, planning, or multicultural diversity. There are a few deaf FSO's. One guy has an interpreter with him.
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Jun 10, 2014 03:04
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Skandiaavity posted:To answer, no. ASL is not considered a foreign language by FSI. You will not get points for it. Additionally I understand that each sign language has their own rules/grammar/syntaxes, let alone regional dialects, it gets confusing... You can however use your experience as a way to demonstrate overcoming communication obstacles, planning, or multicultural diversity. Haha, yeah. Even within the US, ASL has different "accents" as you travel around the country, with signs meaning different things in different places. Oh well, at least je parle un petite peu de francais!
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Jun 10, 2014 10:07
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The Mantis posted:Grats! I'm sure I or someone else would be happy to read over your PNQs as you move forward. I think he actually passed the Oral Assessment, so he may be getting his medical and security clearances taken care of. In that case, those PNs are long gone. Congratulations! Seems like the registers are getting a little shorter, so your timing looks great!
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Jun 10, 2014 14:00
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zzonkmiles posted:I think he actually passed the Oral Assessment, so he may be getting his medical and security clearances taken care of. In that case, those PNs are long gone. Thanks, I did indeed pass the OA yesterday with a 5.6, which I hope will be good to get me called in the consular cone. I am nervous about having my current office called in the background check, especially if it takes a year or more (or never!) to get the A-100 invite. Any advice as to how this works?
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Jun 10, 2014 19:05
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I'm on the outside looking in, but from what I've heard, you can feel pretty confident with a 5.6 in consular as opposed to political or public diplomacy. You might not be invited to the very next A-100 class, but at least one class. I heard that with the May A-100, they dipped into the consular 5.5s to fill the remaining available class slots. Also, with language bonus points, I'd imagine you'd be a shoe-in. But remember, I am not on the register (didn't pass the OA). There is another Yahoo group for people who passed the OA and there is a shadow register there.
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Jun 10, 2014 19:18
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The Mantis posted:We've touched a bit on this already, but can anyone weigh in on how best to work with CDOs (other than the obvious - be candid, show dedication, etc)? I'd absolutely go anywhere, but I'd prefer to knock out some language training now so that my wife can finish out a 1 year contract here in DC. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this kind of hope. Is it worth bringing up and attempting to work around? As was said, be honest and open about what you want and why. That being said, CDOs are each different, and some are more open/understanding than others. Mine was great and really listened to me and helped guide me into creating a consistent bid list. Others from my class felt like their CDOs were trying to strong-arm them into high-bidding posts they really didn't want.
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Jun 10, 2014 21:04
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Today was a good day.
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Jun 17, 2014 21:56
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TCD posted:Today was a good day. Nice. I was thinking about you today and wondering what you are up to. Shoot me an email some time.
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Jun 17, 2014 22:06
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TCD posted:Today was a good day. I agree--with a vengeance.
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Jun 18, 2014 02:08
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 Yes, it was.
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Jun 18, 2014 05:52
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Yeah we definitely had some champagne in my office yesterday.
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Jun 18, 2014 12:27
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I've been remiss in coming back to this thread; I know I promised Skandiaavity I'd come back in with an update when I got out to post. They put me (and several other interns) up at seafront. Loving it, and quite enjoying embassy work so far at least. My section have all been really welcoming, which was better than I had hoped.
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Jun 18, 2014 15:11
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Well, took the test today. There were only a few questions in the job knowledge I wasn't comfortable with. I'm stressing out about the biographical personality section though- do they try to match that up with your candidate profile to trap you?
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Jun 18, 2014 21:25
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gently caress and hellfire. With three minutes left in the written essay portion of the exam, a raging storm outside caused the power to blink out. It blinked on again almost as fast, but the test folks had to restart all our machines and our tests, individually. Not to worry! they said, your exams will be saved where they were left off. When it came to restarting my computer and getting the test up, it turns out they were only half right. The exam had saved the three minutes remaining in the written essay portion of the test. The exam hadn't saved anything I actually wrote. I frantically summed up everything I'd written in a few sentences and tried to get the test center folks to freeze my test or something, but by the time they got at my test again the time had run out. They couldn't add time to it once it was over, and now I've got an IR number and a load of anxiety to deal with.
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Jun 18, 2014 22:32
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I'm sorry to hear that. The testing center I was at had a similar problem where half the essays deleted them self's. I was lucky and was on a computer that didn't have troubles. The exam proctor didn't think the software saved any of the essay unless the time ran out or the end button was pressed, and that would be awful if true.
