Sunday, November 16, 2014

The QEP Awaits

After maybe seven rounds of edits and a bit of starting from scratch, my PNs have finally been submitted to the QEP for review. I don't even want to look at those six narratives anymore. One part of me is sick of reading those things and combing over every word, every comma, and every other semantic option I came across. Another part of me is too scared to look back at those things because I fear I may catch an error that I had failed to catch in all of my previous rounds of proofreading. Maybe that's just a random streak of OCD wreaking havoc on my psyche. But it doesn't matter. Everything's out of my hands now.

There are six PNs that candidates have to write. The prompts for five of the PNs were the same as last year's. The sixth one was like the one that was given last year, but it had an addition. Instead of simply addressing why you chose your specific career track, you had to address "what you brought" to that track. So that PN required a substantial rewrite.

Unlike previous years, I had a few other candidates look over my PNs. And to tell the truth, I'm very glad I did. They picked up on little things to make my writing stronger and found ways for me to economize my speech. Even though my academic training may be in mass communications and my professional background is in TESOL, I was amazed by how much the other candidates were able to improve my writing. I am beyond grateful for their assistance and hope that I was able to help them strengthen their own PNs as well.

One of the more common complaints I hear from people who receive bad news regarding their QEP results is that "they had really high test scores" or "really good narratives." While that can indeed be frustrating (especially with a lack of feedback), I think a lot of candidates fail to remember that the QEP is not simply an FSOT score review or a PN review, but rather a "total candidate" review. So the BEX will look at your FSOT scores, your FSOT essay, your PNs, your self-declared foreign language abilities, your work history, your academic background, your special skills/awards/decorations, your affiliations/organizations, State's hiring projections and State's anticipated need for new FSOs in your particular career track.

What does this mean? Well, for one thing, it can mean that all sorts of purportedly well qualified candidates don't make the cut. You might have gotten a 185/10 on the FSOT, but your PNs were substandard. Or maybe you rocked the PNs, but don't have a lot of professional experience and barely scraped by the FSOT with a 155/6. But really, if a low FSOT score is what it takes to fail the QEP, then why would State even establish the 154/6 cutoff to begin with? Similarly, if a high FSOT score is what it takes to pass the QEP, then why bother asking those candidates to send PNs? See how irrational these excuses are?

Anyway, for me, I think I have a better-than-even shot at passing the QEP. The FSOT application materials asked me to list all my jobs that I've held for the past 10 years. I've been gainfully employed for that entire time in jobs that have skills that are easily transferable to FSOs, so that should be worth something. I have a master's degree and a doctorate--the highest degrees you can get. That should be worth something too. I can speak a hard Asian language--likely an asset found in only a few candidates. And most importantly, my PNs were good enough to advance me past this stage last year. So why wouldn't I make it this year too, especially considering how I've further improved those very same PNs? Unless the budgetary situation is really screwed up or State's need for Consular officers has waned, I think I am in the clear.

Next up is two months of radio silence. Around the third or fourth week of January, I will either be setting up an OA study group or counting down the long and lonely months to Candidacy #5. Let's hope the latter never comes to fruition.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Staring Into the Void

The Personal Narratives (PNs) for the October 2014 Foreign Service candidate cohort are due in a little over a week, but I still have yet to submit them. A part of me is terrified of sending them off because I fear that my PNs just aren't good enough. Another part of me is reluctant to submit them because I worry that I could further improve what was good enough to get me to the next round last year. And another part of me wants to hold onto these PNs as long as I can because at least the control over my candidacy lies solely with me; once those six narratives are submitted, everything is out of my hands for good.

So yeah, the PNs and the subsequent QEP are not very pleasant steps to deal with at all. For what it's worth, I did take a look at my PNs and found a way to actually strengthen some of them. While five of my six PNs are mostly unchanged, the final PN (which is actually the first one) required a bit of restructuring. Unlike last year, this time around the PN prompt asks me to identify "what I bring to my career track" or something like that. Previously I was merely prompted to identify why I choose my career track. Looks like I got a nice softball to hit as I sell myself as tactfully and as feverishly as I can.

Anyway, after a bit of rewriting, which included scrapping significant amounts of text, I think my PNs are even stronger now than they were last year. Of course, because I have no idea how many people I'm competing against or how many people State will actually invite to the OA, these perceptions of things being "better" are not particularly helpful. It's just frustrating to know that so many candidates who were beaming and brimming with joy just two weeks ago (when the FSOT scores came out) will be frustrated beyond belief in late January. I might even be one of these unfortunate people. I'd estimate that fewer than 5% of all candidates are invited to the OA based on the fact that more than 20,000 candidates take the FSOT each year and "only a few hundred" are invited to the OA.

I try not to read too many blogs from people who made it to an A-100 class. The work and the lifestyle just sound so exciting and like such a good fit for me. I know I had one chance already, which I did not take full advantage of. But if I can get a second chance, I know I will rock the OA and be well on my way to the hiring register. Really, I view the QEP as the biggest remaining roadblock, even moreso than the OA. Yeah, the OA is filled with tension and stress, but at least I am the one in control there, and I know how well I need to do in order to pass. With the QEP, I just have to hope that my "best" is good enough.

There's not really much to say in this particular blog post. I'm just checking in to unload my psychobabble so that I can hopefully look back on this time with relief that my anxiety was only temporary.

I hope.

Later this week I will be attending a formal State information session. If I'm lucky, maybe some FSOs there will give me some pointers on the PNs. Any little nugget regarding hiring rates or timelines or PN tips will be supremely useful. So I'd like to incorporate this information into my PNs before they are due in about 10 days. Plus, it will give me an excuse to get out of the house and drive.

Man, what a stressful process this is.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Survive and Advance

The October 2014 FSOT results came out yesterday. And just like that, the FSO dreams of about 55% of the October cohort came to a screeching halt or an unceremonious end. Some of them didn't even make the 154 cutoff score. Some of them scored in the 170s or 180s and got below a 6 on the essay. Some of them scored really well on the English Expression and Job Knowledge sections only to totally bomb the Biographical Information section.

Yeah, getting these results letters is always brutal. If the first word in your results letter is not "Congratulations!" then you are basically screwed. One false move and your FSO candidacy is dead for a year. I suppose it's particularly tough getting denied at this particular stage because the advantage of prior experience is limited. People who failed the FSOT on their first attempt may try again next year, but they won't know much about what lies ahead, such as the PNs, the QEP and the OA. If they at least got exposed to these steps, it would probably put them at ease a bit because they'd know what to expect--even if they didn't make it through successfully the last time around.

Anyway, Zz Diplomat is still alive. Candidacy #4 is still on track. I passed the October 2014 FSOT with my best ever score on the multiple choice section. My essay score was good too, but not as good as I thought it would be. For what it's worth, I got a 183/8. I needed a 154/6. Last year I scored a 172/8 and made it to the Oral Assessment. My thinking is that if this cohort of Consular FSO candidates is the same as October 2013's cohort of Consular FSO candidates and if the budgetary and projected hiring data at State are unchanged, I should be invited back to the OA by submitting the exact same Personal Narratives. All things being equal to October 2013, it would seem that a higher test score would ensure my success at the QEP.

