How does one go about getting a job in the foreign service?

Question

I badly want to work for the State Department as a foreign service officer and was wondering if anyone knew how. Also, are there any effective methods of getting "an edge" in the application process?

Answer 1

First of all, it helps to be fluent in a foreign language.  If you aren't, not all is lost.  I have worked in foreign service, with USAID in Iraq.

They are always looking for energetic people who are willing to work in foreign countries.  If this isn't exactly what you are looking for, it is at least a stepping stone.  Once you are in the Federal System, it isn't a big deal to bid on jobs in other agencies.

Here is the USAID link.

http://www.usaid.gov/

You will find working for them is lucrative and very satisfying.

Answer 2

The State department is a notoriously "old boy network" of civil servants. They recruit at all the Ivy league universities and interview those who score highly on their test of language and culture.  Foreign languages fluency helps, especially if it is Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Ruissian or Swahili or some language other than Spanish or French, Italian or German.

State is a clubby life of actual and imagined privledge.



Like all USA institutions, they try to project an image of fairness but when tested - they fail the decency test. The edge is to have the money and education not to need the job...then you stand a good chance of being selected.

Answer 3

Write or Call the State Department or go online in order to

print our a Job Application at their Website...fill it and mail it

back in and be ready to go to Washington for training ...then

you have it in the bag

Answer 4

You could check Dept. of States if you want to joint the diplomatic community. And you still need some help to get assignment in "nice" country.

Answer 5

Hi, mrtasabii -- The first step in joining the Foreign Service is to take the exam.  Info can be found here:  http://careers.state.gov/officer/join/in...  Preparation for that should include refamiliarizing yourself with the Constitution; knowing basic economics, U.S. history, black & hispanic history, the history of labor, geography, etc; reading major newspapers and periodicals for several months in advance (you should be doing that already, actually); and you should be able to write a decent, coheret essay.

If you pass that, you will need to take the oral exam, which is done in small groups, and it focuses on your ability to present ideas clearly, be persuasive, work with others, and prioritize work.

If you pass that, you'll still need to get your medical and security clearance.

Things like knowing other languages and having travelled widely are helpful are your career goes along, but not necessarily in the early stages of the application process.

To give you an idea of the average officer, in my training class the average age was around 35, and, obviously, for most people this was a second career.  Many, if not most, had master's degrees.  There was no one I can think of who went to an Ivy League school -- in fact, many went to schools I'd barely heard of.  Just about everyone was from a middle-class background.  The class was about evenly split, male/female.  There were only a few minorities.  This surprised us all until we found out that the previous two training classes had been heavily populated with minorities -- they had hired and trained nearly all the people of color first, prior to hiring and training white people.  I mention all this because it may be useful information for you;  also to show you that "watzzzup" is an ignoramus who for some reason has an axe to grind against the Foreign Service (BTW, we are not "civil servants" as he says -- the Department of State is made up of Civil Service and Foreign Service employees;  Foreign Service Officers are the latter;  that should tell you all you need to know about the value of his answer).

Check out http://www.careers.state.gov/, http://www.careers.state.gov/specialist/... http://www.careers.state.gov/civilservic... http://www.careers.state.gov/student/mee... http://www.careers.state.gov/officer/ind... and http://www.careers.state.gov/officer/rol... -- you will look in vain for a white, male face (out of 18 profiles -- not a single white male, and only 1 or 2 white females).  In fact, I had one friend look at the website and think it was just an affirmative action program website, til he realized this was indeed the Department's recruitment page.  I honestly think that after some years doing this job, being a minority is a distinct advantage.

The Foreign Service isn't for everyone -- diplomacy and the black passport can seem pretty glamorous, but honestly most of the time it's a pretty big grind, like any other job.  Things like a lack of permanence, living in crappy places (with the attendant sickness, crime victimization, and danger that brings), lack of competitive pay with the private sector, bad management (sometimes), and mind-numbing bureaucracy and hierarchy turn a lot of people off.  Also, you have to at some point live in D.C., in a housing market that has tripled in price in 10 years while your salary has just matched inflation.  On the good side, in anywhere but first-world countries, you tend to live upper-middle class (in first-world countries and back in D.C. you tend to live middle-class to lower middle-class); you get paid to learn a new language, it's the only place to be directly involved with the issues; and you do get to see a lot of the world, up close and personal.  Sometimes too much so!

Good luck!