“Get a Job…” lyrics by Bruce Hornsby from The Way It Is The great thing is that there are hundreds, thousands of international jobs that many of you can find right now. The pay is good, the work satisfying and you will live overseas. Plus you can do this faster than you can join the […]
Continue reading... July 28, 2013
What if You Can’t Pass the Foreign Service Exam?
The statistics are pretty bleak. Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the then-director general of the Foreign Service, told a Savannah audience in April the following startling fact: in 2012, out of 22,000 applicants took the Foreign Service Exam, the State Department hired only 425 FSOs. What does this mean? Well, your chances of actually getting hired by […]
Continue reading... May 31, 2013
Preparing for American History on the FSOT
Do you need a quick brush-up on your American history? Here is the way to get back up to speed. This U.S. history version takes the same style as my previous post on Economics prep: Outline of U.S. History – http://www.america.gov/publications/books/history-outline.html History of the United States – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pre-Columbian Period: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_history#Pre-Columbian_era Native […]
Continue reading... May 24, 2013
Spring 2014 Internships Available at State; Apply Before July 1
As I’ve mentioned previously, a State Department internship is a great way to see if the Foreign Service or Civil Service is right for you. These internships are targeted at undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in Foreign Service or Civil Service positions with the State Department. Those interested in Foreign Service jobs can […]
Continue reading... May 24, 2013
Can You Change if You Pick the Wrong Career Track?
Yes and No. Technically, you can switch “cones” (FS Speak for career tracks) during your Foreign Service career. The Foreign Service use to call the delightful process “Conal Rectification.” Bureaucratese at it’s best… Anyway, in responding to a question from a reader earlier in the week, I realized that my earlier post wasn’t complete. This […]
Continue reading... May 14, 2013
Mea Culpa
Folks– I screwed up In my last post, I recommended you buy and set up an account n 750words.com. The website would motivate you to write at least 750 words (three pages) as practice. However, I visited 750words.com earlier in the week and discovered that as of May 1, the site is now asking for $5.00/month to […]
Continue reading... May 8, 2013
How to Improve Your Writing in 30 Days
Just in Time for the June FSOT — Two Things to Bump Up Your Drafting Prowess and Another That Could Be Your Secret Weapon (A hint: Think Wiki and I’m not talking about Wikipedia…) The results are not pretty. According to FSOs, the weakest skill among ELOs is writing. ELOs handicapped with an academic style […]
Continue reading... May 2, 2013
Are You Too Old to Join the Foreign Service?
Absolutely Not! A reader asked me earlier this week whether he was too old to enter the Foreign Service. He’s 48, an international lawyer, and has lived most of his career overseas, including stints in the Middle East and Europe. He wanted to know if he was too old to join the Foreign Service. No. […]
Continue reading... May 1, 2013
Presidents are Breaking the Foreign Service (?)
A recent Washington Post op-ed, penned by no less than Tom Pickering, a Foreign Service legend — a former Under Secretary for Political Affairs (P) and multiple times an ambassador — questions a “new” habit of placing political appointees into high-level, even mid-level positions at State. “The Foreign Service is being relegated to a secondary status,” according […]
Continue reading... April 18, 2013
State Department’s Top Recruiter Speaks
Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the Director General, visited Savannah earlier this month to discuss the Foreign Service, including advice for applicants. Thomas-Greenfield has spent most of her career living and working in Africa. Before returning to Washington, DC, she served as Ambassador to Liberia. An open and straightforward diplomat, her career did not follow a traditional […]
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