But that's what makes the QEP so frustrating. I have no way of knowing how many Consular FSOs State feels it needs to hire. I have no way of knowing how talented the competition is among Consular candidates. I have no way of knowing how much work experience or how many foreign languages my Consular competition has. I have no way of knowing how strong their Personal Narratives are or how many times they can shoehorn the "six precepts" into these narratives. I know I have the highest level of education possible, 15 years of professional work experience, two foreign languages I can speak proficiently, 17 years of experience living or working abroad, and 12 years of experience interacting with nonnative English speakers in the US and abroad. So I think I'm in good shape--but because I have no clue how much these elements are weighted, I can never feel too comfortable.

Anyway, my PNs are already typed up, but I haven't submitted them yet. I will be attending a State Department information session in about two weeks and will have the opportunity to speak directly with Foreign Service personnel and hopefully get inside information about the process and how things look for my cohort. I would REALLY like to avoid having to go through this process a fifth time, so I will take any advantage I can get. Anyway, I will hold off on submitting my PNs until after this meet and greet. Even though my PNs were good enough to get me to the OA last time, I don't want to take any unnecessary risks. So I may further edit these.

But yeah, I'm just glad that my candidacy is still alive. The name of the game is like sudden death playoffs in sports. Either survive and advance or lose and go home.

That's why this process is so stressful.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Back in the Fight

It's been a long time coming, but I have finally freed myself from Foreign Service purgatory, that horrible place you are sent to when you fail any step in the FSO candidate selection process. Whenever you are sent to purgatory, you have to sit on your hands until a year has passed since your last FSOT.

I took the FSOT for the fourth time yesterday. Because I had passed this test three times before, I was not too worried about this. But because I am long finished with school and because my current job is not exactly the most stimulating one out there, I was a little bit anxious about my mind being rusty or forgetting random pieces of knowledge that I had gained over the years.

It turned out that I had been worrying about nothing. The test was challenging, to be sure, but there were a lot of gimme questions there that gave me confidence. And for the truly difficult questions, I was able to narrow my choices down to two possible answers. After the test finished, I researched these questions and was pleased to find that for all of the questions I could remember, I had guessed correctly. The essay was quite easy for me too, especially since the topic had personal relevance to me. In my previous candidacies, my essay scores were 8, 6 and 8. I am expecting at least a 10 this time around.

Unlike at the OA where I knew my odds were not good after that disastrous Case Management exercise, I walked out of the testing center yesterday feeling pretty confident and relieved. It really helps to have prior experience with this process. It does wonders for lowering your anxiety level and knowing what to expect.

I should be receiving my FSOT results around Halloween. While nothing is official yet, I am pretty sure that the first word in my results letter will be "congratulations." There are a few other FSO candidates I've been in touch with who flamed out last year as well and were scheduled to take the FSOT again this month. So I'm rooting for them too.

Not much else to do now but wait.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The Other 1%

I was recently reading the official State forums and someone asked how many people were hired as FSOs. One of the "green checkmarks," a DOS employee, stated that 290 people were hired as FSOs for fiscal year 2013 (which means October 2012 through September 2013). Another 320 or so were hired as FSSs. The green checkmark also said that the total number of candidates for the FSOT was "upwards of 20,000" people.

Let's set aside the FSS numbers and focus on the FSOs. At a bare (and unlikely) minimum, there were 20,000 people who registered for the FSOT. Of that 20,000, only 290 people were actually invited to an A-100 class. That means fewer than 1.5 % of all candidates successfully become FSOs. If you had a room of 200 people, roughly 3 of them would be successful. That is an amazing statistic.

So that got me thinking of all the ways candidates can get stopped dead in their tracks:

1. They register for the FSOT, but don't show up to take the test.

2. They take the FSOT, but score below a 154 on the multiple choice section and fail it.

3. They pass the multiple choice section of the FSOT, but score below a 6 on the essay and fail it.

4. They pass the FSOT, but fail to submit their Personal Narratives.

5. They submit their PNs, but do not pass the Qualifications Evaluation Panel.

6. They pass the QEP, but fail to schedule an Oral Assessment.

7. They take the OA, but score below a 5.25 and fail it.

8. They pass the OA, but do not submit their security paperwork in a timely manner.

9. They pass the OA, but cannot pass the medical check.

10. They pass the medical check, but can't pass the background security check.

11. They pass the necessary checks, but fail the Final Review Panel.

12. They pass the FRP and are added to the Register, but withdraw their candidacies or decline two A-100 invitations.

13. They pass the FRP and are added to the Register with no intention of withdrawing or declining an offer, but they fail to receive an A-100 invitation before their 18-month eligibility window expires.

That's a lot of things that can go wrong. I would love to see some statistics on how many people tend to be eliminated at each stage. Reading the various FS resources (the State pages, the Yahoo boards, other online forums), it makes it seem like the pass rate for each of these steps is super high. But it's really a self-selecting sample. People who fail tend to avoid sharing their experiences. And besides, it is a bit embarrassing to admit that you bombed the FSOT or came "thiiiiis close" to passing the OA when there are five other people who are beaming with excitement.

I guess the point of this post is simple: If you want to become an FSO, make sure you keep living your life the way you are now while you go through the process. There are so many pitfalls involved with this (very long) process that becoming a diplomat should never be your Plan A. And if you do embark on this journey, but fall a little bit short, don't be so hard on yourself. About 99% of us can relate!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Back on the Field

Well, the October 2014 FSOT cohort is the next one up at bat. The testing window is finally open and the registration forms are available for submission. It's been many long months since disaster struck at the OA in Washington. So now I am back at the end of the line, the bottom of the stairs, and the beginning of the process. State's webpage indicates that there are eight steps to becoming an FSO, but for all intents and purposes, there are only five:

1. Pass the Foreign Service Officer Test
2. Pass the Qualifications Evaluation Panel
3. Pass the Oral Assessment
4. Get all your necessary clearances and pass the Final Review Panel
5. Get called from the Register

I have passed the FSOT three times. That makes me a bit anxious about my fourth attempt, actually. I mean, on one hand, I should be quite confident because I know what to expect with this test and I know I should pass relatively easily. But I am a bit ill at ease because there's always a first time for everything. What if I can't complete the essay in time? What if I bomb the Job Knowledge section of the test? What if I run out of time? I mean, my score has increased each time I've taken this test, and I haven't done any sort of studying for any of those attempts. Do I trust myself too much? Am I overconfident? What if my brain is not as sharp as it used to be? Or maybe I'm overanalyzing this.

In reality, it's really the QEP that bothers me the most. The selections seem so arbitrary there. I think failing this step twice forced me to improve my narratives so that I could make them stronger on my more successful third attempt. I still have those narratives printed out. So assuming that I pass the FSOT next month, I'll be ready to go with strong narratives that allowed me to advance once before. I just hope the new crop of candidates is not more stellar than the last time around and that the cutoff score is not even higher. Maybe a less dire budgetary situation will make for a less stringent selection criteria this fall compared to last fall.

