Joining the Foreign Service

In the first half of this loooooong tutorial-like string of advice, I wrote about studying as a group. The value of practicing with your group is priceless, so please make sure you do it. However, there’s plenty of preparation you can do as an individual. This post is going to focus on the Case...
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Part II will be primarily about how I prepared on my own, but this post is devoted to how my group studied and, most importantly, practiced together. A little over a year ago, I started regularly meeting in the MLK Library with my FSOA study group. An alternate title for this post would be...
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My friend and former room mate Joel introduced me over email to a friend of his who had passed the written portion of the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), and was finalizing her Personal Narrative to send to the Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP). She wanted any advice I could give her on clearing this...
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When I first heard about the Foreign Service, I thought: “Wow! I can get paid in dollars to live abroad and have an adventure!” Yes, yes, service to country, helping people, etc, that’s all important too (and one of these day’s I’ll post my “Statement of Interest,” but if I’m honest with myself (you...
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I was working late on Wednesday evening, so Chad came out to have dinner with me and a coworker (Mike!). He handed me a fantastic letter, dated November 20: On behalf of the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service, I am please to inform you that your name has been added to the...
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I recently convinced a friend to take the Foreign Service Exam – she registered for the last day of the October round.  I really hope she makes it – she’d be an excellent FSO (good luck Carmel!).   As we were talking about the examination process, I realized that I’ve never written about how I...
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Oh my goodness! Two days, two updates! I thought I’d post a little update about my security clearance, or current lack thereof. On June 16 I sent an email to diplomatic security asking for an update on my case. On June 21 I got the following email: Your case is pending investigations. Our original...
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I’d say I can’t believe I haven’t written anything since Memorial Day, but it’s really not that surprising. It’s been more than four weeks since I had my interview with Mr. J, the gentleman who is (I think) managing my Security Clearance case. We originally planned to meet at the Shirlington Library, but then...
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…medically speaking that is. Today I received a nice letter in the mail from the US Department of State Office of Medical Services. It included the following: Reason for Clearance: -> Pre-employment Medical Clearance Determination: -> Worldwide available Date Issued: -> 5/12/2009 2:20:35 PM My favorite part is that they time stamped it. I...
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I gave myself extra time today to get to my appointment, but I was still late. First, traffic was was backed up thanks to the protestors dangling from cranes over the State Department. Then, of course, there was no parking available in the garage at Columbia Plaza, or at the Watergate. However, I lucked...
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