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I just wanted to chime back in and thank you guys for helping me get over my guilt about bringing my daughter along for the ride. With any luck and no small amount of hard work, we'll be already living the life before she gets old enough to start school or really have friends around here anyway. Last October my FSOT scores were 189.95, so I'm not so worried about the written test, just so long as I don't get overconfident and discount it entirely. I just need to make sure I don't wash out on the PN and OA (admittedly my weakest areas and of greatest concern) and I'll be buying you all beers overseas in no time.
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Jun 8, 2012 17:09
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This may be a stupid question, but I can't find a statement anywhere about it. Are calculators allowed during the test?
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Jun 8, 2012 18:03
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Gumog posted:This may be a stupid question, but I can't find a statement anywhere about it. Are calculators allowed during the test? You won't need one.
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Jun 8, 2012 18:24
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the_chavi posted:Karen? No, she's in RSO, isn't she... Christina. There are 2 Karens though, one in RSO.
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Jun 8, 2012 19:24
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Diplomaticus posted:My OMS took the FSOT today. He/she isn't trying to mustang it? Another question: Is AIP tours available for noobs (1st tour) like myself. The extra cash/benefits would be nice.
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Jun 8, 2012 19:54
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No clue (OMS). AIP is not available 1st tour. You can bid on it starting on your second.
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Jun 8, 2012 20:21
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Just got back from taking the FSOT, it took about an hour and a half. It wasn't bad at all, I'm definitely glad I did a quick brush up on constitution amendments, the regular history and government questions were stuff I already knew. Grammar part was easy. Had a lame question for the essay but I think I did ok on it. Now just to wait.
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Jun 8, 2012 21:46
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How was the bio section? That's like 1/3 of your score.
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Jun 8, 2012 22:04
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For those still in DS limbo, this is the email I just got:A totally overworked HR person posted:A total of 7,825 individuals accessed the online, this is the most that has ever applied in the history of DS for any of our positions. The first quarter of the year we had 1,981 individuals apply for the Security Protective Specialist position. In December and January we had hundreds apply for our Security Engineering Officer and Security Technical Specialist positions. In four months we have received in excess of 10,000 total applications for four of our specialist position. We are assessing candidates, reviewing application packages as well as other day to day work. So she politely told me to gently caress off, they're busy. I can dig it, at least she didn't tell me I'm not competitive. Back to waiting!
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Jun 8, 2012 23:24
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What a way to ruin a weekend. I was all done researching & ready to turn in my bid list for my 2nd EL post. Then I wake up this morning to an email that the sweet EUR posts I had at the top were pulled.  The replacements aren't anything I'm thrilled about, although "Secstate Mobile Communications" sounds intriguing (probably not for me though.)
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Jun 9, 2012 01:24
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I take the test in about 13 hours. Wish my luck! I feel pretty secure about everything but the essay - 30 minutes for an essay seems quite short, so I'm aiming to the minimum of content and just focus on getting the structure of my argument written out. Is this all done on a computer? I can type faster than I can write.
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Jun 9, 2012 01:44
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Gumog posted:I take the test in about 13 hours. Wish my luck! I feel pretty secure about everything but the essay - 30 minutes for an essay seems quite short, so I'm aiming to the minimum of content and just focus on getting the structure of my argument written out. I'm pretty sure it's always on a computer now. I think that's why it's now the Foreign Service Online Test instead of the Foreign Service Written Exam like it was way back when I failed it.
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Jun 9, 2012 06:31
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the_chavi posted:My visa came through in two days, shockingly - are you applying in Washington? It's super fast now, apparently... Are you still planning on TDYing out? Nope, took on a different gig within my office. I'm pretty much grounded TDY wise.
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Jun 9, 2012 07:42
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Vasudus posted:For those still in DS limbo, this is the email I just got: YESSSS COME TO THE DARK SIDE
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Jun 9, 2012 09:46
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Business of Ferrets posted:How was the bio section? The only hard part there was the 200 word limit.
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Jun 9, 2012 12:58
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1of7 posted:What a way to ruin a weekend. I was all done researching & ready to turn in my bid list for my 2nd EL post. Then I wake up this morning to an email that the sweet EUR posts I had at the top were pulled.
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Jun 9, 2012 14:05
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I suppose I can be another person who was inspired to throw money at somethingawful because of this thread. I feel like you guys should get commission... In any case, I'm all kinds of invited to the July specialist class as an IMS. As far as the IMS gig goes I know it's basically a computer janitor, especially at first, but I've also heard various internet type rumors that they are starting to talk about it becoming more of a consulting type role with the other sections. Is there any opportunity for e-diplomacy type work?