The OA's Case Management exercise is all that stood between me and a conditional job offer the last time around. If I can make it back to the OA, I will not bother studying with a group. I know what to expect there, and I can work well in teams. I will spend more of my time trying a new strategy with writing the memos. Instead of taking notes as I read, I will try to read all the documents and keep mental records of any necessary facts or overarching themes. Then I will write the memo from scratch, rather than trying to take a bunch of disparate notes and forming a cohesive argument out of them.

So yeah, I'm ready. I just have to make sure not to look too far ahead because I could very well fail the FSOT, which would be absolutely devastating. The Foreign Service is what I want to do. Mrs. Zz wants me to do this as well. I am choosing the Consular track, which is what I chose last year. This track seems to get a bad rap, but it is the most interesting to me by far. The idea of screening visa applicants and visiting Americans in foreign prisons is something that truly excites me. There are so many countries where I would love to be posted, especially in East and Southeast Asia. I want to make some memories. I want to get my passport stamped. I want to help desperate people abroad. I want to do something that actually matters.

But to do any of this, I have to pass that test next month. I am on a mission. My fourth Foreign Service candidacy will end with an invitation to an A-100 class. Yes.

Stay tuned. It all starts here.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Dejection

I have a confession to make. Even though I am a great teacher and a great communicator, I sometimes have trouble following my own advice. Earlier this year I failed my OA. It was my first ever OA and my third Foreign Service candidacy. I feel like I let my family, my friends, and myself down after I was escorted from the assessment center and left outside on that cold Washington street. I tried to put on a brave face when I heard the assessor say she regretted to inform me that my score did not exceed the cutoff score necessary to continue my candidacy.

I was cautiously optimistic about my chances going into lunch that day. I thought the GE had gone well. My group worked well together, I made some good contributions, and I was even able to crack a joke. The SI seemed to go reasonably well also. I provided good examples from my background to answer their questions and I thought I conveyed the right motivation for wanting to join the Foreign Service.

But at lunch, my mentality changed. Even though I knew I had been doing well, my thoughts shifted from "I'm going to try my best and do a good job" to "I know this next component is going to suck, so I'll just try not to screw it up too badly." Instead of playing to win, I was now playing not to lose.

When it was time for me to start my CM, my head just wasn't in the game. I knew it wasn't. I couldn't analyze anything. I began including information in my memo that probably should have been left out. I didn't feel that I was answering the questions that were posed to me. And I didn't even bother reading two documents in the binder that were likely important because I was running out of time. I was panicking. I knew at this point that the CM would be the worst part of the OA for me; I just hoped it wouldn't drag my overall average score below the 5.25 threshold.

After the CM, I knew it would be close. Maybe I knew I would not pass, but I was in denial and was hoping that my writing would be just good enough to get me a 5.3. I knew a high score like a 5.7 was out of the question.

Anyway, when my name was called at the end of the day, I was escorted to one of the rooms where the SI had taken place. Two assessors were present. One assessor thanked me again for participating in the OA and mentioned that it was very difficult to make it to the OA in my particular FSOT cohort.

She was lowering the boom. I knew I was toast.

And then she gave me the bad news. I was then given an envelope that contained a paper indicating which of the exercises, if any, I had passed. I was too stunned, embarrassed and disappointed to even look at the paper in the envelope. The assessor told me she was unable to provide any feedback on why I failed or what I could do better next time. I acknowledged that I understood the policy of not providing feedback because that would constitute improper coaching. She then asked if I had any further questions, and I said no. In reality, I was too embarrassed to ask any further questions and prolong this awkward situation I had put myself in. I told the assessors that I would try again next year and was then escorted out of the center. I put on a brave face as I said goodbye to the assessor who escorted me and the security personnel in the lobby. And then I was outside.

And just like that, my dreams were crushed.

When I got to my car, I looked at the score breakdown in the envelope they provided. Sure enough, I had passed the GE and the SI, but failed the CM. And I must have failed the CM pretty badly too because I finished with a 5.0.

During the long drive home, I thought about how things could have been different. What if I had squeezed more points out of the GE and SI? What if I had not included one or two paragraphs of irrelevant information in my CM? What if I had done a better job of calming myself down after lunch? What if I had rescheduled my OA for a different date? What if?

Coming this far in the process and failing is a very tough pill to swallow. Even to this date, I don't know which part is the worst: that feeling you have when you are escorted from the assessment center with a failing score, that feeling you have when you inform your spouse and family members that you failed, or that feeling you have when you realize you have to wait so long before you can apply again. It's really tough.

But in the end, I can't complain too much. The process is competitive, but fair. And really, I can only blame myself. There's always next year!

The FS Gauntlet: The Oral Assessment

The Oral Assessment (OA) takes place about six to nine months after the FSOT. According to DOS, "in recent years, more than 20,000 candidates have taken the Foreign Service Officer Test annually. A much smaller number advance to the QEP review, and then only a few hundred are invited to the Oral Assessment," which means that fewer than 10% of FSOT candidacies advance this far. So if you've made it this far, you are in elite company.

According to the official DOS study guide, only about 30-40% of OA participants pass. Sometimes, everybody in an OA group passes. Other times, nobody in the OA group passes. There is no set quota for how many passers are needed on any given day. It's just you, the assessors, and the 13 dimensions on which you will be evaluated. You've got three tasks to complete: the Group Exercise (GE), the Structured Interview (SI), and the Case Management written exercise (CM).

Your assessment day is approaching. Here's what to expect.

The OA begins at 7:00. Do not be late. I recommend arriving in Washington one day before so you can figure out how to reach the assessment center. DOS is pretty strict about this and warn you to take into consideration the possibility of flights being delayed, taxi drivers getting lost, subways and trains breaking down, and baggage getting lost. The assessment center is located across the street from a Department of Education building and next to a Federal Emergency Management Agency building. A CVS, McDonald's and Quizno's are also nearby. The closest hotel is a Holiday Inn.

When you enter the assessment center (hopefully around 6:30 or 6:45), you will present photo identification to the security guards in the lobby. After walking through a metal detector and having your bags screened, you will wait in the lobby with other anxious candidates. You will be impressed by their backgrounds. Some will have made international flights to get here. Some speak three languages. Some are straight out of college; others are combat veterans. But do not be intimidated by these stories because you made it this far too. And that means DOS believes you have something to offer.

I strongly recommend remaining professional, courteous and discreet at all times. You never know what is being monitored. And you never know if the person you think is a fellow OA candidate is actually an FSO who is one of the assessors.

At 7:00, a program assistant will come out of the elevators and welcome you to the assessment center. You will all then follow her into an elevator and go upstairs to a waiting room. This waiting room will be where you spend most of your time between OA components. There are reasonably comfortable chairs and a few diplomatic magazines to read. You will be asked to turn off all cell phones and electronic devices and leave your bags and coats in a separate room. You will also be briefed on the ground rules of the day, including how to get kicked out of the assessment center by doing something stupid.

