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zzonkmiles posted:I remember a "green check" on the State page saying that over the past 7 years, anywhere from "5% to 100%" of candidates within all five cones have passed the QEP. My guess is that this cohort's selection rate was closer to the 5% than the 100%. But maybe that's a good thing because of all the unhappy people timing off the register with decent scores (5.5+). Of course, now the October cohort has to hope that State overcorrected and will loosen things up again when QEP results come out again in January. 100% QEP pass rate? Jesus. I should've taken the test seriously back in 2011.
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Sep 21, 2014 06:16
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Lol State would have a range from 5-100% as a statistic.
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Sep 21, 2014 11:35
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Leif. posted:Lol State would have a range from 5-100% as a statistic. "It depends."
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Sep 21, 2014 14:05
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zzonkmiles posted:Zzonkmiles attempts to enter the Foreign Service, Take 4! 2012: Pass FSOT. Fail QEP. (political) 2013: Pass FSOT. Fail QEP. (political) 2014: Pass FSOT. Pass QEP (yay! and aaaahhhhhhhh!) (Econ) It's been tough, the first failure was the worse. I just kept remembering what a friend who's an FSO told me when I decided to do this, "I have a friend who passed after 5 times." So, I've just told myself, so far, that maybe the 3rd's time's the charm... or the 5th! This all has been a real mental exercise. Question 1: Those of you who have taken/passed the OA, how did you study? (Taking the FSOT/QEP 3x has made me an expert at studying for it, but I'm totally lost with the OA. Question 2: How much time should I give myself? I'm not sure if I should go for the OA asap or wait. Any help would be super SUPER appreciated. Thanks!! solarjaye fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Sep 22, 2014 |
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Sep 22, 2014 02:00
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solarjaye posted:2012: Pass FSOT. Fail QEP. (political) Congrats! There's a Yahoo! FSOA group you can join now.
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Sep 22, 2014 02:42
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Sorry to everyone who did not make it through QEP. Sounds like it's just nuts right now. Solarjaye, the only prep I did for the OA was not OA-specific. I applied when I was in grad school and we had done a decent amount of generic interview prep, focusing on the STAR/PAR format (Situation or Problem, Action, Results) and I found that carried over well into the OA. I made some extra appointments with some friends who had been management consultants and had them mock interview me. They weren't directly familiar with the foreign service but knew that was where I wanted to work and were able to shape their questions in a way that they ended up being fairly relevant and helpful. My biggest piece of advice would be to have some friends or colleagues practice interviewing you and giving you feedback. Also find some lists of "standard interview questions" and think of some good responses from your own experience using the format I described above. It's far easier to modify an answer you have thought about and used before to answer a question that's similar to one you have answered than it is to come up with something out of the blue to answer a question you're not prepared for. The big wildcard is the group exercise. Maybe I just got lucky but I had a stellar group for my OA and all but one of us made it through.
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Sep 22, 2014 02:47
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2013: Pass FSOT. Fail QEP. 2014: Fail FSOT, argue case to an email address that only responds once, asking for the story, and then never responds again despite repeated attempts at communication. Feel bitter. For those asking about the 11 month thing, I applied for the 2013 June FSOT in February of that year, and was able to submit an application for what turned out to be the 2014 June FSOT in January. It goes from when you last applied, not the time since you took the test itself.
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Sep 22, 2014 02:49
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I don't get it. Did State hire too many officers earlier and now doesn't have anywhere to place new officers? Was funding cut so severely that State simply couldn't hire the number of officers it wanted? Are more people becoming interested in FSOs, thus resulting in a higher number of applications and a correspondingly smaller pass rate? Are there too many candidates on the hiring register, thus making State want to stem the flow of new people joining the register until those currently on it receive offers or expire? Does anybody know what is going on? I first found out about the Foreign Service in 2006. I regret wating five years to actually apply for the first time.
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Sep 22, 2014 15:35
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Low budgets, sluggish economy.
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Sep 22, 2014 16:57
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zzonkmiles posted:I don't get it. There was a big push to +up staff during what... 08-11 I think? Now there's sequestration, budgets, etc. and well... yea, missed the window where lots of people were moving through. http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/perfrpt/2010/html/153561.htm
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Sep 22, 2014 19:45
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solarjaye posted:2012: Pass FSOT. Fail QEP. (political) Generalist or Specialist? The OAs are pretty significantly different between them. For generalists, the FSOA Yahoogroup is the main study tool people use. It's mostly learning the format of the three sections, getting an idea of what they look for, and running some sample exercises so you're not thrown off by the format on test day. Beyond that, it's a test of you, so there's only so much studying you can do for it. For specialists, YMMV depending on what position.
