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Business of Ferrets posted:
But are you on per diem?!
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Oct 1, 2011 04:40
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Homie S posted:But are you on per diem?! No, PCS for training. Yes, it's expensive.
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Oct 1, 2011 04:55
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Survived the first week in the fighting 123rd Specialist Orientation Class. Seriously lolled when I saw what looked like a fox taking a dump in the middle of the lawn at FSI. Got our bid list last Tuesday and have been living on the State intranet and OBC when not in class. Fingers crossed for our high bids! Somewhat related: there is a large writing pad in class to post questions with a drawing of some kind of animal, presumably in or near the FSI parking lot. It kind of looks like a squirrel or beaver but isn't. I'm thinking it might be something out of FSI lore--anyone know what it might be? There is a prize involved!
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Oct 1, 2011 19:45
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Well I took the FSOT this week for the first time. Other than the first section I thought it was pretty easy. I think I didn't give myself enough credit in the bio section though.
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Oct 1, 2011 20:57
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Tyro posted:Well I took the FSOT this week for the first time. Other than the first section I thought it was pretty easy. I think I didn't give myself enough credit in the bio section though. You should have definitely milked the bio section as much as possible.
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Oct 1, 2011 23:30
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Tyro posted:Well I took the FSOT this week for the first time. Other than the first section I thought it was pretty easy. I think I didn't give myself enough credit in the bio section though. I think I did alright on the first part and I'm sure I nailed the last two parts. Just gotta wait and see now.
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Oct 2, 2011 03:28
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On TDY for 5 weeks. I'm not much of one for hotel living, but Almaty has Indian food, so two thumbs up so far.
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Oct 2, 2011 04:52
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Two people from my new hire class got promoted already and one got an MSI Fuckers
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Oct 2, 2011 09:36
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Business of Ferrets posted:Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world. . . . Yeah, the hotel thing is pretty much what happened. HOORAY posted:Survived the first week in the fighting 123rd Specialist Orientation Class. Seriously lolled when I saw what looked like a fox taking a dump in the middle of the lawn at FSI. Got our bid list last Tuesday and have been living on the State intranet and OBC when not in class. Fingers crossed for our high bids! Wait, was it a real fox, or was it the fake wolves/foxes they put up there to scare off the killer geese?
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Oct 2, 2011 10:32
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Updating a bit of the OP. Hooray -- what specialist field are you? Natural Ice -- where are you going? Skand -- clearances finished yet?
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Oct 2, 2011 10:45
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Diplomaticus posted:Yeah, the hotel thing is pretty much what happened. 1. Fake fox, but thought it was real at first. 2. Office Management Specialist currently in the 123rd orientation class. Flag day on Oct 11th.
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Oct 2, 2011 15:10
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Diplomaticus posted:Updating a bit of the OP. I'll be heading to Bangkok next spring. Really excited about the posting, and learning Thai has been an interesting, albeit sometimes frustrating, experience so far. 
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Oct 2, 2011 15:27
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It will all be worth it for the food. I've got a colleague who was at Embassy Bangkok and he loved it.
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Oct 2, 2011 15:42
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Assuming I, or the other goons did well enough on the FSOT, what happens next after we get our results?
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Oct 2, 2011 16:30
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:Assuming I, or the other goons did well enough on the FSOT, what happens next after we get our results? You'll get an email with a link to where you can submit your personal narrative questions (PNQs -- though confusingly this is the QEP stage). You'll have a couple of weeks to work on them, then you'll submit them, wait nervously for a couple of weeks to a couple of months, and then find out if you were invited to the oral assessment or not.
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Oct 2, 2011 20:16
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Diplomaticus posted:I'd go Political then -- you'll be required to do a consular tour anyway in one of your first two tours, so you'll at least get to do both; it doesn't work like that the other way around. Hello, everyone... I've followed this thread for quite some time, and now that I've finally taken the FSOT yesterday, I figured I would register here. Diplomaticus, how accurate is your statement in that low scores are in the 5.3-5.5 range? If I get invited to the oral assessment, am I basically guaranteed at least a 5.3? This seems to give me quite a bit of hope. I was a Korean linguist (3/3) in the Army, which should grant .575 to my hypothetical oral assessment score. I feel as though as I'm setting myself up for quite a disappointment, but it's interesting to fantasize... heh. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread, as it seems to be one of the most informative sources of the FSO program on the internet.
