Quote Originally Posted by SteveMetz View Post
I don't know if it's changed, but when I was looking at the Foreign Service, they had 20K people a year take the written test, 2K pass that, 400 pass the oral exam, and about 200 get offers. They then had extended training. The normal age of entry was upper 20s, and the vast majority had an MA or better.
I have no information on hiring processes, although the three people I have known who joined the foreign service did not have M.A.' (they all spoke a foreign language though, which may be just as good). However, what I was thinking of was this how they are having a hard time with volunteers for duty in Iraq (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...041503145.html). Of course, that may not have resulted in a change in hiring.

This actually sort of brings us back to the original question of this thread, which is the shortage of 'non-soldier types' like anthropologists, and Foreign Service Officers in the war zone. I think that if Kivlonic wants to 'get his hands dirty' there should be plenty of opportunity, but maybe there just isn't, outside the military, or an advanced degree. Why is that? And how could we fix that? Would things be better in Iraq if we did?