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Jun 9, 2012 14:33
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Saho posted:I suppose I can be another person who was inspired to throw money at somethingawful because of this thread. I have a meeting next week with an ICT entrepreneur on the status of the country's infrastructure; the guy is trying to launch a mobile banking/payments system. I'm bringing our IMO along to the meeting to get an idea of what kind of infrastructure needs are holding back the guy's plan. It ties in because I'm organizing a reverse trade mission for senior government officials here to meet with US telecom/ICT firms, so having this info would be beneficial. That sort of thing is happening more and more at our post. Our IMO sometimes engages with the government on other things like logistics for mail and such; usually though these sorts of things are done in conjunction between him and me (Econ) or him and someone from GSO (management) -- not too often that they just do it themselves. That may vary from post to post though, I don't know.
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Jun 9, 2012 15:07
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Thanks, that's good information to know. It's not that I'm uninterested in the IMS side for sure, TCD describing it as an IT generalist sounds pretty good to me, I just think it would be cool to do some work on the diplomatic side. Not that I ever expect to be a "diplomat" as such with this gig. Also, IMO = Information Management Officer right? That's a midlevel type position?
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Jun 9, 2012 15:37
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TCD posted:What ones were pulled, and did they say why? The initial list were all 5 positions & they've been negotiating to try & get some 4's on there. No Vienna or Brussels for me.
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Jun 9, 2012 16:13
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Saho posted:As far as the IMS gig goes I know it's basically a computer janitor, especially at first, but I've also heard various internet type rumors that they are starting to talk about it becoming more of a consulting type role with the other sections. Is there any opportunity for e-diplomacy type work? I've had opportunities to work with other systems. Consular wants me to consult with them on setting up a system to track the status of certain cases. I've been working with ESTH to get our air quality monitor up and running.
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Jun 9, 2012 16:20
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Test went well, I think I passed. The English section went almost perfectly. I lucked out on the essay, as it was on the subject my last class this year was about. It was five paragraphs long, but I just focused on making it clear and succinct. I know I got some of the Job Knowledge test wrong - mostly on management, communications, and US culture questions. It seems I focused studying too much on things that didn't even show up. There was almost nothing about the constitution or amendments on mine. No idea how I did on the biographical segment. I had a lot of good answers for customer service, intercultural experience, and teamwork (my consular internship experience was invaluable for this), not enough for leadership positions though. Crossing my fingers on that one. I answered honestly, however I had the creeping feeling that this was a disguised Myers-Briggs test with a professional component to it. Overall, it was much easier than I expected it to be. Here's to seeing my results in 3-5 weeks! Gumog fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Jun 9, 2012 |
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Jun 9, 2012 18:21
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It sounds like most of you who signed up for the June testing period are already through with the written test, but I thought I'd share my experience on the off chance someone finds it useful. There's plenty of advice in this thread already, so I would initially urge you to seek out and make use of those resources. All I can give you is my perspective from taking the written test, and your mileage may vary. My first bit of advice on the FSOT is to calm down. It's a big test, and it's important, but you really have plenty of time on most sections. The test itself is more of a general knowledge exam. So, if you're the type of person that gets testing anxiety, it might be worth it to spend more time figuring out how to relax during the test than drilling yourself over and over again to try to get a perfect score. There's a lot of resources out there telling you what to study for. I say, use your common sense. You're applying for a job for a government agency that deals with foreign policy. So, geography, current events, history, and communication are obvious choices. I'm not advocating that you blow off all preparation, but when I took the test, I did very little to prepare. I just ran through the practice questions and brushed up on the areas I was weakest on. I think the main reason I did pretty well is because I have a great memory. That gives me confidence during testing. Either I'm certain that I know the answer, or I'm certain that I don't and I take an educated guess. Having a good memory absolutely helps, but it's more important to not sit there and agonize over questions that you're unsure on, or about how you're failing and might as well quit. In general, my advice would be to get yourself reasonably prepared for a general knowledge test, and to accept the fact that your score will not be perfect. The one area of the test that gives people a lot of trouble is the biographic section. They are going to ask you for specific examples of certain events from your life that demonstrate the qualities they have requested. Thousands of people take this test. Not everyone is going to have leadership experience from their 20 years in the Army. If the best example you have is the time you chaperoned your kid's field trip to the zoo, use it. Any example you give is perfectly valid as long as it isn't complete nonsense. Trust me, I've been on the other side of the table asking