The B husband and I signed up for the October FSOT. I was in the June cohort, but back in June, well, I thought I wouldn't need to do this.
[For those unfamiliar with the FS application process, a quick primer. It's made up of many different steps. If you do not pass to the next step, you must start over at the beginning. And you can only take the written test once a year. It is quite common for people who do not pass the Oral Assessment the first time to pass it on the second. It's also common for people to take the tests over and over again or to finally achieve their dream after ~5 years of trying. I truly admire those people.
So the good news is that State lets you try again and again. I mean, really, what other job affords you that opportunity? But the bad news is that 1) you have to start over from the beginning, 2) you have to wait a whole year between tests, 3) sometimes you fail a test or step that you passed the year before, which is tremendously frustrating. But still, overall, I am grateful that you can try again.
One last note- in my case, since I'm on the register already, the reason for going through the process again is to gain a higher score on the Oral Assessment. If I get a 5.5 (my original score was 5.4), for example, my Spanish points would give me a 5.67 and I would jump a few spots on the register and hopefully receive an offer sooner.]
Anyway, I joined the FSOT (FS officer test, or the written test) yahoo board once again to jog my memory about what to prepare. Man, it was like going back in time. I remember April-May 2009, when I first got this idea into my head. I told myself and my husband I was just bored and wanted to give myself a challenge. But the more research I did, the more I wanted it. I never, ever thought my husband would go along with it. But here we are.
They say that the FSOT is a mile wide but an inch deep. True. I liken it to Trivial Pursuit, a game I've never been very good at. I'm having trouble finding the motivation to do some preparation, but hopefully I will find it soon enough. Just in case.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tulum with tweens
I'm still here! Thought I'd write about our vacation to Tulum this past week. The kids' school is off for 'fall break,...
-
So, after eating nothing but tacos and junk food for the first six months of my life here, I had gained a few pounds. I started trying t... -
What a day! I can't believe we got the DR. We are overjoyed! Today was totally intense. Around 3:15pm we were all in our seats, waitin... -
1st round of offers went out today and did not head my way. I haven't checked recently, but think I was ranked about 24-28 before today....
8 comments:
I smell a Mrs. B vs Mr. B smackdown.
ha ha, actually I was prepared for him to kick my you know what, since he ROCKS at trivial pursuit and retains a ton of (useless) knowledge, but we got about the same score. I just hope we pass this time. It seems it's getting harder/the passing score is higher.
Best of luck! Good for you for trying again!
Don't beat yourself up too much with the studying. If you passed it once, you can do it again!
Good luck! I may be doing the same thing next spring so it's a reality for many of us!
Best of luck - I'm sure you'll both pass!
Just curious - did you improve your score on the second round? I'm thinking of doing the same thing...been waiting on register for 6 months.
hi anon,
I actually got the call the day before my FSOT. Very lucky turn of events. I think there are people all across the spectrum, including ones who are on the register but do not pass the FSOT the 2nd time around. :( Best of luck to you!
Post a Comment