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Defleshed posted:Took the FSOT this afternoon. Was easy as poo poo! Don't be fooled, it's sole purpose it to get rid of the bottom 50% of applicants. It's only as hard as it needs to be.
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Oct 4, 2009 03:25
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Theace41 posted:Lets say hypothetically, and this is a big hypothetical, that somebody taking the FSOT and hoping for a career in the foreign service had visited N. Korea in the last year or so on a hiking trip. Should this be played up wherever possible as a unique travel experience or would it be look upon not so favorably given the whole axis of evil thing? Tales of knowingly breaking the laws of another country, i.e. sneaking across a boarder in the dark of night, might not go over so well. That said, there are no restrictions listed on the state department travel page for North Korea ( http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_988.html ) so why not. If the trip was legitimate, you could use it on your PN and it would likely set you apart from the crowd.
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Oct 6, 2009 04:29
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Homie S posted:Any of you guys have suggestions on some reading to keep up on? I applied to the DS position, and as far as I can tell it's a lot like what the FSOT process is like, barring a few changes. I'm an international relations degree holder so this stuff seems manageable, but sad to say I work quite a bit and don't really follow a lot of world news. People have suggested Foreign Affairs, The Economist or things like that, although they cost money. Anyone recommend any free RSS feeds that I could look at? Thanks in advance. Democracy arsenal http://www.democracyarsenal.org/ Thomas Barnett's Weblog http://thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/ These are pretty good places to start, both bloggers are prolific and more importantly both of them link to a wide range of articles. There are some really good blogs covering regional issues, but I find these two to be good for general information. Both the economist and Foreign Policy, make their headline articles available online (and FP might be fully available online, but I've never compared it to the magazine.) TED has some really good stuff as well, but you have to dig through it, and the TEDness gets annoying quickly. (https://www.ted.com) And of course there's always LF....... Speaking of Foreign Policy magazine, they had an interesting article about the State Department recently: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/09/11/hitting_bottom_in_foggy_bottom?page=0,0 Am I crazy for wanting to get into DoS now so I can be in on the ground floor as it transforms into the State Department that we should have?
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Oct 9, 2009 04:20
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Vilerat posted:That depends. Does spending 8-10 hours a day processing Visa applications while dealing with Irate public who paid 300 bucks for the visa app process only to get denied and receive no refund sound good to you? How about living in shitstainia where the only entertainment is slightly passable pizza restaurant and weekly movie night at the Marine house for three years? That sound good? That is such a glass half empty take on the whole thing. While life overseas might be less than desired when it comes to the creature comforts, you are part of the embassy system and are going to be better off than the vast majority of locals and expats. Look at it from the glass half full perspective: - You have a place to call home during that time; most likely with electricity, hot and cold running water and working sewage. You are not sharing a bedroom with questionable strangers, fearing your money and possessions will be stolen while you sleep. - You interact with native English speakers on an almost daily basis. - If you get mugged at gunpoint and have your passport stolen, you'll have an easy time dealing with it. If you get injured while in Shitstania, there is some sort of support system, as opposed having to deal with it on your own. - You have access to the US postal drop system, meaning if you want a book from the us, it doesn't cost you $20 to ship it. - You probably aren't washing your laundry by hand in your sink every night. - Getting rolled by the local cops is a lot less worrisome than it could be. - Your employer is not going to declare bankruptcy while you're working for them in Shitstania on a one way ticket, leaving you up to your own devices to get home. - As for the dealing with pissed off visa applicants who's visas were denied; pubbie tears are always delicious. Maybe I should rephrase the original question so that it is clearer. What are the chances that State becomes the organization that has been suggested, i.e. a counter-balancne DOD's role of war making, taking over the management of America's non-war making overseas initiatives.
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Oct 9, 2009 16:54
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TCD posted:A few things... first, Vile has been to some shitstanias or close to it while in the FS.. have you? Why turn this into a dick measuring contest? My point is, what constitutes hardship living overseas can vary greatly depending on one's experience prior to joining the state department. ProdigalSon's post accurately describes the perspective many expats living in Shitstania have of DoS employees. It may or may not be true to reality, but when your experience in Shitstania is making GBS threads in ditches, eating only local fare for months on end and maybe occasionally meeting another american once in a while, life behind the embassy wall looks cushy. TCD posted:Also, pubbie tears... you do realize you're the public face of America when overseas right? I mean, stamping visas and denying people is part of the job, but enjoying that poo poo is pretty reprehensible when you are in their country. That line was an inside joke, a shout out to a particular school of diplomacy. Although it was inadvertent, you got trolled son. TCD posted:As for change? I will believe it when I see it. State changes slow... very very slow. Why? By all accounts, State is, and has been for a long time, on the descendant in terms of infleunce and importance to foreign policy. Shouldn't the institutional instinct for self preservation kick in at some point?