these sort of questions. You might not think telling the story of organizing your company picnic's pie eating contest is very impressive answer, but it works. You just need to own it. For the FSOT, keep it concise and don't over-think it. Basically, assume that you will be given the opportunity to explain in greater detail later. However, make sure you give solid examples and answer the question. I.e. do not answer, "Describe a time when you helped someone from another country." with "I do this every day at my job as a gas station attendant." The question asked for an example, so give them one. I scored pretty similar in all sections - 63.43/64.3/62.22 with an 8 on my essay. The essay is the only part of the test where time is a major factor. I think I didn't get a better score because I wasn't as succinct as I should have been. Next time around, I plan to do more proofing and editing to prevent redundancy. I also cited several legal cases to support my argument, but I don't think that really helped my cause at all. I feel like they were mostly looking to see how well the candidate could read, interpret, and respond. A glorified literacy test and personality quiz in one. If you freak out and just go off on a rant that's full of spelling errors, they'll see that. They don't even read the essays unless you pass the multiple choice portion, so they already know everything that they can infer from that. So instead of trying to sound impressive, try to focus on building a solid argument that could be understood by a high school senior. The only other part of the process I know anything about personally is the PN portion, which is where I failed last time. I can't give you any insight as to what a good answer is, but I can tell you why I failed. In my case, I beat myself. I'm a high school drop out. I got my HSED four years later, and five years after that I started college. Between dropping out and college, I did whatever menial work I could. Certainly nothing worth bragging about. Whatever skills and propensities I do have are difficult to translate onto paper, to say nothing of a 200 character answer. To make a long post slightly shorter, I'll just say I did the opposite of what I should have done. I started feeling like I wasn't worthy of the job and didn't have anything to offer. I think it really came through in my answers. Instead of giving thoughtful, measured responses comprised of specific and detailed experiences from my life, I wrote it all up in a few hours and sent it out. I think one of my answers was around 100 characters, or half the total available limit. If you're answer is that short, it better be a good one. So, if you get this far, don't do what I did. Take your time on them. Proof them a couple times before you send it out. You only get a certain number of words per response, so make sure every one of them is necessary. It's really difficult to compress your life into such parameters, but it makes sense when they have to read so many. Don't think of it as having an opportunity to convince the QEP why they should hire you. That's not their purpose, nor is it your task.
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Jun 11, 2012 18:53
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Killing Flies posted:It sounds like most of you who signed up for the June testing period are already through with the written test, but I thought I'd share my experience on the off chance someone finds it useful. There's plenty of advice in this thread already, so I would initially urge you to seek out and make use of those resources. All I can give you is my perspective from taking the written test, and your mileage may vary. I got an 11/12 on the essay last time I took it. I posted my advice then but that is many many pages back. To sum it up: treat the essay like a 5-paragraph essay you'd write for your high school state level exam. Quickly lay out your thesis and state 3 ways on how you intend to support/prove what you are arguing. Following three paragraphs layout one supporting argument each and if you have time address any weaknesses these arguments may have. Wrap your argument up and derive your conclusion in the last paragraph. Any extra paragraphs from here are extra argument paragraphs you put somewhere in the body. While eloquence is important so is grammar and spelling so don't use words you know you can't spell because you blew through college on spell check's back. Cut the flowery prose bullshit and stick to clarity and brevity. This is an argumentative/persuasive essay not the next great American novel. One last thing: relax, this isn't the end of the world if you spaz. Take your learning experience and try again next cycle. Have some fun with it and you'll do fine. Also diplomaticus if you think this is helpful feel free to link to the post in the OP since you ran into the character limit already.
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Jun 11, 2012 19:34
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What do you guys think of the movie In the Loop? Personally it's one of my favorites.
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Jun 11, 2012 19:37
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Jedi Knight Luigi posted:What do you guys think of the movie In the Loop? Personally it's one of my favorites. I laughed my rear end off. Is it still on Netflix streaming?
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Jun 11, 2012 23:09
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Not sure, I bought it on DVD in a blockbuster 2 years ago. "White Stripes, out! ... There's only two people in the White Stripes."
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Jun 11, 2012 23:50
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Does anyone know about the Antarctica post? I'm tempted to bid on it if it's up sometime, sounds like a fun place. Wondering about it.
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Jun 12, 2012 00:26
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Skandiaavity posted:Does anyone know about the Antarctica post? I'm tempted to bid on it if it's up sometime, sounds like a fun place. Wondering about it. I know about the US camps, but I thought it was staffed by scientists and contractors.