Next you will receive paperwork to sign, including a non-disclosure agreement that forbids you from discussing the content of the OA with anyone, including with other candidates. You will also sign paperwork stating that you accept the three conditions of employment (flexibility in assignments, worldwide availability and publicly supporting American policy). You will also receive a sheet detailing the 13 dimensions on which you will be evaluated and a document detailing the three components of the Oral Assessment (that also has information on what NOT to do).

Each OA candidate will be given a nametag that has a number and letter, such as 1A, 2B, or 4C. You need to remember your letter and number because these will be used to divide you into groups for the GE. The schedule you receive will also use your letter and number. Note that not everyone's schedule is the same. While the GE is always first, half of the candidates will do the SI while the other half does the CM. Lunch will be after the second exercise, leaving the final exercise for the afternoon.

One of the assessors will then come into the waiting room and greet everyone. The assessor will congratulate you on making it this far and will try to put your mind at ease while they make their final preparations before the first component of the OA begins. Now is the time to steady your nerves and hope for the best. It's showtime.

The Group Exercise (GE)

When all preparations have been completed, the assessors will come out and divide the candidates into two or three groups based on their candidate letter or number. Each group will head to a different section of the assessment center.

Your group will be led to a small room with a large round table with assigned seating. Each seat at the table will have a notepad, some pens, and a binder. A pitcher of water and some cups are also provided for you to consume at will. And finally, there will be four more chairs positioned in the corners of the room. The assessors will sit here, but you will not know which assessors are monitoring which candidates.

One assessor will then give your group the instructions and rules for the exercise. And then you're on your own. The best advice I can give you is to follow the instructions you are given. The BEX explicitly states which behaviors to avoid if you wish to pass this exercise. Remember that the GE is not a competition. And there are specific times during the GE when it is okay or not okay to advocate for the project you are assigned to review. Also make sure that you take good notes, actively contribute to the discussion, watch the clock, and try to draw out the more silent members of the group.

After the main part of the GE is finished, the assessors will summon you one by one to participate in the final part of the GE, the debriefing. The debriefing is a new component to the OA that was added in March 2014. My theory on why this was added is that the BEX wanted to discourage candidates from slacking off during the GE by going with the flow and not paying attention to the discussions. The debriefing forces candidates to be accountable for their group's negotiations. If you were zoning out or simply not properly focused during the group discussions, you will likely be rated poorly.

In the debriefing, a mock ambassador will ask you about the results of your group's deliberations in the previous part of the GE. This is why it is important to take good notes and understand the rationale behind the decisions your group made. Make sure you are respectful not just of the ambassador's title, but also the ambassador's time, which is limited.

Once this exercise is completed, you will be escorted back to the main waiting area. All OA candidates complete the GE first. Whether you will be assigned the SI or CM next is totally random. Your lunch break will take place after your second exercise. Remember not to talk about the GE you just completed while you are in the waiting area! The program assistants may be monitoring your conversations and you could be removed from the assessment center for violating the rules!

The Structured Interview (SI)

The SI is probably the easiest of the three components of the OA. You will be interviewed by two assessors who are trained not to give you any feedback (verbal or nonverbal). The best way to prepare for this is to look at the six Personal Narratives you submitted shortly after passing the FSOT. Without violating the nondisclosure agreement, I can tell you that you should be prepared to field standard interview questions as well as questions about why you chose your particular career track. Make sure your answers are concise and make sure your answers address what was asked. Do not try to shoehorn canned responses about a tangential or unrelated topic in your answers.

In the second part of the SI, you will be given a sheet that has five of the 13 dimensions. Each of the five dimensions listed will have two questions. You will have to choose one question from each of these five dimensions. After about 5 minutes, you will have to discuss your responses to these questions at length. The assessors may ask for elaboration or clarification, but you should not interpret this positively or negatively. A well prepared candidate will have identified one or two examples from his or her past that addresses each of the 13 dimensions before the OA.

Finally, you will have to field questions about hypothetical situations you may encounter as a Foreign Service Officer. Without being too specific because of the nondisclosure agreement, I can say that diplomats have to deal with a wide variety of unexpected situations, such as military offensives, ethical dilemmas. personnel problems, natural disaster responses and more. You are not required to know how am embassy works or what the proper protocol is when participating in this exercise. You are, however, expected to have common sense and to exercise reasonable judgment.

After this exercise, you will be escorted back to the waiting area. You may notice that many of your fellow candidates are not there. Some of them may have already left for lunch. Others are writing their CMs. The program assistant will tell you what you need to do or take with you before you leave the building.

Lunch (even though you are likely too anxious to keep anything down)

While you are not required to leave the assessment center, State strongly encourages it. I remember a McDonald's and Quizno's less than a block away from the assessment center. I don't recommend eating anywhere that is not within walking distance. The last thing you want is to be late getting back to your OA. Also, even though you are most likely a bundle of nerves, I recommend at least trying to eat something. One of the reasons why the OA is so stressful is that you have NO CLUE how you are doing during the day. You don't know if you passed the GE or if you bombed the SI. You don't know if you are currently above the 5.25 cutoff or if you have your work cut out for you. You only have one OA component left, so whatever your unknown score is, you only have one chance to improve it.

The Case Management Exercise (CM)

The final component of the OA, which some candidates may have completed before lunch, is the CM. In this exercise, you will be escorted to a computer room and given a binder full of documents. The first page of the binder will give you instructions on how to address a particular problem. The rest of the pages in the binder are the evidence on which you will base your conclusions. You only have 90 minutes to complete this exercise, which is not a lot of time. The official study guide recommends that you spend 30 minutes reviewing the documents, 45 minutes typing the memo, and 15 minutes editing the memo. Because the volume of information in this CM is greater than the volume of information in the practice exercises available online, I recommend getting in the habit of writing your practice CMs in 60 minutes, rather than 90 minutes. Also consider the fact that there is no official timer or timekeeper in the computer room. Nobody will warn you when you have 10 or 15 minutes left. Therefore, you need to watch the clock on your own.

In the CM, be on the lookout for information that is not relevant to the task you are assigned. You need to be able to filter out this information and stay focused on more relevant information in the binder. Also consider the possibility that the best solution may involve adopting several or none of the options available. Remember that the CM is the only component of the OA that measures your mathematical reasoning ability, so if you can include some statistics or numerical data in your memo, that's great (as long as this information is relevant!). Remember, if you find yourself overwhelmed during this exercise, try to calm down, take a few breaths and continue writing.

After 90 minutes, the program assistant will come into the lab and tell you to print out your memos. You will also be instructed to delete any copies of your memos from the computers. Finally, you will return to the waiting area.

The Hour of Judgment

When you return to the waiting area, you may find other candidates there who had taken their SIs in the afternoon. Remember that you cannot discuss any of the exercises while you wait even though you may be tempted to talk about them! The program assistants and/or assessors may still be observing you, so even though you may have finished all three exercises, your assessment might not yet be complete!

The assessors will need about an hour to 90 minutes to read the CMs, analyze the SIs, and calculate the candidates' average scores. The wait is excruciating. During this time, you can gather your bags and coats, but you still cannot use your phones. At about 3:45 or 4:00, one of the assessors will come to the waiting area and thank everyone for participating in the OA. One of the program assistants will then bring all the candidates to the computer room where you wrote your CMs. Then the assessors will summon the candidates one by one to deliver the news.