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Sep 22, 2014 22:36
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zzonkmiles posted:I don't get it. 1) no, always places to send new officers 2) State budget is a post, nay thread, in and of itself... the short answer is also no. 3) # of applications and pass rate are irrelevant, although that is a common school of thought since it's how every other HR does business. State's system is pretty different, designed as "Highest Come, Highest Served" (edit: # of applications only comes into play if there is a deficient (more people leaving than coming in). I'd go out on a limb and say State can always find new bodies) 4) like #3 it is irrelevant. say you have a 5.7, pretty good score. you're on the register for say, 9 months. 5 new kids come in all with scores higher than you. State needs 5 slots; well, the 5 other guys get the invite, and you don't - even though you were on the list first, you're not the highest on the list.. If one defers, and you're the next highest, then you'll get the invite. all said and done i think we are on the 'down curve' of hiring but it'll swing back up eventually. That's why we all say it should be Plan B, becuase it's no guarantee. Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Sep 23, 2014 |
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Sep 23, 2014 06:20
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Well we're spooling up for another war, new potus in two years, and a whole slew of other foreign policy happenings and shindigs. Maybe in our lifetimes there will be yet another 100% QEP pass rate. 
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Sep 24, 2014 23:58
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I see an FSS vacancy announcement was posted for an OMS. What do you think? If you want to be an FSO, should you stay away from this FSS posting? Or do many people use FSS jobs to get the inside track into becoming an FSO? One part of me says I shouldn't bother with this, but another part of me says "why not?"
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Sep 25, 2014 14:15
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It isn't really a lateral-movement type world here but that isn't to say that its impossible. But don't apply for a job that you don't want to do as the likelihood is if you get it, you'll have it for a long while. No one wants to work with someone who only took their job in order to do a different job.
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Sep 25, 2014 16:06
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zzonkmiles posted:I see an FSS vacancy announcement was posted for an OMS. What do you think? If you want to be an FSO, should you stay away from this FSS posting? Or do many people use FSS jobs to get the inside track into becoming an FSO? One part of me says I shouldn't bother with this, but another part of me says "why not?" At my current post we had a really good OMS go through the FSOT/FSOA/A-100 track this past summer. We also had an ESO mustang around the same time. With that said, I really only recommend people apply to openings for jobs they want to do. OMSs normally come in at pretty low pay compared to FSOs. If you're content with admin work, by all means, apply away, but don't just do it because you think it's an automatic foot in the door to be a FSO (it's not).
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Sep 25, 2014 16:15
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Thanks TCD and Nutrementia. I will stay away from that posting like I will stay away from the North Korean border! If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it the right way. (drat, I wish I could skip that stupid test. I'm so sick of taking that thing!)
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Sep 25, 2014 19:43
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Flag day tomorrow! Everyone excited?
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Sep 26, 2014 01:56
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Tyro posted:Sorry to everyone who did not make it through QEP. Sounds like it's just nuts right now. Thanks so much! This was super helpful. I'm already on the Yahoo Group and have printed out a mountain of things. Just need to get myself organized and on a schedule. I deal better when I have a system in place. Again, thank you!
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Sep 26, 2014 03:43
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zzonkmiles posted:If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it the right way. Heh, indeed!
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Sep 26, 2014 12:32
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the_chavi posted:Flag day tomorrow! Everyone excited? Yeahhhh!!! I'm going! But I think I'm the only one at FSI.
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Sep 26, 2014 12:41
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zzonkmiles posted:I see an FSS vacancy announcement was posted for an OMS. What do you think? If you want to be an FSO, should you stay away from this FSS posting? Or do many people use FSS jobs to get the inside track into becoming an FSO? One part of me says I shouldn't bother with this, but another part of me says "why not?" No, this is a terrible idea. There's no "inside track" (the mustang program is tiny, pretend it doesn't exist). If you don't want to be an OMS, you'll hate being an OMS. Besides the "I've worked overseas in a multi-cultural environment check mark", I don't think your bettering your application. On another note do your due diligence when a post is eligible for a consumables shipment. I bought like $2k worth of "stuff" I thought I'd need, then I get here, and the grocery stores are way nicer than some in the DC area (like Safeway) and everything basically costs the same  . I'm trying to pawn off my 8 gallons of olive oil, 1250 feet of aluminum foil, 10 gallons of laundry detergent, 40 boxes of pasta at the moment. My pantry looks more like the magazine stockpile for Livingstone exploration up the Zambezi than someone moving to Harare for a short tour.I have a feeling State is quick to change things UP like differential, danger pay, consumables shipments, ect but slow to reverse it and I'm catching the tail end of that (this place was most definitely in the shitter a 2008ish) problematique fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Sep 26, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 16:04
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LOL @ problematique. We are still working our way through the toilet paper we bought before moving to China 3 years ago. A friend said to make sure to take it from the US as what they had there was no good. That was ridiculous. I also fixed a bag of popcorn a few days ago and thought it was pretty horrible and checked the package to see that the "Best by:" date passed in 2012. :P
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Sep 26, 2014 18:35
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1of7 posted:LOL @ problematique. We are still working our way through the toilet paper we bought before moving to China 3 years ago. A friend said to make sure to take it from the US as what they had there was no good. That was ridiculous. Most food can go well beyond the expiration date. Note, I say most. Ask: Me about eating moldy beef jerky
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Sep 26, 2014 20:32
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TCD posted:Most food can go well beyond the expiration date. Note, I say most. We just got our second round of consumables about a month ago. It's nice having some items you can't get here locally. Ok who's on the overtime train this weekend! 
