Foreign Service Exam?

[Dangeresque]

Has anyone here taken the Foreign Service exam? I'm considering a career in the foreign service, or as a CIA analyst, after completing my master's degree in political science. Any good advice?

[Jack_Dawson]

1. It's tough as hell

Average person is 31 by the time they pass. Read up on history, geography and history. Did I mention history?

Good luck!

:hi:

[Dangeresque]

3. I'm 34...

...does that help? :)

[goodhue]

2. yes

Use a study guide.
Think carefully when choosing cone; some are more competitive then others.

[Dangeresque]

4. Cone?

Eh? Wassat?

[goodhue]

7. career track

Used to be called cone but seems they now call them career tracks.
There are five of them--Management, Consular, Economic, Political, Public Diplomacy. You must pick one when taking test. You compete against others who have selected that career track. Rumor has it that consular is the least competitive.

https://actrs19.act.org/app/fswe/faq_reg.jsp

[Dangeresque]

9. Ah, gotcha...

I'm interested in either Economic or Political. Thanks for the link!

[goodhue]

10. but think carefully

I did economic and I regret it. The only folks I know by personal acquaintance to make it to the oral (and some beyond), picked consular. Once abroad and assigned, one can move laterally between tracks.

[hatrack]

5. Yes, written's not too bad, oral is TOUGH

There are study guides and I believe State includes sample questions from old tests in their application forms.

It's free - the only cost is to get to the testing site. Written tests are given all over the place, but for the oral you pretty much have to go to DC - or did the last time I looked.

There's no real way to do short-term study for the written, but if you've got a good general liberal arts background with a knowledge of history, politics, the arts, economics, and (to a lesser degree) business and management, you'll probably do OK.

[Dangeresque]

6. Oral?

There's an *oral* component to this?

Good grief.

[goodhue]

8. only if you pass written, would you get to oral

After oral, you are ranked and they pull folks off list. They scrap list each year and start over. So many take test again and again, year after year. It's really a bizarre and inefficient system.

[mainer]

11. Yep, it's hard as hell.

And yep, there's an oral component. You can't really study for it, so much as be a lifelong, well-informed reader. They want people with in-depth general knowledge and organizational skills. The part I thought was pretty fun and challenging was the "in-box" test, where they hand you a bunch of memos and you're supposed to either take immediate action or postpone action.

I think I scored okay, but didn't get accepted that year (during a hiring freeze.) Getting into medical school was easier!

[Senior citizen]

12. I passed the written and flunked the oral.

My interpretation of the Constitution apparently differs from the State Dept.'s interpretation. Our political views also seem to clash. I was offered a job later on anyway, but had just gotten a civil service job and didn't want to leave. That was back when the Iran hostage thing happened, and I figured I was better off with a less prestigious job that didn't involve foreign travel. After all, they already knew my political views, so I wasn't going to be assigned to Paris.

Anyway, the only job advice I've ever been able to give that works is to notice how the people who already work there dress, and make sure that you look like another of their clones.

On edit: Before the orals they made me sign a thing that said I'd never tell anyone what questions they asked. I'll risk saying that I was questioned, then requestioned, then taken into a private room and questioned a third time on one topic, and that when I expressed my opinion on another topic, the whole room went dead silent in shock. Sort of like when I post here. Oh well.

Best of luck to you, and may you never be a hostage.

:toast: :hi:

[Dangeresque]

13. Er...

Thanks! Especially that last bit there.