A Little Background Information

Post by J

For those on the outside looking in, what seems like a lightning-fast career change for me actually was over a year in the making. This post gives a little background on how I got to this moment, to the evening before I drive cross-country (2000 miles and five days) to begin my life as a Foreign Service Officer.

There are many, many blogs out there that provide an amazing amount of information regarding how to apply to join the foreign service. I know this because I obsessively read dozens of them and found good advice, inspiration, hope, and perspective during my journey to this point. Just do a quick search on the All-Knowing Google, and you'll find enough reading material to seriously jeopardize your ability to do anything else but read blogs and fantasize about a State Department career, such is the appeal and ultimately, the time-suck, that is this obsession.

The very beginning:  R was a career military man and we were fortunate enough for him to have served a tour in the Defense Attache Office of a U.S. Embassy overseas in the late 90s. I had very little knowledge of the Foreign Service prior to that tour, but I became immediately fascinated. I worked as the Community Liaison Office Coordinator during our time there and loved being part of the Embassy culture. R and I discussed the possibility of "going State" after he retired from the Army, but really, it was just a wonderful daydream at the time.  

Several years later, R and I took what was then referred to as the FSWE (Foreign Service Written Exam). I think that was back in 2004, but it could have been 2003. Anyway, this was before the State Department utilized email for official communication (I know we did provide our email address, but I don't remember ever receiving anything via email from them regarding the test, or our results). For whatever reason, neither of us passed.

Then in 2013, a random email from State appeared in our inbox (keep in mind we had heard nothing from them for at least eight years). The email basically said, "So, you showed interest in a Foreign Service career in the past, and if you're still interested, register to take the test during this window." Since we had both provided the same email address initially, it was completely unclear to whom this most recent email was directed.  

A lot had happened in the intervening eight years, of course. R had moved on and entered a profession that he really enjoys. I had a well-established career that was fulfilling. We were comfortable in our small town and had a good life. Why would we want to shake that up, drastically change our lifestyle, pack up everything and move? And yet, once that email arrived I kept thinking about the possibility of a Foreign Service career. And what could possibly be the harm in taking the test? Just a cursory search showed that the odds of actually being invited to A-100 (the initial Foreign Service Officer orientation course) are pretty slim - fewer than 2% of those who take the test actually become FSOs.

R and I talked about it and thought about it for a couple of weeks. Ultimately, R decided he did not want to pursue becoming an FSO. But this is where his awesomeness comes in to play. I asked, "What would you say if I tried?" To which he immediately replied, "Go for it.  I'm behind you all the way."

The quick and dirty steps to becoming an FSO (if you're unsuccessful at any point during this process, your "candidacy" ends and you have to start all over - and you can only take the FSOT once every 365 days):

1. Take the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT)
2. If you pass the FSOT, you are invited to submit short (about 200 word) answers to six essay prompts (Personal Narrative Questions, or PNQs), describing how certain of your experiences demonstrate each of 13 different "dimensions" (read more about the 13Ds here). If you don't pass the FSOT, your candidacy ends and you must wait nearly a year to take the test again.
3. If the Board of Examiners (BEX), after reviewing your entire file (including resume, FSOT results, and PNQs), likes your application packet enough, you will be invited to travel to Washington, DC (on your own dime) to participate in the Oral Assessment (OA).  If the BEX doesn't like your packet enough, your candidacy ends, and you must start all over with the FSOT.
4. The OA consists of three parts: The Group Exercise (GE), the Structured Interview (SI), and the Case Management (CM) exercise. Your performance in each of these is scored independently, but your overall score for the day is the average of the three. To pass the OA, you must receive at least a score of 5.25 out of 7.  If you receive less than a 5.25, your candidacy ends and you must start all over with the FSOT.
5. If you pass the OA, you must receive both medical and security clearances - the medical clearance is usually pretty quickly determined, but a security clearance can take several months or even a year or more, depending on your background.
6. Once your clearances are in place, you are added to the "register," which is dynamic and rank-ordered based on your OA score.
7. If you are not invited to A-100 within 18 months of being on the register, you "time off" and your candidacy ends.

My timeline:

1. FSOT:  June 2013
2. Pass FSOT, invited to submit PNQs:  July 2013
3. Pass PNQs, invited to OA:  September 2013
4. Pass OA:  November 2013
5. Medical clearance:  December 2013
6. Security clearance:  May 2014
7. Added to register:  May 2014
8. Invite to A-100:  June 2014
9. A-100:  August 25, 2014

I'll write more at a later time about my motivation to join, especially at this time in our lives.