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Jun 19, 2014 00:30
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Ofaloaf posted:gently caress and hellfire. Oh that is some grade-A bullshit. I am so sorry! I don't know how it is with Pearson's, but from what I recall in training to administer the ACT one at post, it seems likely you'll be able to retest as soon as possible.
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Jun 19, 2014 00:31
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So I've got two days left until my exam, and it's time to cram. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should use as study material?
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Jun 19, 2014 00:39
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Unknownmass posted:I'm sorry to hear that. The testing center I was at had a similar problem where half the essays deleted them self's. I was lucky and was on a computer that didn't have troubles. The exam proctor didn't think the software saved any of the essay unless the time ran out or the end button was pressed, and that would be awful if true. the_chavi posted:Oh that is some grade-A bullshit. I am so sorry! I don't know how it is with Pearson's, but from what I recall in training to administer the ACT one at post, it seems likely you'll be able to retest as soon as possible. Captain Bravo posted:So I've got two days left until my exam, and it's time to cram. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should use as study material?
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Jun 19, 2014 01:36
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Ofaloaf posted:Don't stress too much in the leadup to the exam, first off. If you got the proper study guide (or even a slightly old one), that's a pretty solid thing to work with. After doing a year of substitute teaching, I almost want to say that a high school civics textbook would do the job, but that sounds rather flippant. Yeah, the study guide! That thing... that I got...  Is the study guide something you download, like for free? Or something you pay for, and therefore, is for people who aren't poor.
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Jun 19, 2014 01:38
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Captain Bravo posted:Is the study guide something you download, like for free? Or something you pay for, and therefore, is for people who aren't poor. I dunno, the basic thing is to know about international organizations like OPEC, WTO, IMF, that sort of thing, be able to identify what amendment is what (except they never ask about stuff like the 12th amendment or the 25th or whatever), know a little geography, and some math stuff (if I offer a 20% discount on goods worth $500 total and a 33% discount on goods worth $120, how much would you pay if you bought everything?) Ofaloaf fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Jun 19, 2014 |
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Jun 19, 2014 01:56
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I'm fairly confident, since I did really well on the Practice FSOT, but I was still hoping there were online materials I could study to clinch that good score. Oh well!
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Jun 19, 2014 02:58
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I would also practice writing very short responses, or pretty much tweets. Getting under 200 characters can be difficult when timed and stressed.
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Jun 19, 2014 04:57
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Ofaloaf posted:gently caress and hellfire. I got you. I had a similar experience. In the moment it's the worst. But trust me, you'll be fine, it's not worth your anxiety. The administering company will handle it all. Just be sure to keep your incident/case number and follow up. They'll likely provide you access to the next window. Because it's so far on the front end, State/FS doesn't play a role. My timer (and eventually, my entire computer) froze during the CR last Feb (2013). I flagged the proctor, who, after assessing the situation, loudly whispered "please don't freak out." He hard restarted my computer (lol ctrl-alt-del enabled), which submitted an unedited, unfinished trash version of my essay. I just spoke with them after and made sure they filed a report. Essentially if you don't pass, they should allow you to re-test. Definitely stressful, but if you do your due diligence you'll be cake. I ended up retaking in the next widow (June 2013). Best part was receiving my score: 187 overall 2 on the essay 
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Jun 19, 2014 07:46
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Captain Bravo posted:So I've got two days left until my exam, and it's time to cram. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should use as study material? Study geography, management psychology, American history, technology for dummies, basic economics, and English grammar. Many people stress out over the FSOT, especially if it's their first attempt. Really, this test weeds out people who probably have no business being an FSO because they don't know enough about the world. If you were able to find this particular thread, that tells me you are probably committed and knowledgeable enough to do just fine. Remember that you don't have to pass all three sections in order to pass the test. So you can bomb one section and do really well on the others and still pass.
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Jun 19, 2014 14:13
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Took my test today which is my second attempt at all this. I feel surprisingly ambivalent about it. Not so sure if I'll crush the essay portion as well as I did last time which is bugging me. There is a free app on Android called FSOT Practice that sorts practice questions by category. The questions are not like what you'd get on the test but the material covered overlaps so it is still helpful. Not a back way to spend random downtime -I clicked through it while watching World Cup matches. Good luck everyone and see you soon to stress out over the PNQs.
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Jun 19, 2014 16:40
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Anyone else had hilariously long waits for clearances? I went through my interviews for my TS in March of 2013 and I've still heard nothing. I think I hit the sweet spot with the Snowden leaks, the Navy Yard Shooting, and the shutdown.