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Oct 10, 2009 19:17
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I passed the QEP a couple of months ago and, given all the horror stories, have no idea why one person passes and another person fails. So all I tell to those who are completing it now is my strategy for the PNs The P/N section is the twitter of essays, the extremely limited space means there really isn't room for an unnecessary word. Three weeks are given to complete the PNs and there are no points awarded for handing them in early; I took my time and carefully considered which stories I would use for which essay. I didn't pay attention to any of the 13Ds while writing my essays. I feel trying to work those in while telling a good, contextually relevant, story in the limited space is just too much. I did give the essays a cursory look at the end to see if I hit on each of them at least once, but their is neither the space or the need to hang a lantern on them. I'm sure the people looking at the PNs get a lot of bullshit resume style answers like, "I helped to increase company revenues by 60% over 3 years," or, "while studying abroad I had to get used to eating with chopsticks and other 'weird' local customs." So I focused on the stories that would set me apart the most and didn't worry if they were too esoteric or might be taken the wrong way. I figured if the person reading them actually became interested and wanted to learn more, I had a better chance. My essays included such questionable tales as: getting arrested in China and talking my way out of it; discovering and capitalizing on a terrible game breaking hack in Eve online, and; steering clients, as a consultant, to get the results I wanted. One common theme among people when they fail the process seems to be an attitude of somehow deserving to pass and the testers or the test is stacked against recognition of their unique brilliance. I can only imagine that the attitude comes across in their essays or OA responses and hurts their chances. So, don't be that guy. As a side note, Pompus Rhombus post is a spot-on description of my experience with the telephone language test.
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Nov 1, 2009 06:07
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CherryCola posted:I just submitted my Personal Narrative! So now I'm putting together a vocab list to cram before my proficiency test tomorrow. Are they going to be super pissed if I use a cellphone for that? I really just don't have access to a private landline! unless the signal quality is poo poo, or the call drops, they will not know or care.
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Nov 13, 2009 02:52
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ahhh the mysterious QEP: http://www.afsa.org/fsj/nov08/letters.pdf
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Nov 14, 2009 03:57
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Business of Ferrets posted:So today I was reviewing a few early applications for summer internship positions and it really brought home how very terrible the formatting is on these things. Each five-page report is single spaced and lists both questions and answers in the same font and without any paragraphing to aid with reading. And the first three pages or so contain maybe one or two useful bits of information hidden among questions about ethnicity, disability, etc. (which are admittedly important, but decidedly not helpful in choosing a summer intern). Did the applicants get to format them themselves, or was the information fed into some sort of web form? Because given some of the front end interface issues I have had with the web forms, I would guess that the back end output is just as bad.
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Nov 23, 2009 20:29
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I'm testing in DC (annex 44) in late February. Word to the wise, I sat waiting in front of my computer a for the scheduling site to come up and the instant it did, I scheduled my test.... but there was no receipt and no e-mail response. I did it two more times with the same results. So I decided to wait and see if the confirmation was just taking its good time in being sent out. Three days later I still had not received a response by e-mail confirming my appointment. I finally called in, and sure enough there was no record of the appointment. It's not so bad, I wanted to test at the end of the cycle, but everyone should be aware that the confirmation is instant and that the system is buggy when it first comes up. Onto another topic, Business of Ferrets, where in China did you serve? How bad was the surveillance while you were there? xanthig fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Dec 1, 2009 |
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Dec 1, 2009 17:52
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Barracuda Bang! posted:A question about DC postings - is it worth buying a house while you're there? I mean, you'll be in and out of DC your whole career so maybe...but it seems like it'd be wasted when you're gone. Rent it out maybe? What do most people do? It could be worse, I live in Baltimore, which presents its own unique problems. My house is just inside the 50 mile radius for commuting. Which means if I make it to A100, for good or ill, I will be stuck commuting to class. It brings up an interesting conundrum as to whether to stay in DC the night before the test, or wake up at 4:30 for a 2 hour commute. As for my house, I would probably rent it out, in my case it would be profitable and I like the idea of having a place to fall back on.