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Oct 3, 2011 02:05
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maeungochu posted:Hello, everyone... I've followed this thread for quite some time, and now that I've finally taken the FSOT yesterday, I figured I would register here. It's still accurate, maybe expanded a bit. 5.7's seem to be the magic number right now to get an A-100 invite. A 5.3 is the min passing score. If you pass the OA, you have a minimum of a 5.3. If you pass it with a higher score, so much the better. But with so many people passing with a 5.3, and then getting .4 for language points, you can see why 5.7 is really the score to beat for a realistic chance of being hired. Right now the "bubble" seems to be the 5.67 and 5.675's. Less than that, and it looks pretty bleak. Hope that helps.
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Oct 3, 2011 13:08
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Diplomaticus posted:It's still accurate, maybe expanded a bit. 5.7's seem to be the magic number right now to get an A-100 invite. It would seem to me that there is now a de facto language requirement. How many people pull off a 5.7 on the oral alone?
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Oct 4, 2011 14:49
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No, it's just hard to get the higher scores, and nobody knows what gets you the difference between a 5.3 and a 5.6 or so. I had no language, got a 5.5 (but had vet points, so 5.675). That was good enough for 30's ranking on the register. Language points are a huge bonus, but there are people who get 5.9, 6.0 etc., meaning they're scoring in the 5.5-5.8 range naturally before their points. That being said, probably 66%-75% of my class had a language. Of those who didn't, about half had veterans points (most of our veterans didn't have language, actually).
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Oct 4, 2011 16:32
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Left-field question, but here goes. I work in refugee resettlement, and have always been interested in a future with the foreign service. As a result of my line of work, I've been extended invitations by clients to visit Cuba as a tourist by way of Mexico City. How would such a trip be judged during any security clearance process? I'm in no way set on doing this, but would it affect my chances?
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Oct 6, 2011 00:22
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MothraAttack posted:Left-field question, but here goes. I work in refugee resettlement, and have always been interested in a future with the foreign service. As a result of my line of work, I've been extended invitations by clients to visit Cuba as a tourist by way of Mexico City. How would such a trip be judged during any security clearance process? I'm in no way set on doing this, but would it affect my chances? Though it is probably best not to go, if you decide to do so you should check the law closely to ensure you stay on the right side of it. A good place to start is http://travel.state.gov/ which also links to Treasury's OFAC website. Best bet would be to get in as an FSO, then get posted to our interests section there. Naturally, "visits" to Guantanamo Bay are within U.S. law but involve other restrictions. It is worth noting that a trip to Cuba would almost certainly draw out the background check and might make some questions unresolvable (thus failing the check).
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Oct 6, 2011 01:47
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Diplomaticus posted:Language points are a huge bonus, but there are people who get 5.9, 6.0 etc., meaning they're scoring in the 5.5-5.8 range naturally before their points. That being said, probably 66%-75% of my class had a language. Of those who didn't, about half had veterans points (most of our veterans didn't have language, actually). Curious, is it even possible to score higher than 6 without veteran's/language bonus? I felt pretty discouraged by my score, but it's more in line with what people are reporting here and on the yahoo board, so I've gotten a renewed hope. (not that it matters, since I'm still waiting on someone to look at my medical forms--which I'm grateful were even accepted since I was a week late--I think I should have budgeted time to get examined while *in* DC rather than fax blood work and physical form...)
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Oct 6, 2011 05:15
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I personally know one officer who scored a 6.1, I believe, on the FSOA. It was at least a 6, and 6.1 is what I remember. So it does happen, but rarely. A theoretical perfect score would be a 7 (full points in all categories).
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Oct 6, 2011 05:47
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Chilling at a mall in Atlanta on a reststop. Leave the US tonight!
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Oct 6, 2011 16:31
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Wow today was pretty much incredible. Did my first real (i.e. live and in person) demarche, and got to be great hero when I came back. Sometimes this job completely owns.
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Oct 6, 2011 17:36
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That's awesome.. Seems like FSO can be a really satisfying job. All of us non-FSO types are quite jealous!