Anecdotally, there appears to be no rhyme or reason behind your score and when you are summoned. Regarding the OA components themselves, the consensus among FSOs and OA candidates is that the CM is the most difficult of the three components, the SI is the easiest component, and the GE is typically the swing component that decides whether you exceed the 5.25 cutoff or not. Some candidates pass the OA even though they only passed one component. Some candidates fail the OA even though they passed two components.

Unsuccessful candidates are finished at about 4:30. There is no more paperwork for them to fill out. They are escorted from the assessment center and their candidacies are finished.

If you are one of the candidates who had to endure the walk of shame, I extend my condolences to you. Most candidates do not pass the OA, at least not on their first attempt. Some repeat candidates don't even pass. If you did not make it this time around, pay attention to your results letter and work on the components you failed. And for the parts you passed, find ways to make your performance there even better. Remember that you can register for the FSOT again if 11 months have passed since the last time you took it.

Successful candidates may finish at 6:00 or even later. They will meet representatives from Diplomatic Security and be given information about the next steps in the hiring process, including medical exams, foreign language tests, and background checks. They will also receive conditional offers of employment (!) and get to ask questions about Foreign Service life. Because of the briefings they receive and the paperwork they must complete, successful candidates will leave the assessment center significantly later that evening.

Congratulations! Remember that even if you passed the OA, you can always take the FSOT again to try and get a higher score. But maybe your score is so high that your chances of receiving a formal job offer are good. In any case, whether you got a 5.3 or a 6.0, congratulations again! Security clearances, medical checks, and Final Review Panel, here we come!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The FS Gauntlet: An Overview of the Oral Assessment

If you have made it to this round, you should be both thrilled and humbled. Even though there are more hoops to jump through after this, the Oral Assessment (OA) is the last of the rounds in which you have to actually perform well in order to survive. Everything after the OA, aside from paperwork, is out of your hands.

Step 5: The Oral Assessment

Think of the OA as the final round that places you on the cusp of the Foreign Service. The Board of Examiners (BEX) already knows you have the intellect required to do well as a Foreign Service Officer. Passing the FSOT confirmed this. The BEX also believes that you did a better job than the majority of other candidates in your career track of exhibiting the 13 dimensions the Foreign Service deems necessary to be successful FSOs. Advancing past the QEP confirmed this. Now it's up to you to show that you can exhibit these 13 dimensions at a high enough level to warrant receiving a conditional offer of employment.

Yes. This is the most grueling stage of the entire process. It's also the most emotionally charged stage. If you pass the OA, your candidacy will take a giant leap that brings you tantalizingly close to actually entering the Foreign Service. On the other hand, if you fail the OA, your candidacy will come to a frustrating and ignominious end. (And yes, you will have to start all over again at the FSOT whenever you are eligible to take it again.) And unlike failing the FSOT, where you can say the test questions were hard or you ran out of time writing your essay, and unlike failing the QEP, where you can blame "the process" for being too random or too opaque, failing the OA stings a little bit more because the responsibility for failing lies entirely with you. Even though the assessors cannot tell you what you did wrong, you will probably know.

The OA is held in Washington and sometimes at one other major city concurrently. Travel to the OA site and lodging while you are there are solely at your expense. OAs are conducted every day the government is open. There are no OAs on weekends, federal holidays, days on which the government is closed because of bad weather, or days on which the government is closed because of a government shutdown. In the event that your OA is scheduled for a day when the government is closed (typically because of bad weather), you can send an email to reschedule@state.gov and request another date. The size of an OA group can range from about 5 to as large as about 20.

Once you receive the good news about passing the QEP, you will have about one week to sign up for an OA date. The first available OA date for a cohort is about six weeks after receiving the QEP results. The last available OA date for the same cohort is about four months after the first available date. If you have your heart set on signing up for an early date, be ready. When you are finally able to register, the dates at the beginning of the OA window, Mondays and Fridays tend to get chosen quickly. People who are traveling to DC from afar or from abroad tend to choose Mondays or Fridays because it means less of a disruption for them regarding missing work. Anxious candidates also tend to choose the earlier dates in the window so they can get it out of the way.

There are advantages and disadvantages to taking the OA early or late. If you take it early, you can minimize the weeks or months that you will have to deal with the stress. But you also have less time to prepare for it. If you take it late, you will have lots of time to study and practice. However, the OA will linger over your head much longer.

The OA lasts for one full day and has three components: the Group Exercise (GE), the Structured Interview (SI) and the Case Management (CM). OAs start at 7:00 am and finish at about 3:30 pm. You will have about an hour for lunch. The GE is always the first exercise of the OA. After that, whether you do the SI and then the CM or the CM and then the SI is totally random. If your OA is unsuccessful, your day will be over at about 4:00 or 4:30. If you pass the OA, you might be on site until 6:00 or even later. If you are booking flight reservations, it might be a good idea to push your flight back home until later in the evening or even the following day.

Your performance at the OA will be measured by assessors from the BEX. They will evaluate how well you exhibit the 13 dimensions and how well you perform on the OA's three components. Scores can range from 1.0 (weak performance) to 7.0 (strong performance). In order to pass the OA, your overall score needs to be at least a 5.25. All three components are weighted equally. Therefore, you should note that it is still possible to pass the OA even if you score below a 5.25 on one or two components. If you totally rock one part of the OA, that can more than offset weaker performances with the other two components. Similarly, also note that it is still possible to fail the OA even if you score above a 5.25 on two of the components. Doing well with two components will not mean much if you totally bomb the third. And of course, people with high scores may pass all three parts; others candidates with low scores may fail all three parts.

It must be stated that even though 5.25 is the minimum passing score, this does not necessarily mean you should pack your bags and get ready for your new career as a diplomat in Washington. There are a few other steps involved, the last of which being the cruelest--particularly during these times of Congressional gridlock and federal budget cuts--especially for candidates whose OA scores are relatively low (5.3 to 5.5).

But we can worry about that later. For now, let's focus on the OA itself and scoring that 5.25.

To be continued...

Monday, August 25, 2014

The FS Gauntlet: The Qualifications Evaluation Panel

The FSOT multiple-choice section is designed to weed out unqualified candidates who simply don't have the knowledge base or behavioral traits to be successful officers in the Foreign Service. The FSOT written essay is designed to further weed out the candidates who cannot write quickly, persuasively or articulately. I have read that only about 40-45% of FSOT takers actually pass, so if you are moving onto the next round, then congratulations! Compared to the FSOT, the next step in the process is much easier and much more frustrating at the same time. So, let's dive right in!

Step 4: The Personal Narratives and Qualifications Evaluation Panel

The Personal Narratives (PN) and Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP) stage is the stage where the Foreign Service Board of Examiners separates the merely smart people and talented test takers from the actual Foreign Service finalists. As mentioned earlier, this stage consists of two sections: Personal Narratives and the Qualifications Evaluation Panel. You only have control over the PN section, and you have about three weeks after receiving notification that you passed the FSOT to submit them. You do not have to complete all the PNs at once, but once they have been submitted, they can no longer be edited.