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Dec 1, 2009 20:22
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Business of Ferrets posted:Man, that brings back lots of memories. In preparation for my current job I took the State Department's two-year Chinese course. Great course, but Chinese is seriously difficult. What level did you achieve by the end of the two year course?
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Dec 2, 2009 13:45
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CherryCola posted:I'm applying for a plain ol' consular track position. have you heard back on your PN results yet?
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Dec 10, 2009 18:57
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Business of Ferrets posted:it is exceedingly difficult to break into the Chrysanthemum Club (the FS Japan clique) unless you already know Japanese. So, just some things to think about. Could you elaborate? Is it difficult to get a posting in Japan without already speaking Japanese (prior to even starting FSI language training), or difficult to fit in with people once you get there if you don't speak Japanese? Does a similar situation also exist in China? My experience in both these countries has been that a foreigner able to hold their own in the local language has a common bond with other foreigners who also speak the language, that is very hard to explain to people that don't. Like smokers who gather together, or people appreciating an inside joke.
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Dec 21, 2009 00:45
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CronoGamer posted:=I just got back a few months ago from doing the Peace Corps in Cambodia. I'm really interested in working for State as a career, with a focus on East Asia. Right now, I'm waiting to hear back on applications to teach in Japan with JET or in South Korea with a Fulbright ETA grant, in the hopes of getting a solid grasp of either language and at least two years more experience living in East Asia. Go the Korean end if you can. Japanese is a great language, but the applications are fairly mundane. I speak it fairly well, and application wise, it's about as useful as Italian or German; which is to say the only reason to study it is if you really like the place and want to spend time there. Korean, on the other hand, is a language at the center of one of the remaining flash points. It is entirely possible that you could, at some point in your hypothetical foreign service career, end up with the chance to be one of the first FSOs to serve in North Korea if you speak Korean. And that good sir, would be a loving amazing thing.
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Dec 21, 2009 00:58
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How difficult is it to swing a posting in Afghanistan or Iraq? Is there some sort of perverse competition among junior officers for hardship postings so that they can get better postings later on?
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Dec 21, 2009 08:18
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CherryCola posted:
That sounds about right. I received my QEP results about three weeks before the then current cohort finished their OAs. The current cohort ends in late February early March so getting your results in early Feb would be about right. After you pass the QEP you are able to schedule the OA anytime during athree month window. Test scheduling is done online. The slots that fall early in the cycle fill up quick; so if you don't want to test in March, it will not be a problem. xanthig fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jan 16, 2010 |
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Jan 16, 2010 03:48
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Business of Ferrets posted:I didn't mean to come across as saying that there is no chance of going overseas, just that there are far more domestic DS positions than there are outside the United States. All agents eventually get overseas, and I believe FS specialists have the same requirements to serve overseas that generalists do. What exactly does diplomatic security do? If they are not DS who are the "Security Officers" at foreign posts?
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Jan 20, 2010 15:22
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So I'm close enough to taking the FSOA now that I'm in full prep mode. Preparation for most of the test is fairly straight forward, but from what I can gather the prep materials for the Case Management section are much less complex than those I will see on the actual test. According to the official prep session with the diplomat in residence they will give us "about 30 pages of materials" to digest, but there is a huge range in density of information that can be contained in 30 pages. The information density of prep materials in the FSOA yahoo group example case management studies is really light. It is filled with brochures and single paragraph letters. On the other hand, the talk I've been hearing makes it sound like I should expect 30 pages of the Economist. So those that have taken the test, could you give me an idea of what to expect? On to a barely related topic, I decided I needed a mnemonic device to remember the 13d's. Not knowing of any standard one, I made one that works well for me. Perhaps it will help someone else here as well... "ORC, COW PI, JEW IQ"
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Jan 23, 2010 00:30
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Business of Ferrets posted:Also, thank goodness we don't have the kind of drivel here you see in the FSWE Yahoo! group since the results came out; so many misunderstood special snowflakes, so many conspiracy theories. . . . The FSOA yahoo group is more emotional support group than study group. I swear, more than a few people in there are talking themselves into failing.
