How Not to Run an Embassy: AmEmbassy Libreville

On June 21, State’s Inspector General released a devastating report on the functioning of the American Embassy in Libreville, Gabon. It is instructive to see how bad it can get at a US mission overseas.

There are charges of nepotism, a too cozy relationship with a US energy producer, and almost no reporting to the Department.

I’ll be doing a YouTube screencast to highlight the failure of management and leadership in Libreville.

 

 

Online Situational Judgment Tests to Prep for Foreign Service Exam

In my YouTube video #5 to help you prepare for the Situational Judgment part of the FSOT, I promised to supply additional online (and free) SJ tests.  Here they are: https://www.assessmentday.co.uk/situational-judgement-test.htm https://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/situational-judgement-tests/ https://www.jobtestprep.com/situational-judgement-test-free-practice http://www.onlinetests.co.uk/?tid=192 https://practicereasoningtests.com/si REMINDER: There are 10 days left to register for next month’s FSOT ‘s exam.  Good luck!           […]

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Registration for Next Foreign Service Exam Opens January 2

  Yes, that’s right, you can register online starting January 2 for the Foreign Service Exam which will be held during the week of February 2-9. PearsonVue administers the test under contract with the State Department. The Career Tracks As I described in an earlier post, when you register for the Foreign Service Exam you […]

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Difficult Choice — What’s Your Career Track?

    One of the first hurdles to joining the Foreign Service happens even before you take the FSOT. The State Department makes you pick your Career Track, aka Cone, when you register for the Exam. That’s right, even before you’ve worked in an Embassy, you must select your Career Track. Worse still, remember that […]

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Apologies to ForeignServiceExam.org readers

  Disaster… I’ve just sorted out a major problem with my hosting company and have lost posts and other changes since roughly June 2018. It’s partly my fault. Never rely on a hosting service for your backups; make sure you do your own on a regular basis. Meantime, I will be switching hosting companies so […]

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Happy to Report My New YouTube Channel — FSOT Prep

Folks, I am currently posting my videos on how to prepare for the Foreign Service Exam on a YouTube Channel.  I am walking possible applicants through the process of registering for the FSOT and choosing a Career Track. The State Department has linked the two so when you register for the October test, offered from […]

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Coaching for FSOT

  I will resume coaching for the October FS?OT in July.  Details to follow. Good luck to all taking the June sitting of the Foreign Service Exam.  

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Pompeo Lifts Hiring Freeze at State Department

More encouraging news from the State Department.  SecState Pompeo in a May 15 tweet announced that he has lifted the hiring freeze imposed by his predecessor, Rex Tillerson. I’m pleased to announce that I’m lifting @StateDept hiring freeze on Foreign Service and Civil Service employees. We need our men and women on the ground executing […]

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The King is Dead; Long Live the King

I’ve put off writing on this blog, because to me the reign of Rex Tillerson meant the end of the Foreign Service. A corporatist surrounded by narrow-minded groupies, Tillerson & Company hacked away at the Foreign Service. He hired McKinsey to redesign the State Department, he cut the senior ranks of the Foreign Service by […]

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Change to the FSOT & Why You Really Need to Practice Writing

The Department has decided to change the format of the first part of the Foreign Service Exam. Starting with the February FSOT instead of having one topic on which to write, applicants will choose one out of three “short topics.” In the past, some test takers were actually asked to write two essays, not just […]

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