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Jun 19, 2014 18:40
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Ofaloaf so sorry you went through that. Sounds extremely stressful. I hope they can do something to fix the situation. I just did the FSOT again too.. It seemed harder to me than last year but maybe that was just my perception. I agree that the state dept app is really good for study questions. I also read the Economist and NY Times and a lot of the materials on the yahoo board.
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Jun 19, 2014 19:23
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Pearson customer service isn't so bad, at least. There's separate customer service numbers for every test they offer, but at least that information is all listed on one page. Wait time on the phone was less than a minute, and the rep I talked to was courteous, apologized when I had to be put on hold while she talked to supervisors, and very plainly explained the process for everything. Investigating an incident and determining what to do takes 3-5 business days, and then they'll formally notify the aggrieved party of what's what. Still, she looked over the incident report while we were talking and it seemed clear to her that I wasn't at fault. Sounds like this'll get fixed up alright, so  e: spell gud Ofaloaf fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Jun 19, 2014 |
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Jun 19, 2014 20:38
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Ofaloaf posted:Pearson customer service isn't so bad, at least. There's separate customer service numbers for every test they offer, but at least that information is all listed on one page. Wait time on the phone was less than a minute, and the rep I talked to was courteous, apologized when I had to be put on hold while she talked to supervisors, and very plainly explained the process for everything. Investigating an incident and determining what to do takes 3-5 business day, and then they'll formally notify the aggrieved party of what's what. Sucks that you'll have to wait another few months to take the test again, but that's better than waiting another year.
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Jun 19, 2014 20:48
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CronoGamer posted:I've been remiss in coming back to this thread; I know I promised Skandiaavity I'd come back in with an update when I got out to post. They put me (and several other interns) up at seafront. Loving it, and quite enjoying embassy work so far at least. My section have all been really welcoming, which was better than I had hoped. Oh, you arrived already? Congrats. Seafront can be a little rough in a different way. I wont be in until this afternoon, but hit me up later. I'm on the same floor as you if you're in POL. 
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Jun 20, 2014 01:20
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Stolennosferatu posted:Sucks that you'll have to wait another few months to take the test again, but that's better than waiting another year. I hope this gets resolved in your favor too. Screw technology. But if you do get to take the test again in October, then I'll have someone in my cohort I can rant with. 
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Jun 20, 2014 13:20
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Well, Embassy Nairobi is now on "temporary relocation" (aka "ghetto departure").
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Jun 20, 2014 15:38
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Well FACT exceeded expectations. There were times I kept thinking I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this, especially the driving part. The Embassy scenario Friday is intense, I still have blood (fake) all over my hands/face. Serious respect for the DS men and women at HT posts, the training we get is cursory compared to the training/hard job they prepare for.
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Jun 20, 2014 22:55
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problematique posted:Well FACT exceeded expectations. There were times I kept thinking I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this, especially the driving part. The Embassy scenario Friday is intense, I still have blood (fake) all over my hands/face. Serious respect for the DS men and women at HT posts, the training we get is cursory compared to the training/hard job they prepare for. Remind me again where you're going?
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Jun 21, 2014 00:07
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the_chavi posted:Remind me again where you're going? If I remember right Harare...
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Jun 21, 2014 00:50
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Test over! Now to wait on the results... I think I did pretty well, spaced on some of the international policy questions, but nailed the English and writing portion! The next step is the Personal Narrative, right? How long will it take to find out whether I am through to that step? Is it just the 3-5 week estimate they gave me to grade my exam?
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Jun 21, 2014 02:59
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Captain Bravo posted:Test over! Now to wait on the results... I think I did pretty well, spaced on some of the international policy questions, but nailed the English and writing portion! The next step is the Personal Narrative, right? How long will it take to find out whether I am through to that step? Is it just the 3-5 week estimate they gave me to grade my exam? Thereabouts. Last year I took the exam on June 8th and got the results back on July 2nd. Previously the test had been administered by ACT though, so maybe times will vary a bit this year. Dunno for sure. 
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Jun 21, 2014 03:37
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I think State made a mistake by changing from ACT to Pearson. The computers at my center were very slow. I had to click a few times to move from one question to another. In the English portion, the window would refresh (very slowly) with every question and send me to the top, so I had to scroll down every time, again slowing me down. I do have to say, test takers are wonderful! I didn't have earplugs so I was afraid there would be noise, but it was super quiet. Thank you!!
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Jun 21, 2014 16:54
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