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Feb 1, 2010 16:26
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What exactly constitutes a diplomatic pouch? Is it anything officially shipped to the embassy, or is there more to it than that? In your experience, how much impact do the management officers have on the quality of life at various postings? If you are having things mailed to you, books and the like, are the subject to the standard customs rules of the host country or are they exempt due to the diplomatic status of the recipient?
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Feb 9, 2010 16:31
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TunanFish posted:A question about test dates. It's not worth waiting. It's six to nine months between written and orals. During that time you get to test for your supercritical needs language. If you fail, you get to test again after you pass the orals, and then I believe every six months after that until you either pass the language test, make it to the A100 or get booted off the roster at 18 months.
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Feb 13, 2010 02:56
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Business of Ferrets posted:With the veterans preference, even a 5.5 might do. But a 5.6 would seem a safe bet. Any idea how those numbers look for the management track?
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Feb 14, 2010 02:04
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I noticed a lot of the practice hypothetical questions for the OA relate to enforcement of the rules. What is the culture at State like in this regard. An example: quote:As Administrative Officer, your responsibility is to see to it that all Embassy confidential materials are reduced so that they may be destroyed within 5 minutes in the event of an emergency. The embassy is not currently meeting this requirement. How do you prepare? Other examples include suspected drinking during lunch by FSN's, suspected drug use by junior officers, etc. My instinct with these types of questions is that nobody likes a hard-rear end or a tattle-tail and that before one goes running to a higher authority, everyone's interests are best served by discretely addressing the problem and giving it a chance before escalating. I'll call this my "discreetly if possible, forceful when necessary" policy. Of course there are a lot of depends in there, and rooting those out is part of how I would react to a situation. Am I completely wrong about this? Should I be standing in the Ambassadors office telling how my boss lied to DC about security readiness, asking for drug testing on my underlings and threatening my FSNs with firing if they have another beer at lunch?
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Feb 15, 2010 05:58
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TCD posted:Hahaha 5 minutes.. Welcome to the practice materials available in the yahoo group.
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Feb 15, 2010 15:20
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Wednesday 2/24, annex 44. Wish me luck.
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Feb 21, 2010 03:40
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Bizob posted:Missing you by a day. Annex 44 on 2/25. Good luck. Good luck with your test as well. Have you had a chance to scope out annex 44 yet?
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Feb 22, 2010 21:37
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Bizob posted:Nope. All I know about it is what google maps tells me. I'm flying into DC Wednesday night, so I'm going to cab it over rear end-early on Thursday and try not to get stabbed by any vagrants while I try to find it. Maybe I can use "finding the location of the FSOA" as an example of my demonstrating one of the 13 Ds? Actually, you're quite unlikely to get stabbed near annex 44. It's two blocks off from the national mall, surrounded by shopping and government office buildings. There's a McDonald's in the lobby and a deli around the corner so if you aren't able to get breakfast at the hotel that morning...
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Feb 22, 2010 23:39
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I have decided to phrase my OA results in haiku format. four point nine out of seven, so close. ninety page background for nothing. Actually, this isn't so bad. I'm at the climax of winding down a business, and was not looking forward to starting the clearance process right now (lots of angry people will be happy in six months). Now I know what to expect, the test was not nearly as grueling as I had imagined. If I get into the June testing period, I could be back again at the orals by November. Right now, while it is all fresh in my head, if anyone has any questions please ask away. I can't violate the NDA, but really the specific questions are a lot less important that some people would have testers believe. One note for people who will be taking the test. There was a lot of speculation as to whether the order they called people in for results had anything to do with performance. I believe everyone gets called for their results in order. At the beginning of the day you are assigned a candidate number, 1A, 1B, 2A,...3F, check to see the candidate numbers of the people they are calling. We have the potential here to decode one of life's great mysteries. At my test, 1a got called first, I don't know the number of the second guy, but I was 1c and got called third.
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Feb 25, 2010 00:08
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Miss Fats posted:I am preparing for the FSOT now. I was wondering what your background was? (re: QEP) My background is in entrepreneurial business, international trade/ overseas production. However, I wanted to stand out, so in addition to business experience stuff I also wrote about some crazy poo poo like talking my way out of being detained by Chinese police and leading a secret group dedicated finding exploits in a particular mmorpg. xanthig fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Feb 25, 2010 00:58
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Bizob posted:Sorry to hear it. I'm just getting settled in to my hotel for my run at it tomorrow, and the best I can say about China is that I started smoking there and I can use a squatter like a pro. Yeah, I prefer squatters. Never have to touch your rear end to anything.