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Jun 12, 2012 00:30
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Yeah, that was my question... I know they have a 'U.S. Mission to Antarctica' (ARL/ARM program, you can see the flyers on the metro). That is mostly staffed/funded by contractors such as Raytheon... During orientation they said they had a post there (McMurdo, I assume?) Was wondering if it was legit or not, or if anyone's been posted there.
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Jun 12, 2012 01:02
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Skandiaavity posted:Yeah, that was my question... I know they have a 'U.S. Mission to Antarctica' (ARL/ARM program, you can see the flyers on the metro). That is mostly staffed/funded by contractors such as Raytheon... During orientation they said they had a post there (McMurdo, I assume?) Was wondering if it was legit or not, or if anyone's been posted there. If this is actually a Thing, it sounds like something that would be staffed in Washington by some obscure office in OES. Maybe IRM provides comms support? I literally and unironically cannot think of a worse assignment than McMurdo Station.
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Jun 12, 2012 01:38
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I have one concern. I'm a dual citizen of Finland as well. I haven't been able to get a clear answer out of anyone yet (perhaps because there isn't one), but I want to know how this could effect or restrict me in the future. State does not have an official policy about dual citizens, as it is decided upon on a case-by-case basis. I wanted to ask you guys if you've had any experience with other FSOs who are dual citizens or were dual citizens. I would like to hear what their experiences have been regarding this issue. I remember reading in State magazine that there was an FSO who was a dual citizen of Singapore. Is giving up a second citizenship something they ask me to do before they grant TS clearance, or will they deny anyways even if I do? This is a point of special concern for me, because it's something I have consider before planning to invest more time or money in advanced education. Whether I will face a ceiling to how far I could advance or do in the foreign service due to security concerns, or if I don't even have a chance. Note: I am willing to give up my foreign citizenship if it means a career in US government. I was granted secret clearance earlier. Gumog fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Jun 12, 2012 |
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Jun 12, 2012 04:07
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I believe they may ask you to declare your intent / preference for U.S. Citizenship. You've heard correctly, clearances really are case-by-case. I don't see it having a bearing on your FS eligibility, as that is up to you as a whole person. However, there may be clearance concerns and those would have an impact on your eligibility and career, as the position is dependent on having a clearance. Really, the only straight answer I can tell you is to ask the investigator what they think.
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Jun 12, 2012 04:27
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I read the guidelines for dual citizenship and security clearances here, in case anyone else has any similar concerns: http://www.state.gov/m/ds/clearances/60321.htm#b Although my case must have raised concerns, it sounds like these concerns are more relevant to dual citizens of countries like China or Iran that aren't democratic and have active intelligence interests in the USA. Countries like tiny little Finland probably don't raise too many red flags.
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Jun 12, 2012 05:12
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Business of Ferrets posted:If this is actually a Thing, it sounds like something that would be staffed in Washington by some obscure office in OES. Maybe IRM provides comms support? I would maybe ask in the Antarctica thread (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3353510). mradyfist might have run across whoever State has down there, if there is such a post.
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Jun 12, 2012 05:42
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Gumog posted:I have one concern. I'm a dual citizen of Finland as well. Typically you have to be WILLING to give up your foreign citizenship; it does not mean you actually will have to do so. You will very likely receive a Diplomatic Security exclusion from postings in your home country. Example: My colleague and her husband are Macedonian dual citizens (she's the FSO, he's an EFM working in an Econ Officer position via the EPAP program). They cannot bid on Skopje.
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Jun 12, 2012 06:08
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Skandiaavity posted:Does anyone know about the Antarctica post? I'm tempted to bid on it if it's up sometime, sounds like a fun place. Wondering about it. Well, it gets hardship pay. http://aoprals.state.gov/Web920/location_action.asp?MenuHide=1&CountryCode=1373
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Jun 12, 2012 19:36
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Apparently there's an "Arctic Region" post too.
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Jun 12, 2012 19:41
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Business of Ferrets posted:If this is actually a Thing, it sounds like something that would be staffed in Washington by some obscure office in OES. Maybe IRM provides comms support? I'm pretty sure the IT stuff is all done by contractors. I applied for that job many years ago. I have better judgement now.
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Jun 12, 2012 19:53
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mtreecorner posted:Well, it gets hardship pay. What is curious: there is LQA of $15,900 for group 3. Hmmmm.
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Jun 12, 2012 21:21
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