Advice and Questions
According to the Department of State (DOS) website (https://careers.state.gov/office), the mission of a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service is to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad.
To become a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) you must undergo three grueling tests or assessments. Search the internet and you will be find the stories of many who have tried and a few who have tried and succeeded.
General information follows, but please refer to the official DOS website for the latest and official informaiton. The info below is not guaranteed to be correct and up to date, so use it only as a starting point and for discussion purposes.
The first test is the FSOT, the Foreign Service Officer Test. This is an SAT/ACT style multiple choice exam plus an essay you must write. The FSOT is generally taken on-line, using a computer at a testing center. It was previously run by ACT, but near the writing of thei article (March 2014), DOS has announced that Person Vue will be taking over administration of the test. The test is administered 3x per year, but you may only take the FSOT once per 12 months (approximately). There are also strict registration windows and deadlines. Please go to the DOS website for details.
Approximately, three weeks after you take the FSOT, you will receive an email with a link to see your scores. You follow the link and use the same registration credentials you used to register for the test. There is a minimum score required in order to pass and proceed to the next level. The score is based on statistical spreads, but a higher score is better. You also need to score a minimum score on the essay. If you pass, the score letter you end up down-loading will let you know. It will contain a link where you can find the instructions for the Personal Narrative (PN) which are six very short essays answering six questions that allow you to showcase your experience and how it might make you a successful FSO.
The PN is reviewed by the Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP). About two months after you submit your PN, you will be notified by email if you have been selected to move to the next level, the Oral Assessment (OA). The OA takes place in Washington, D.C., and you participate in a group of 7 - 11 others who made it that far. You are not competing against any in your co-hort, as you could all pass the OA.
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