Section 1: Personal Narratives

The PN stage requires you to compose six long-form answers to questions about various traits you may have. Each narrative is restricted to 1300 characters, which includes spaces and punctuation marks. The PN stage gives you the opportunity to provide examples from your past that reflect the critical "six precepts" the Foreign Service seeks in its officers. You can draw from your personal experiences, professional experiences, or academic experiences. For each PN, you are required to provide the name of someone who can vouch for you or the experience. This person can be a coworker, supervisor, neighbor or friend. Note that it cannot be a subordinate or a family member. Verifiers do not have to be American citizens, but they do need to be able to understand English in the event that they are contacted.

You do not need to address all six precepts in each narrative, but you should ensure that all six of your narratives cover all six precepts at least once. You don't have a lot of space for each narrative, so writing concisely is critical. You should also be mindful of cutting and pasting from word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word. Special characters like apostrophes, quotation marks and commas may not show up correctly in the text window on the Pearson VUE webpage where you submit the actual narratives. It should go without saying that your narratives should be free of grammatical and spelling errors. So read your PNs carefully and enlist the help of a friend to help you proofread.

Section 2: Qualifications Evaluation Panel

Once your six PNs have been typed up and submitted, your overall application will be reviewed by the Foreign Service Board of Examiners (BEX), which consists of current senior FSOs. The BEX will examine your total file, which includes your FSOT scores, your PNs and your registration information (work history, educational background, etc.). They will then compare your file with other candidates' files within your chosen career track. Thus, political-track candidates' files are compared with other political-track candidates' files. The BEX then ranks all candidates within each of the five tracks and decides which candidates to invite to the next round of the Foreign Service application process.

Many talented candidates are frustrated by this step because no feedback is given regarding the strengths or weaknesses of individual PNs or how many candidacies were ended or extended at this particular stage. In other words, you can fail this stage and not know why.  Additionally, personal narratives that might have been sufficient for advancing to the next round in one year might be insufficient for advancing in another year. Or a candidate's PNs might be good enough to advance to the next round in one career track, but not another track even with the same PNs.

DOS will not release statistics of how many people within each career track are invited to the next round of the process. However, they do acknowledge that the number of people who pass this stage is dependent on anticipated hiring needs. So if there is a pressing need for economic officers, for example, then more candidates who chose the economics track will be advanced to the next round. Officially, DOS has said that over the past seven years or so, the pass rate for the QEP stage has ranged from 5-100% for all career tracks. One candidate whose candidacy ended before being selected as an FSO filed a Privacy Act request and learned that only the candidates ranked in the top 19% of his career track for his particular cohort made it to the next round.

This stage is why your initial registration materials are so important. If you received any special awards, certifications, degrees, promotions, or honors, hopefully you listed those in your FSOT registration materials. If you have foreign language proficiency, hopefully you included this as well. You never know what the cutoff will be within a career track for any particular cohort, so that's why you want to be as thorough as you can with your registration materials and your PNs. Because of how competitive this stage is, many candidates are understandably guarded about helping each other--especially if they are in the same career track.

Results of the QEP stage are mailed to candidates about two to three months after the PN submission deadline. If your candidacy ends here, you will have to start the process all over again with the FSOT. (And yes, the one-FSOT-in-11-months stipulation still applies.) For what it's worth, I will admit to being stopped in my tracks twice at this stage. So if you are denied the opportunity to continue your candidacy beyond the QEP, don't feel too bad. It is apparently quite common. If you made it to this stage once before, you can surely do it again.

If you received good news in your QEP results letter, however, then you are eligible to participate in the most intense stage of the hiring process yet: the Oral Assessment (OA), which will be covered in the next post.

To be continued...

The FS Gauntlet: The FSOT

Okay, so you've decided which Foreign Service career track or cone you wish to pursue. You've decided that you really want to go through the application process and hope that you can someday wind up interviewing visa applicants at an embassy in some exotic capital, discussing war crimes with foreign ministers, giving press conferences in foreign languages, or helping stranded Americans evacuate a third-world country after a natural disaster. And you registered for the FSOT. It's time to make this dream a reality!

Step 3: The Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT)

STOP! Read this before going any further!

When you embark on your journey to become an FSO, an important thing to remember is that you are not at liberty to divulge any information about the test to anyone for any reason--even if that person took the test with you. All assessment materials used by the Department of State (DOS) are covered by a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The NDA prevents candidates and officers who have taken these tests previously from disclosing their contents. By taking these tests and assessments, you are agreeing to abide by the NDA. Respecting the NDA is the main reason why I (as well as other Foreign Service bloggers, officers, veterans and aspirants) cannot be too specific when talking about the test. Additionally, Diplomatic Security and the Foreign Service Board of Examiners regularly scan webpages, message boards, and blogs to make sure confidential test and assessment information is not being disclosed. Violating the NDA can result in the termination of your candidacy or the termination of your job if you actually make it into the Foreign Service. I encourage everyone to study hard, share your tips, and help others when you can. But don't be stupid and risk everything because of a lack of discretion.

And now, back to the test...

The FSOT takes three to four hours to complete and contains four sections: a job knowledge section, a biographical information section, an English usage section, and a final essay. These will each be discussed in turn.

Section 1: Job Knowledge

This part of the test focuses on a grab-bag of knowledge. You may encounter questions about civics, current events, American history, world geography, cultural icons, management principles, basic mathematics, popular sports, and general statistics. Many FSOT-preparation sources recommend purchasing or studying various books in order to master this section. However, I personally think that the best study aids are daily newspapers, online news sites, world maps, and even Wikipedia articles on history.

Questions are all multiple choice. Scratch paper is provided for all examinees, but you are not provided with a calculator. Any math you have to do should be basic stuff you can do in your head or perform longhand, such as finding a percentage of a certain number. Each question is worth the same number of points. Because there is no penalty for guessing, you should answer every question here.

Be careful! You don't have a lot of time to complete this section. However, you are allowed to skip a question and come back to it later. Since all questions are worth the same number of points, it is wise not to waste time ruminating over a difficult question when you have several easier ones remaining.

Section 2: English Expression

This part of the test focuses on English grammar, the nuances of vocabulary, punctuation rules, and organizing your sentences or paragraphs for the sake of flow and clarity. This section is more challenging than it may appear because of the bad habits we may have developed courtesy of posting in "netspeak" on message boards, in text messages and in personal emails among friends. But if you are the type of person who gets annoyed by people who write things like "Me and my girlfriend went shopping" or "I talked with some boy's at school" or "I saw a dog, it was brown," then you should do quite well here.

Section 3: Biographical information

This part of the test is the most opaque. Unlike the other two sections that you can actually study for, this section is tricky simply because you don't know what DOS is looking for in a prospective FSO. This section of the test will ask you various personality-and behavior-related questions, such as how often or how likely you are to do certain things. Sometimes the test will ask you to provide names of people or examples of situations that address how you responded to the actual question. There is no point in trying to game the system here because only DOS knows if it is good that you are "unlikely" to do X or "very likely" to do Y.

