The State Department announced today that a three to four minute “Ambassador’s Debrief” will be added to the FSOT for each applicant right after the Oral Assessment’s discussion exercise. The change will come into force March 3. No great surprise and nothing to lose sleep over. You will be doing a lot of this in […]
Continue reading... January 22, 2014
Consular Work
I wrote this response to someone who emailed me about the Consular Track. I was a Consular officer during my career, I tried to give her an idea from what I experienced in the field. I joined the Foreign Service as a consular officer in 1988. I worked in consular sections in Guayaquil (Ecuador) […]
Continue reading... December 22, 2013
Foreign Service Exam: The Most Important Language
Folks, I hear from a fair number of people and see questions on the various forums about the Foreign Service Exam. One of the top questions is how do your abilities in foreign languages help you get into the Foreign Service. Unfortunately, except for a slight bump on the registers at the end of the […]
Continue reading... December 17, 2013
Apologies for My Absence
Sorry for my long absence. I’ve started working on a telecoms start-up — Vanu-Africa.com — and it has sucked up all of my time. But in a good way. We at Vanu-Africa (all five of us!) have the passion to provide access to cell phone and data service to rural Africa. In addition, the technology […]
Continue reading... September 27, 2013
Foreign Service Exam: First Conference Call; Here’s the Link
Thirty-five callers joined the first ForeignServiceExam.org conference call last night, Thursday, September 26. The call lasted about nearly two hours minutes, and the questions were excellent, ranging from how will the sequester affect hiring in FY2014 to how is the culture inside the Foreign Service. You can find the recording here — https://archive.org/details/26Sep2044RecordingOfConfCall I am […]
Continue reading... September 21, 2013
Free Conference Call with 24-Year Veteran of the Foreign Service
Hi Folks– I’m back again and am curious to know how many people are interested in joining me on a conference call to talk about the Foreign Service as a career. I’m willing to field all questions, including those from anyone with questions about the October FSOT. I have some free time later in the […]
Continue reading... September 21, 2013
Changes to ForeignServiceExam.org
Folks– Thanks very much for being patient while I — a determined, yet clumsy WordPresser — make some overdue changes to my blog. I will be adding more photos, start a monthly newsletter and publishing more content. Let me know what you think of the website’s new look. Cheers, Bill
Continue reading... September 20, 2013
Department of State: Internship Applications for Summer 2014
Folks– The State Department has opened its application season for internships — domestic and foreign — for Summer 2014. As I’ve said before, an internship at an embassy abroad is the best way to see if you really do want to work as an FSO. You will have 10 weeks serving in a various capacities […]
Continue reading... September 16, 2013
Foreign Service Exam: Don’t Try to Game the System, Just Take the Test
The Foreign Service Exam is a difficult test to pass. Don’t make it any harder. It’s difficult, even a waste of time, to try to game this test. During the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen arguments put forward on forums that the State Department wants to build up the ranks of the Consular Corps […]
Continue reading... August 20, 2013
Another Database of International Jobs
Here’s another helpful job site for those seeking international jobs (you need to register, but it’s free) Interaction This is in addition to the three sites I provided in yesterday’s post: DEVEX ReliefWeb.int FPA.org
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