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Sep 27, 2014 04:38
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1of7 posted:LOL @ problematique. We are still working our way through the toilet paper we bought before moving to China 3 years ago. A friend said to make sure to take it from the US as what they had there was no good. That was ridiculous. Hey man, 4 ply is amazing. Don't think you can even get it in Europe. Or Mexico. Your friend should have told you to learn how to squat instead of getting toilet paper. Ok folks, who here can use a squatting toilet? Which Chinese city are you in? You should come hang out with us!
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Sep 27, 2014 04:53
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caberham posted:Hey man, 4 ply is amazing. Don't think you can even get it in Europe. Or Mexico. Your friend should have told you to learn how to squat instead of getting toilet paper. Ok folks, who here can use a squatting toilet? I could never really work out how to use a squat toilet without taking my pants completely off so I just did my best to avoid the whole situation. I was in Chengdu, but I've been gone for over a year.
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Sep 27, 2014 07:36
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1of7 posted:I could never really work out how to use a squat toilet without taking my pants completely off so I just did my best to avoid the whole situation. Oh that's too bad. Chengdu is goon base #2 in China and I was there last month (meeting Korean/China goons). The local police don't even let people stand on the same side of the street as the US embassy
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Sep 27, 2014 10:32
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SCRwM posted:Ok who's on the overtime train this weekend! All aboard.
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Sep 27, 2014 11:32
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zzonkmiles posted:Thanks TCD and Nutrementia. I will stay away from that posting like I will stay away from the North Korean border! If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it the right way. 1) Our office just dealt with an american who tried to swim to North Korea 2) I just posted a pic on FB of me within pissing distance of the actual line of demarcation.
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Sep 27, 2014 14:11
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Nutrimentia posted:1) Our office just dealt with an american who tried to swim to North Korea That would seriously put all other language immersion programs to shame.
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Sep 27, 2014 16:21
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caberham posted:Ok folks, who here can use a squatting toilet? I can use a squat toilet. I've actually found them to be better than Western toilets when it comes to, uhhhhhh...unloading everything.
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Sep 27, 2014 16:35
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zzonkmiles posted:I can use a squat toilet. I've actually found them to be better than Western toilets when it comes to, uhhhhhh...unloading everything. God I hate squattershitters so much.
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Sep 28, 2014 12:04
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Leif. posted:God I hate squattershitters so much. I piss off so many people in airplanes because I go thermonuclear in lavatories just to avoid those drat things. God drat they are miserable.
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Sep 28, 2014 17:02
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Leif. posted:God I hate squattershitters so much. Squatshitters are okay if your shits are normal and solid. Problem is, most of the time squatshitters are in countries where liquid shits with explosive gas are common so the floor tends to be more of an abstract art show piece.
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Sep 28, 2014 18:00
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You do develop nicer thighs and legs from constant use of squatters though. Come to think of it, it's really hard to get fat is you squat on a constant basis. It's decent exercise! But yeah, spray and pray is horrible, especially for girls since they can't aim
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Sep 28, 2014 18:06
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Yeah, I wasn't going to get into the details. But by the time I left Addis I was making GBS threads upwards of 20 times per day, due to medical problems. Usually this meant projectile liquid spray, interspersed with bits of my intestinal wall sloughing off. Needless to say this was not conducive to a squatter. To top it off, coffee aggravated it, and it is not possible to do anything in Addis without being offered coffee. I am pretty sure my Ambo ended a meeting early between an assistant USTR and the finance minister here because he saw how visibly uncomfortable I was while attempting to notetake and clench at the same time, and offered to take her back in his car. Of course, the ministry building only had squatters......
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Sep 28, 2014 19:16
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 <-- Addis bound
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Sep 29, 2014 00:38
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You can get a portable folding toilet seat. That's what old people in China use. Then again, you are announcing to the world "I NEED TO TAKE A poo poo" 
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Sep 29, 2014 02:31
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The Mantis posted:
Addis is far from a horrible place, but there are definite health issues there. I'll be happy to fill you in on any questions you may have; as I recall the TM3 and FLO notes for Addis were abysmal.
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Sep 30, 2014 08:31
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