Section 4: Written essay

The final section of the FSOT is the written essay. I personally found this to be the most nerve-wracking part of the test, and I consider myself a talented writer. You will have 30 minutes to write about an assigned topic. The examiners don’t care what your opinion is on the assigned topic; they just want to assess how well you write under deadline pressure. I recommend a standard four- or (ideally) five-paragraph essay complete with a topic sentence or thesis in the first paragraph, a restatement of the thesis in the final paragraph, and two or (ideally) three supporting paragraphs in the middle.

When writing this essay, it is important not to waste any time making outlines or extra notes. Thirty minutes is not a lot of time at all, especially if you are not a skilled typist. Every time I took this test, I completed my essay just before time expired. In fact, on my most recent attempt, the computer locked me out about two seconds after I typed the final period in my final sentence. Needless to say, if you have to "hunt and peck" when you type, you will bomb this section.

At the end of the test, you will answer a few survey questions about the proctoring, the test site and whether the time allowed for each test section was sufficient. Once these questions have been answered, you are free to leave the test site.

Congratulations! You survived the FSOT!

About three weeks after taking the FSOT, you will be notified of your test results via email. You will have to log into the test administrator's site (currently Pearson VUE) and download your FSOT results letter. You cannot call for your results or have them sent to you via postal mail.

A passing score is 154 points for the first three sections of the FSOT. If you scored at least 154 points, you then needed to score at least a 6 on the written essay in order to advance to the next round. Essays are not scored for candidates who scored below 154. Scores provided are t-scores, which mean the numbers listed show what percentage of candidates scored below you in a given section. So if you answered 49 out of 50 questions correct within a section, but most of the other test takers answered 50 out of 50 correct, your score will be lower than you may have expected.

If your composite score was below 154 or if your essay score was below 6, unfortunately your FSOT candidacy ends here. You cannot take the FSOT again for another 11 months. (You can pay to have your test and/or essay rescored by calling 866-389-8339. A successful rescore will allow your candidacy to continue, but at the time of a later test cohort. An unsuccessful rescore simply means you'll be out of a little bit of cash. Considering that you can't take this test so often, I think a rescore is worth it if your essay score was a 5 or if you came up just shy of 154 points on the multiple-choice section.)

If your score exceeded the 154/6 minimums, then you are eligible to participate in the next round of the Foreign Service gauntlet: the Personal Narratives (PNs) and Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP). This stage will be discussed in my next post.

To be continued...

The FS Gauntlet: Registering for the FSOT

Okay, so you want to join the Foreign Service. You accept the three conditions of employment required of Foreign Service employees. You have made your career track selection. You are ready to go.

Now it's time to tackle the first hurdle major hurdle standing between you and the Foreign Service: the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT).

Step 2: Register for the FSOT

Every journey to becoming an FSO begins with the FSOT, which is perhaps the most difficult knowledge-based test that exists in the federal government. More information about that will be given in Step 3. But prior to taking the test, you have to register for it online. Until this summer, the FSOT was administered by ACT. Now it's administered by Pearson VUE. When you register, you will be asked to provide information about your educational background, employment history, foreign language proficiency, professional certifications and anything else that could augment or define your candidacy. Take this registration seriously because it will be used again later on in the selection process.

One important thing to remember is not to exaggerate your experience, qualifications, education or talents when registering for the FSOT. DOS reserves the right to verify all claims you make in your application and can use any exaggerations or misrepresentations as grounds for terminating your candidacy or even dismissing you after you've been hired! Don't be modest, but don't be deceitful.

When you register, make sure you have a credit card handy. Even though the FSOT is free, you will be charged about $50 if you register for the test and fail to show up. But since you are serious about becoming an FSO, you should not have to worry about this. (Right?)

Here is some general information about the test.

The FSOT takes about three to four hours to complete and is offered three times a year: in February, June and October. The test can only be taken once in an 11-month period, so if you fail the test or wish to take it again, you have to wait until at least a year has passed since your last test. In other words, you can take the test in February 2014, February 2015 and June 2016, but you cannot take the test in October 2014, June 2015, and February 2016.

You can register online about a month before the test is administered. Tests are given at various locations throughout the United States as well as at select American embassies and consulates abroad. You do not have to register for the FSOT at the site closest to your place of residence. The first time I took the FSOT, for example, I was traveling in Asia and took the test at a consulate in Japan.

The FSOT can only be taken over the computer. Knowing this, pay special attention to the testing facility where each FSOT is offered. If you find that the FSOT will be offered at a site that you know has slow or rundown computers, for example, you might consider registering for the test at another location. Other things to consider are how easy it is to find parking, how far the testing site is from your residence, and what days of the week the test is being offered. Not all testing sites offer the test on all days of a particular testing window. Some testing sites offer the FSOT on weekends. Slots for these days tend to disappear quickly.

My advice for anyone considering becoming an FSO is to take the test as quickly and as seriously as possible. It may take anywhere from around six months to almost three years for a candidate to go from taking the FSOT to receiving an actual job offer, so why allow the process to drag on even further? But remember, because you can only take this test once in an 11-month period, the FSOT should not be approached casually with the attitude of "well, I'll just take this test and see how well I can do." If you are lackadaisical about the test, fail it, and suddenly become determined about becoming an FSO, you'll still have to wait impatiently for a year! So if you really want to take it, but feel you are not adequately prepared, you are better off studying and waiting until a future test window rather than struggling with the test in the current test window, failing and being miserable for a year!

To be continued...

The FS Gauntlet: Career Tracks

Okay, so the three conditions of employment haven't scared you away. You're still interested in going through with this process. You think you want to become an FSO, but are unsure of how to proceed. This post will focus on how to start your application off right and inform you of what types of positions are available. The Department of State (DOS) publishes this information on its official webpage. Having gone through (most of) this process before, I can elaborate a bit. There are eight steps, some of which are easier than others. So, let's get started!

Step 1: Choose a Career Track

Think of a person who says he wants to join the military. "I want to be a soldier," he says enthusiastically. Okay, that's great, but it's not that simple. There are many kinds of soldiers. They perform different functions and have different domains of expertise. Soldiers can work in the military police force, infantry platoons, finance offices, courthouses, field hospitals, radio studios, munitions warehouses, animal clinics, and tanks. The Foreign Service works in a similar fashion. At the beginning of the process of becoming an FSO, candidates have to choose one career track (sometimes called a "cone") that will govern what kinds of assignments they receive once they've been sworn in.

There are five career tracks for FSOs: Consular, Economic, Management, Political and Public Diplomacy.

Consular officers are troubleshooters. They issue passports and visas. They also provide services to Americans in emergency situations, such as those who are incarcerated, those who need to be evacuated, those whose wallets or purses were stolen, and those who are dealing with international child custody disputes.

Economic officers do a lot of research and liaisoning with foreign businesses and governments with the goal of finding or advancing opportunities for American investment abroad. They often have a portfolio of specific economic sectors to monitor, such as airlines, energy or tourism.

