The glamorous life of a diplomat is a dream enticing to many, but realized by few. It’s easy to take one look at the first step the foreign service officer test fsot and run in the opposite direction. But fear not! here’s an inside look at the fsot and some tips on how you can ace it. The fsot consists of four parts: a written exam, a personal narrative, an oral assessment, and finally, a security clearance. From questions about the origin of bee bop to the specifics of east asian labor laws, the exam is designed to test general knowledge. The test takes about three hours to complete, and is offered at several test centers around the us and abroad. The test is given during eight day windows, three times a year, and can be re taken once a year.

Narrative Essay About Breaking a Bone

tips for acing the written exam: know your current events! you can be sure the written exam will ask you about geography, political structures, and modern world conflicts. Make a habit of reading the economist, the new york times, foreign policy, and other renowned current events periodicals. take a look at the state department’s suggested course list and suggested reading list for an idea of what else you can read to prepare. quiz yourself! websites like sporcle.com allow you to test yourself on your history, geography, literary, scientific, and musical knowledge, and are a fun and efficient way to study. Once you pass the written exam, you’ll be asked to submit a personal narrative to the qualifications evaluations panel qep. Here, you’ll highlight what you’ve done, who you are, and what you’ve learned from your experiences in essay format.

How to Cite Law Review Articles Blue Book

This is your chance to express why you’re qualified to be a foreign service officer. The scoring is not concrete, but is instead reflects whether the qep feels you would make a promising and qualified candidate. tips for acing the personal narrative: highlight any international relations work and study experience you’ve had. the state department favors candidates with work experience or master’s degrees in an international relations related field, so emphasizing your experience here is crucial.

discuss experiences or situations where you’ve demonstrated the qualities the qep is looking for: leadership, clear communication, consistency, management skills. read the qep guidelines before you begin writing, and read them again when you think your statement is ready. If the qep is sufficiently impressed by your qualifications, you’ll be invited to participate in an oral assessment, a day long exam where you’ll be evaluated on the 13 dimensions essential for work in the foreign service. The oral consists of three parts: a small group exercise, in which candidates work together as a hypothetical task force charged with solving a complex problem and presenting their findings. You’ll be given hypothetical scenarios and asked how you would respond to them, as well as be questioned about your background and experience. tips for acing the oral assessment: practice your public speaking. Give a mock presentation to a friend or family member, and focus on speaking clearly and concisely, and looking up from your notes.

Loss of The Power of Expression By Speech Or Writing

understand the foreign service and your motivation for joining it. In your structured interview, your assessors will be looking for your aptitude and potential to be successful as a foreign service officer. Study up on what your role as an fso would be, and practice talking about why you think you’d make a great fso. practice summarizing articles in a concise, timely manner. to prepare for the case management writing exercise, pick any article in the news, read it, and write a short summary, thinking about the big picture. Highlight the most important information and keep your writing style sharp see any style guide, such as strunk and white’s the elements of style. prepare for case studies. consulting firms like bain, boston consulting group, and mckinsey offer sample case studies on their websites, as it’s part of their interview process. There are also several books on case studies, like marc cosentino’s case in point , that can help you get more comfortable with case interviews.

reach out to any international relations professors you may have known in college. They can likely provide you with helpful material and advice, or direct you to someone in the field who can. You’ll be investigated for a high level security and medical clearance lots of paperwork, but not an exam and your file will be submitted to the panel for final review.

a last word of advice: don’t get discouraged if you don’t make it all the way through on your first try. As your experience and education becomes more extensive, your chances of passing the exam will improve. With a little persistence, you’ll be embassy hopping with the best of them!

test information and selection process

step 1: choose a career track + choose a career track registrants should fully educate themselves about the five foreign service careers tracks: consular, economic, management, political and public diplomacy. Read the descriptions contained in the guide to the foreign service selection process. Registrants will not have the opportunity to change career tracks after submitting the online fsot registration, so careful thought should be given to making this decision. During the course of a career, however, you can expect to serve in more than one career track and it is not unusual for fsos to have assignments in two or three different career tracks.

Moreover, all new fsos can expect to serve their first and/or second tour in a consular position. Step 2: register for the fsot + what is the fsot? the foreign service officer test measures your knowledge, skills and abilities, including writing skills that are necessary to the work of a foreign service officer. It includes three multiple choice sections: job knowledge: questions will cover a broad range of topics including, but not limited to, the structure and workings of the u.s.

Is An Argumentative Essay The Same As a Persuasive Essay

Culture, psychology, technology, management theory, finance and economics, and world affairs english expression and a biographic information section that asks you to describe your work style, your manner of interacting and communicating with others, and your approach to other cultures. In addition, you will be given 30 minutes to write an essay on an assigned topic. The foreign service officer test is administered by pearson vue, and offered three times each year in february, june, and october.

Information about upcoming fsot dates and locations can be found below in step 3: take the fsot. The registration process, which includes concurrent application submission and seat selection, opens approximately five 5 weeks prior to each testing window. To register, go to when registering, keep in mind that all of the information you submit to the board of examiners through pearson vue is subject to verification. Any exaggeration of your experience and qualifications, including your language ability, will weaken your candidacy. Misrepresentations may be grounds for terminating your candidacy, or for dismissing you even after you have joined the foreign service, and may be punishable by a fine or imprisonment. You will receive an on screen confirmation message after you submit completed eligibility verification and application forms, and a second confirmation message after you select a seat. You will also receive an e mail from pearson vue, which includes details about your testing appointment, id requirements, and directions to the testing center.