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Feb 25, 2010 02:19
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shmoop posted:I had hoped that as part of a State Department career I might have the opportunity to cultivate proficiency in at least one Asian language, and maybe something from Eastern Europe, or Arabic. However, several accounts I have read indicate that advanced language training is often unavailable to both Consular and Management Officers. Actually this came up in conversation at the OA yesterday. One of the test takers was the son of an FSO, and another was switching from management specialist to generalist. The general consensus they gave was that State's much revered language training is not that great if you're a language person. It goes way to fast to fully sink in,and then you end up in a foreign post where you may or may not be using the language much at all. This perspective was kind of surprise to me, given how revered the DoS language program is. shmoop posted:I'd swear he got a "Jesus! God!" look on his face, and he went on to explain that it was a "thankless, thankless" job. He essentially acted as if I was taking one for the team. Now if a man whose job is to sell me on the merits of the FS, or at least not portray it negatively, is warning me - that has me concerned. poo poo, and I just submitted my Management track FSWT application (again) yesterday. shmoop posted:I joined SA for the express purpose of posting it, Does this make you part of the Goon conspiracy? xanthig fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Feb 25, 2010 16:14
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Bizob posted:I am wiped out, but I somehow passed wth a 5.50 while only managing to pass one of the three sections. I must be some kind of idiot-savant when it comes to structured interviews. I am going to go consume some beverages. Hell yeah. Which track? To do what you did, you got at least a 6.1 on the interview. Think you'll FOIA your score? xanthig fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Feb 26, 2010 |
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Feb 26, 2010 02:00
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Bizob posted:There were only 9 of us, and I was the last one called out of the bullpen. The 7-month pregnant woman who got called out right ahead of me was in the room I walked into and we got the offers simultaneously. There were a couple no-shows, which I found kind of odd. There were nine in my group as well, 18 were originally scheduled, it was a no-show bonanza. Considering that one person flew in from South Africa the night before to take the test, and another flew in from Chile a couple days ahead of the test, I can understand the no-shows; poo poo happens. Did you figure out of they were calling people out in order of candidate number?
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Feb 26, 2010 04:50
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Another thing you can do to get your head straight on which track you want to take is to get a copy of "Inside a US Embassy" It gives a glimpse into the workday of each of the different tracks, allowing you to get a feel as to whether or not it's for you. I also found it helpful in preparing for the OA; it gave me a sense of how things are handled in an emergency. And although I did just fail the OA, I may not have passed the SI without having read this book.
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Mar 1, 2010 18:42
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Miss Fats posted:I ask because it starts in 2 hours and I would rather study than change. I assume it's just some test center worker who doesn't care that I'm wearing sweatpants and a tshirt. doesn't matter a bit. Your assumption is correct. edit: unless you're testing at an embassy.
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Mar 1, 2010 18:58
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GregNorc posted:How early would I want to apply? I'm graduating next may. Apply for the written now. You should still be able to get in on the June cohort. If you pass that, the QEP is in July, and your oral testing window would be between Nov- Feb. Take your orals late into the cycle, if you pass you could have your clearance as early as late may, as opposed to taking the OA early into the cycle where you could end up on the roster in mid-march.
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Mar 2, 2010 21:10
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Business of Ferrets posted:Really, people like that should have to pass everything twice in a row just to show it wasn't a fluke. It was what? You don't want to work closely in a far off foreign land with someone who took 20+ tries to pass a personality test?
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Mar 5, 2010 15:35
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Business of Ferrets posted:Well, when my friend wrote a less-direct email with essentially the same message, they tried to fire him. If you aren't familiar with the "Tashkent email," ask around at work; someone is bound to have a copy. You want to elaborate on that? You can't drop a teaser like that and not explain anything.
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Mar 29, 2010 17:57
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Vilerat posted:No even IT people have to go to the fancy parties. Fancy parties are not fun, they are horrible work events where you schmooze with people who act moderately important and you try and make smalltalk or else the DCM slaps your knuckles with a ruler. Does anybody ever get horribly drunk and make a fool of themselves?
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Apr 6, 2010 23:27
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