Management officers are the administrators of the embassies themselves. They secure adequate housing for embassy workers, manage the embassy motor pool, recruit and train locally hired staff, and ensure that future sites for American missions and such comply with security requirements.

Political officers keep tabs on the general social and political conditions of a country. They monitor election results and write reports on how these results may impact relations with the United States. They also identify the primary actors in a foreign government or conditions among the local populations that may lead to instability.

Public diplomacy officers serve as official mouthpieces for the United States government abroad. They use foreign media to articulate United States policy. They regularly scan the local media and look for opportunities to use it to advance American interests. They also coordinate cultural exchange programs.

There are no particular educational or professional requirements for any of these career tracks. You do not need a degree in journalism to be a public diplomacy officer, nor do you need to have an MBA to be an economic officer. Having said that, you should carefully consider the career track you choose because it is very difficult to change career tracks later on. DOS has a useful tool on their webpage that is designed to help you decide which career track you are best suited for. It's worth checking out.

Care should be taken regarding choosing a career track. A candidate can choose only ONE career track, and this choice cannot be changed. Candidates should also choose a career track according to their personal interests, not what they perceive as the "easier" track to get into. Since we're talking about your actual JOB here, you would be doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't choose the track you are most passionate about.

There are various Internet forums that recommend applying for one track or another because the applicants stand a greater chance of being hired due to a lower number of candidates. This is horrible advice for several reasons:

1. The hiring needs of one year may be different from the hiring needs of another year. You may think you can game the system by applying as a management officer "because that's the worst track," but because the hiring process may take up to two years or even longer, you may be surprised to find that the needs of the Foreign Service have changed and that there is an oversupply of management candidates by the time you apply.

2. Because it is so hard to change career tracks and because you need to do work in your chosen career track in order to attain tenure, do you really want to risk working 20 years in an elite organization doing work you really don't like? If you really want to become a public diplomacy officer and draft press statements for the ambassador, why would you apply to become a consular officer and potentially have to interview visa applicants for hours each day?

3. The people who review your applications may question why you chose a career track that does not appear to be a good match for your qualifications. If you have a lot of business experience and have managed economic portfolios, how can you use this experience to explain why you want to be a political officer? If you can't translate your background into a compelling rationale for your candidacy, why should you be admitted to the Foreign Service? This kind of strategizing could result in a failed candidacy.

Once you have decided which career track you wish to pursue, let me remind you that FSOs are considered "generalists." In other words, DOS may need you to serve in positions outside of your designated career track. Additionally, all new FSOs are required to serve a consular tour (and/or possibly a management tour) in one of their first two assignments. FSOs at some smaller posts may perform the functions of several officers at the same time. Thus, a consular officer might also work as a public diplomacy officer and a management officer. This is just something to keep in mind.

One last thing. Please remember which track you signed up for. And if your memory is no good, then write this down somewhere. You cannot change your career track once it has been selected. And you cannot retrieve this selection in the event that you forgot it.

(It should also be noted that there is another half to the Foreign Service besides Foreign Service Officers. The Foreign Service also consists of Foreign Service Specialists (FSSs). FSSs have specific functions at American missions abroad, such as security, construction, or medical. After all, embassies need people to maintain their computer networks, issue medication, and provide security. More information about FSS tracks is located here. This blog, however, will focus only on the process of becoming an FSO and, hopefully, my future career as one.)

The next step of this process is where things get serious...

The Foreign Service Beckons: Is This for Me?

This blog has been dormant for a long time. And this blog has remained conceptual in its focus and my thoughts about its very existence for even longer. But I've finally mustered the courage and commitment to try again.

So yeah, I'm Zz. No, that's not my real name. But my aim is to go from being Zz Whatever to being Zz Diplomat. But unless the President taps me to become an ambassador to some obscure country halfway around the world, there's only one way to accomplish this goal: becoming a United States Foreign Service Officer (FSO) with the Department of State.

FSOs have a truly unique and challenging profession. They spend most of their careers working abroad, often in dangerous or inhospitable conditions. They staff our embassies. They visit us in foreign prisons. They negotiate with foreign ministers. They attend international conferences. They conduct visa interviews. They welcome the President and congressional delegations when they travel abroad. They evacuate Americans caught in the wake of a natural disaster or outbreak of war. They provide advice to ambassadors. And they research country conditions and report this information back to Washington.

Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it? Yes, it does. But because of the unique skillset and knowledge base required to do this job, the State Department (DOS) has instituted a rigorous application and screening process. About 20,000 people apply to become FSOs each year, but only about 3% of the candidates are actually hired. In other words, if you want to become an FSO, don't quit your daytime job. But at the same time, even though roughly 97% of FSO candidates are unsuccessful, there's no reason to believe you won't be one of the lucky 3% who survives!

But here's the deal. Unlike most other federal jobs, you cannot apply to become an FSO simply by submitting a resume and answering a few questions on the USAJOBS webpage. You have to take a test, write an essay, submit long-form personal narratives, survive a review panel, pass an oral assessment, receive a medical clearance, pass a background investigation, pass a final review panel, and be called from a register of eligible candidates before you can finally call yourself an FSO. That's a lot of information, so we'll start from the beginning.

When I say "start from the beginning," I must first advise you of three mandatory, non-negotiable, ironclad stipulations that all FSOs must agree to in order to be hired. If you can't agree to these three conditions, you should not waste your time.

1. You must be flexible with your assignments even if they may require you to assume unfamiliar or undesirable responsibilities. For example, even though you might be hired as a political officer (more on that later), you might have to complete a tour as a management officer. Even if your skillset is in public diplomacy, DOS may need you to serve as a consular officer. When dignitaries or other important delegations visit your duty location, you may be assigned as a baggage officer or a notetaker. (More information about this is available at Foreignservicetest.com.) You might need to be trained in a language you have little or no interest in.

2. You must publicly support the policies of the United States Government (USG). As a diplomat, you represent the USG abroad. Your bosses are the President of the United States and the Secretary of State. If you vehemently disagree with the President's decision to send military troops to Country X or you think the Secretary missed a golden opportunity when negotiating with Minister Y, you must be prepared to publicly defend the President, the Secretary, and the relevant policies or actions. If you can't hold your tongue in public, the Foreign Service is not for you.

3. You must be available to serve anywhere in the world at anytime. Yes, there are embassies and consulates in Switzerland, Italy, Britain and New Zealand. But there are also embassies and consulates in Iraq, Libya, Venezuela, and Nigeria. You might be assigned to an impoverished country with poor sanitation. You might have to work in a place where the climate is severe. You might have to work in a country ravaged by war. You might have to work in a place where the locals do not like Americans. And some assignments will not allow you to take your spouse or children or pets with you--and you'll still have to go there anyway. And sometimes you will have to uproot your family on short notice. If you are the type of person who will only become an FSO if you can work in a safe, developed country, then the Foreign Service is definitely not for you.

If you are still reading this, I assume you are okay with these three conditions of employment and are ready to get this show on the road. In my next post, I will provide information on the first steps involved in becoming an FSO and what types of FSOs there are. Stay tuned!