Can anyone in the working for the foreign service give me tips on how to succeed in this career?

Question

I want to work for the foreign service and hopefully work for and manage an embassy or consulate. What do you have to go through to get to the high positions? What makes one more qualified for a position in the foreign service?

Answer 1

People will tell you that you need to know someone, or to study certain subjects or learn languages.  None of that is true.  The way to join the Foreign Service is to pass the written and then the oral exam, to be a high school graduate and to be a US citizen on the day you are sworn in.  Any skills or languages you will need are taught to you as you need them.  For example, during my own career I learned one language on my own and three at the Foreign Service Institute.  The one language I learned in school I have never used.  And when I took the oral exam, I was with 11 other people who were all political science majors and the like:  none of them passed, but I did (an anthropology major who was working in a factory).

Here is an excellent web page.  And if you look, you can find sample FS exam questions on the web:  Good luck!

http://careers.state.gov/officer/index.h...