Here is one of those annoying things when you join the Foreign Service:

The vast majority of the public doesn't have the slightest idea what it is or what you do. You tell them you work for the Department of State and they want to know which state. You tell them you're a diplomat and there is uncomfortable silence like you just said you're a pirate or a cartoon.

I was on the phone the other day with a mortgage banker and he wanted to know who I worked for so I said the Department of State. He wanted to know where I lived and I said Ukraine. Why do I live in Ukraine? Because I work at the American Embassy in Kyiv. So you work for the American Embassy then? Yes. But you said you work for the Department of State. I do. *silence* I finally told him I work for Condoleezza Rice. *more silence*

Most of the time I just tell people I work for the U.S. Government and that I'm currently deployed overseas in Ukraine. Of course, this makes them think I'm military, but if I can get a fraction of the respect they get then I'll take the misconception.

quote:

Originally posted by skobb:
You tell them you're a diplomat and there is uncomfortable silence like you just said you're a pirate or a cartoon.

I was pretty sure you were a pirate. That's the whole reason I respected you...

It seems people get confused if you don't say you do the exact same job as they do or something like doctor, lawyer or fire fighter. Oh well.

quote:

Originally posted by skobb:like you just said you're a pirate

This is, by the way, exactly the profession I profess to enquiring strangers. But now that I read your post, maybe I'll start using 'diplomat.'

quote:

Originally posted by Callilucy:
It seems people get confused if you don't say you do the exact same job as they do or something like doctor, lawyer or fire fighter. Oh well.

Yeah, but Callilucy, you're getting a stunned silence because you have to tell people that you mop up monkey poo for a job.

quote:

Originally posted by skobb:

quote:

Originally posted by Callilucy:
It seems people get confused if you don't say you do the exact same job as they do or something like doctor, lawyer or fire fighter. Oh well.

Yeah, but Callilucy, you're getting a stunned silence because you have to tell people that you mop up monkey poo for a job.

I don't go to the monkey poo place anymore, I've been promoted. I work strictly with rodent poo nowadays. So there. Any day now I'll be able to call myself 'diplomat'.

I've been updating my blog lately and adding some more Foreign Service related links to it in case anyone is interested. The link is in my signature.

Hi all

I've been thinking of taking the foreign service test as soon as I am finished with my BA (1 year and a half to go) and I was wondering if the fact that I am also a Mexican citizen hurt my chances of getting in? Thanks

Hi Alely72,

I don't believe your dual citizenship will hurt your chances of getting in, but it may cause problems when you go through the security clearance process. I believe you might have to revoke the Mexican citizenship, but I'm not positive. You could check with HR at State to be sure.

Hi skobb & friends: thanks for maintaining this wonderfully informative board! I recently passed the FSOT, but can't make heads or tails of my scores. The cutoff was 154 and I got 189.12, but I have no idea if that's good or barely a pass. Any thoughts?

I also took a SCNL test on the phone. Things seemed to go fine but when it was over, the examiner wouldn't tell me if I had passed or not! Is that a bad sign?

Thanks and good luck everyone!

Hi ravenb,

Congratulations for passing the FSOT. To be honest, it doesn't make any difference whether you barely passed or passed by a lot. It is a pass/fail test. The second time I took the test I failed by 1 point, but I still failed. (Luckily, I ended up getting through on my first test.) I believe you passed by a pretty good margin though.

They've changed the testing a bit since I did it. You didn't use to do language testing early in the process. However, I believe they now use that to determine whether you get a slot at the orals. The fact you even tested in a super critical needs language means you must have some ability so I would imagine you'll get a slot. You should also have a good leg-up toward passing that as well if you passed the language test.

Thanks skobb! I called the registrar's office today (apparently state has one!) and was told that I've passed the language test. So now it's back to waiting to be called (or not) for the orals.

Skobb

Is ravenb also prinny04?

I am trying to follow the thread to get perspective.

How difficult is this entire process? I passed the CA bar back in 83 the first time around. Is it harder than that? there are probably a lot more CA lawyers than FSOs and military band members combined.

What level of language competency is required? My Mandarin, Cantonese and Italian are above survival, but certainly not fluent. I can carry on a reasonable discussion with native speakers who have a good attitude and will slow it down a bit. I am Cantonese American born in the US, studied Mandarin in Beijing in 83 and have lived in Italy for the last 4 years. But I am not fluent by any means.

I would like to sit for the Feb 09 written test. I am a news junky. I was planning on waiting or the Dec 9 release of the study guide. Is it realistic to ramp up in 2 months?

Thank you for this thread.

BTW, is it worth paying a bit more for Morrison Media LLC version of the study guide for 40 bucks or stick with the one from the state website?

I'm still just me.

At the moment, I'm enrolled in a Japanese course to help me keep up with my Japanese, but my goal is different (although I intend to take the test again next year) - I want to go to grad school in Japan.

I've more or less given up on Korean, because....it's just not interesting to me. It's virtue is indeed that only a few people speak it and want to learn it. But who knows....

Hi Bob,

I'm sure you're right about California attorneys. There are probably far more of them than there are FSOs. The good news for those trying to get in is that there is currently a bit of a hiring push and we're hopefully that will only increase under Obama. Also, the registers of eligible candidates are nearly depleted at the moment.

The written test is challenging, but not excruciating, especially if you're up on your government, history, current events knowledge. There is also a portion on English grammar that often trips folks up as well as an essay. The oral exam can also be rough, but it is ultimately about how well you demonstrate certain attributes they're looking for. I've never taken a bar exam so I can't really compare, but you sound like a good candidate.

There is no foreign language requirement to join. I didn't have any real foreign language skills. They'll teach those to you after you join. However, if you already have foreign language skills then you can get a boost to your score that will help you get hired. You still need to pass both the written and the oral, but should you pass, these bonus points should pretty much assure you get hired. The amount of points and the level of ability to receive them depends on the language. For Italian you would get a small bonus and the bar to pass the language test is a bit tougher. For Mandarin you get a lot of points and the bar to pass is lower (because we need Mandarin speakers more than Italian speakers.)

I think the State Department study guide is fine. There are commercial ones, but I don't know that they're any better necessarily. Often they are harder if anything. Two months is probably fine to ramp up if you feel fairly up to date on world events. I'd go through a practice test and see how it goes. If you feel you need more time I think the next test will be in May.

Good luck!