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Oct 6, 2011 21:28
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maeungochu posted:That's awesome.. Seems like FSO can be a really satisfying job. All of us non-FSO types are quite jealous! Meh, don't envy them. Become them.
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Oct 7, 2011 07:58
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Ronald Spiers posted:Meh, don't envy them. Become them. Easier said than done these days.
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Oct 7, 2011 10:03
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So I'm on for OA in DC at the end of January. Anyone have a favorite discussion group online?
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Oct 8, 2011 00:35
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Welp, taking the written again in a few hours. Not too worred as I passed pretty easy last time (and bombed the qep), but who know?
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Oct 8, 2011 19:44
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Took the written test earlier. Didn't seem too bad. The essay didn't even seem too hard. Spent about 5 minutes planning, 20 minutes writing, and 5 minutes checking it. Pretty satisfied with it, too. Biographical part was kinda annoying, if only for the 200 character limit. I had some pretty fun times working for a former US Senator as staff, so hopefully I make it to the QEP part and use that experience for the PNQs. Worst case scenario, this thing is decent practice for the GRE in a month or so. Question: I'm currently in my last year of university and first year of Mandarin. If I make it to and past QEP and get an invite to OA, and I pass OA, can I keep studying Mandarin, call somebody up, and request the spoken test to boost my score up? Again, this is assuming I even get to the point, and I'm sitting on the register, but deep enough that it'd be a solid ~1 year or more I could use to study the language more. This thread has been fun to read through, and really helped give me something more solid to look to as a (someday) post-graduation career that doesn't involve something as soul-draining as political work, so thank you!
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Oct 8, 2011 20:56
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Monkey Fury posted:
The answer is "yes."
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Oct 9, 2011 00:06
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Diplomaticus posted:Updating a bit of the OP. Yeah, I have been in final review for pretty much a month now. Clearances are all set. The paperwork, shall we say, was "delayed." Although I was ready to go since July :P Waiting on 124th class if/when they announce it.
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Oct 9, 2011 00:20
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Tangentially related; Anyone here know how to apply or start the process for the American Institute in Taiwan? Seeing as how it's a non-profit company not in State I'd imagine it's different, however what I've googled so far has just been about spouses of AIT staff
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Oct 9, 2011 19:47
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USDA Choice posted:Tangentially related; Anyone here know how to apply or start the process for the American Institute in Taiwan? Seeing as how it's a non-profit company not in State I'd imagine it's different, however what I've googled so far has just been about spouses of AIT staff AIT is staffed with FSOs through the normal State Department assignments process, so taking the FSOT, etc., is the way to go.
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Oct 9, 2011 21:31
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:I did the exact same thing. Took the test earlier today. I tried to do the full 200 characters on all the questions that I could, but it was hard. I ran out of characters on most of those. Going through 3 public defender positions since last year (total of 5) basically let me check 4 or more for everything. And the essay went much better this year as I knew 30 min flew by. I finished with 45 sec to spare in no rush. 
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Oct 9, 2011 21:39
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nm posted:I ran out of characters on most of those. Without really planning on doing it I ended up treating the essay like the 5-paragraph format they teach in elementary-high school. Only I had more than three body paragraphs and made sure to address counters to my position. I ended up with a very high score on the essay sticking to as little flair as possible. As long as you finish within the time limit and tie everything back to your thesis statement the essay should be a breeze that you can do on autopilot if you've ever had to take at least one writting intensive class in college. Good luck to you guys and when you move on to QEP make sure you give yourself plenty of time for multiple revisions.
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Oct 9, 2011 23:22
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Dameius posted:Without really planning on doing it I ended up treating the essay like the 5-paragraph format they teach in elementary-high school. Only I had more than three body paragraphs and made sure to address counters to my position. I don't remember for sure, but I think that's what I did as well.
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Oct 9, 2011 23:43
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Dameius posted:Without really planning on doing it I ended up treating the essay like the 5-paragraph format they teach in elementary-high school. Only I had more than three body paragraphs and made sure to address counters to my position. And I think that was my major problem with the QEP. I left it for the last minute, I mean, after all how hard can 5 200 word responses be? Very.
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Oct 10, 2011 00:18
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nm posted:Yeah, basically. You and me both. Turns out the whole QEP thing takes a little bit more effort than the FSOT. 
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Oct 10, 2011 01:24
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