Prep for Foreign Service Officer exam
I'm taking the Foreign Service Officer exam in two weeks. Is there a way to prepare for this thing? It seems to be a potpourri of trivia, like Jeopardy, rather than an aptitude test or assessment of specific skills.
My impression is that it is just a quick check to verify that you read the news regularly, know basic facts and understand basic concepts related to economics and foreign affairs, and you are halfway compatible with a workforce of people whose focus is outside of our borders.
I did the practice test on the State Dept website - no issues there (though I think that one of their answers is incorrect). I generally don't spend too much time fretting over test prep - my preparation for the LSAT and GMAT consisted of purchasing the "for Dummies" book the day before each exam and things worked out okay. Unfortunately, I didn't see any "FSO Test for Dummies" book at B&N, so I'm going into this even more blind than with those previous tests.
I talked with our Diplomat in Residence
the other day and have an answer to what it means to pass the exam. The written exam is still the first critical hurdle. If you don't pass it you don't go on. The next step is new in the past decade - it is a board that looks at the exam, AND the other written materials the candidate submits and decides whether to invite the candidate for the oral assessment. After that it is the same as it used to be, although the anecdotal evidence suggests that more accomodations are made for medical conditions - including being blind.
Finally, an invite to the orals also depends to some extent on the cone selected. Political and Public Diplomacy are over subscribed so are very difficult to get into. There are shortages in the administative,management, economic and consular cones.
Cheers'
JohnT
FSO jobs look very interesting but...
From the FP website: Exclusive: GAO report finds State Department language skills dangerously lacking
Quote:
About a third of Foreign Service officers in jobs that require language skills don't have the proficiency required to do their jobs, hurting America's ability to advocate its interests around the world, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
The report, which has not yet been released, but was obtained by The Cable, spells out the consequences of having a Foreign Service that in many cases can't communicate with local officials or populations, relies too heavily on local staff for critical functions, and can't respond to bad press when it appears in foreign languages.
Substandard skills were found in people holding 31 percent of the approximately 3,600 jobs that require a certain level of language proficiency, known as language-designated positions, up from 29 percent in 2005. In critically important regions such as the Near East and South and Central Asia, that number rises to 40 percent.
Kaykuri, a DLI grad comments:
Quote:
I have a strong desire to serve abroad, always have, but I confess that I am leery of the whole process. Now that I have built something of a career in the private sector, I am exactly the kind of mid-level person
Diplopundit talked about, that it seems DOS is incapable of hiring.
I apparently have to choose a career track first, with little info to go on and in which I will be stuck forever, then pass the exam and orals. For that I understand that I have to look forward to about 3 years of processing visa apps somewhere? Sign me up, baby.