The Process

The journey to becoming a Foreign Service officer is long, with many steps to follow and lots of waiting. Here's a brief overview:

FSOT: The Foreign Service Officer test, a multiple choice test (with an essay) that I liken to Trivial Pursuit, is the first step.

Personal narratives: After being notified of passing the FSOT, one is invited to submit a series of 5 personal essays that must be short and sweet.

Oral Assessment: Next, a candidate is invited to take the Oral exam, an all-day interview offered in DC and a few other cities. The OA consists of 3 parts: the group exercise, the case management exercise, and the structured interview. At some point, I might have the energy to recap these three parts, but not now. A candidate receives the news that same day whether she passes or not. A score of 5.3 must be obtained in order to pass.

Medical clearance: FSOs must be physically fit to serve around the world. I am undergoing this part now.

Security clearance: FSOs receive top secret security clearances so a thorough investigation is conducted. This part is also underway now.

Final Suitability: After a candidate passes medical and security clearance, her file goes to final suitability for one last review.

Register: A candidate who passes all the previous areas is put on the register of available candidates for her chosen track. I hope to be added to the Consular register by this fall. Candidates are added to the register according to their OA score, plus any bonus points earned from being a veteran or speaking a language well.

Offer: The final step is to receive "the call", aka an offer to begin training, or 'A100' class. There are approximately 8-10 A100 classes during a year, with anywhere from 80-98 FSOs. Lately, the classes have been large because of a hiring push. We hope they stay that way. The call usually comes 4-6 weeks before class, so there is a mad rush to get organized and move to DC. People are called based on their ranking on the register, so someone with a 5.8 will be invited before a person who received a 5.4 on the OA.

Assignment: An FSO finds out her first post during Flag Day, held on the last week of the 5 week training.

So as you can see, it's a long, long process with many opportunities to get derailed or discouraged. So far, I'm still excited and encouraged by how far I've come, even though my OA score is on the low end (5.4) in an increasingly competitive track. I'm told that this means I might wait a few rounds before being invited to training, but eventually I should get an offer. I do plan to take the Spanish test, which would bump my score to a 5.57 and allow me more reassurance that I will receive an offer. HOWEVER, the test is notoriously tough and even native speakers fail it all the time! I need to get serious about preparing if I want to pass it.

Ok, I think I've jabbered long enough here. That's it for now.