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» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Foreign Service Officer's Exam Round 2 (Now With Weights and Measures) (Page 1)

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Author Topic: Foreign Service Officer's Exam Round 2 (Now With Weights and Measures)
BlackBlade
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Well it's been a year and in a moment I will leap into my car and drive to the testing center. I feel alot more calm about the exam this year as opposed to last year. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily more confident that I will pass this year, but I know I've worked as hard as I could be expected to as I prepared this time around.

I'm trying the consular route this year instead of the analyst one as I've been told getting in is the hardest thing, moving around is far easier. Here's to working towards one's future. Tell you folks all about it when I'm done.

*salute
*grabs keys.

[ June 16, 2009, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: BlackBlade ]

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Dagonee
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G'luck!
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Scott R
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The Foreign Service guys I know have been some of the most interesting people I've ever met.

They are also the most calm. I think you'll fit in just fine.

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Mucus
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Best of luck.
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Noemon
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Good luck, BlackBlade. Glad you're sticking with it.
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BlackBlade
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Well I'm back, and I'm a bit disappointed. I'm trying not to read too much into it but I'm didn't do as well as I could have. I suppose that's a silly thing to say as technically speaking my performance today WAS what I am capable of.

The general knowledge multiple choice went fine, and I think I did good with the personal narrative. I also think I did terrific with the English syntax section. What really bums me out is the essay. While I was able to complete my essay, I literally typed the final period three seconds before time ran out. I was not able to go over the essay and critique it for typos, missing punctuation, or garbled wording. If hatrack is any indication, I'm certain the essay has a few such mistakes. I can rarely finish a post here without looking at it later and noticing mistakes.

That might not be the nail in the coffin, but I'd be sleeping much better tonight if I had had just two minutes to look back on the exam and give it a once over. As it is, I can only hope for the best and wait for the verdict in 8-10 weeks.

I'm aware that many a test or job related interview turns out good even when perceived performance is lacking. Unfortunately it's all too easy for me to think, "If you think you did poorly, you probably did."

I'm a bit mad at myself right now, but I'll get over it. Anybody hear about any other career paths that involve lots of job security and overseas opportunities?

[ November 07, 2008, 07:22 PM: Message edited by: BlackBlade ]

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Valentine014
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I can't seem to recall what you do for a living, but have you considered applying for International Committee of the Red Cross?
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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Valentine014:
I can't seem to recall what you do for a living, but have you considered applying for International Committee of the Red Cross?

I work as an electronic reader right now just so that I can get through college. I have not considered working for the red cross, can you tell me anything about it?
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Jhai
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Sorry to hear that you didn't perform as well as you had hoped you would - not that you should give up hope!

Is there a reason why you must have lots of job security? There's plenty of career paths that involve overseas work, such as ESL teaching, if you're willing to accept the fact that you may have times when you're unemployed.

Also, have you considered just working for a company that has offices overseas, with the idea to transfer to one in five or six years? The consulting company that I currently work for has an office in India that I might eventually move to when I have enough seniority to be near the top there.

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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Jhai:
Sorry to hear that you didn't perform as well as you had hoped you would - not that you should give up hope!

Is there a reason why you must have lots of job security? There's plenty of career paths that involve overseas work, such as ESL teaching, if you're willing to accept the fact that you may have times when you're unemployed.

Also, have you considered just working for a company that has offices overseas, with the idea to transfer to one in five or six years? The consulting company that I currently work for has an office in India that I might eventually move to when I have enough seniority to be near the top there.

I would have considered that just for the job experience were I not married. I'm looking more for something that I can do while raising a family. I don't need to be wealthy, but I want to be able to pay the bills, set money aside for retirement, and not be living paycheck to paycheck.

[ November 08, 2008, 01:08 AM: Message edited by: BlackBlade ]

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quidscribis
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Pay the pills? Really? [Wink]


Out of curiosity, are there any specific parts of the world you want to go to, or does the list consist of just about everywhere?

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Miro
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What's an electronic reader?
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scifibum
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You want to raise a family while moving around the world? Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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Mucus
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This may sound blindingly obvious, but sometimes I find it bears repeating when I think I did horribly on an exam.

At least in upper year classes, exams are no longer judging whether you know particular pieces of information, but to determine your standing on a distribution of scores (like a normal distribution).

The key is not to dwell on how badly you did, but to find out whether you did badly relatively to others. If everyone else is stressed out as you, then thats ok and you can focus on the next task. If no one is stressed out, then it gives you something to find out and improve on.

Either way, it can be more productive and better for your morale than considering yourself as one data point.

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ketchupqueen
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I hope it's good news for you when it comes. [Smile]

quote:
You want to raise a family while moving around the world? Not that there's anything wrong with that.
IIRC, this is kind of how BB grew up, right? I can see how he would think it's a cool idea to want to give his kids similar experiences to what he had, if he thinks his have served him well. [Smile]
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BlackBlade
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Ketchup Queen speaks the truth.

Mucus: True story, but the exam instructions did say that they expect no grammatical mistakes and minimal spelling errors. This only exacerbates my already worried state of mind.

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Scott R
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Both of the Foreign Service guys I knew had families who loved traveling and adventure.
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BlackBlade
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Just got an email saying that my proficiency in Mandarin Chinese interests them, and that they wish to conduct a phone interview with me to see if I have at least a skill of SP 2. That's essentially basic spoken skills. I should be able to discuss my background, likes, dislikes, and basic world events in Mandarin. It's been 3 years since I've been enrolled in any sort of Chinese class so while I know in my head I am that good, I am freaking out that when the time comes I'll freeze up.

I'm going to have to break out the books and just practice speaking aloud and see if that loosens the brain muscles. The interview will take place in just a few days according to their email. I'll post my response to the interview after it takes place.

Oh man oh man, I'm so nervous just thinking about it.

This interview does not mean I am in by any stretch, it does mean I can make my application more attractive if I do a good job.

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rivka
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Good luck!
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Miro
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*fingers crossed*
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ketchupqueen
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quote:
Originally posted by rivka:
Good luck!

This. [Smile]
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BlackBlade
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I passed phase one! My scores were high enough to warrant further consideration. In essence they will forward my exam to a review committee who will then look over my personal narratives and give me an overall test score. If they like what I see I will be invited to take the oral exams early March. They will certainly review the interview that I'll be taking December 25th, but I'm just psyched to have passed the first tier of the exam process!

For an audio representation of what this post means please follow the provided link. (Warning: Mild Language)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUNN0B7zPi0

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rivka
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[Party]
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James Tiberius Kirk
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Congrats BB.

Out of curiousity -- do FS Specialists have to take a similar exam?

--j_k

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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by James Tiberius Kirk:
Congrats BB.

Out of curiousity -- do FS Specialists have to take a similar exam?

--j_k

Depends on the agency I would imagine.
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Jhai
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Congratulations, BB! Let me/us know if there's anything I/we can do to help you prepare for the next round.

I can answer questions about India, German-speaking countries, and economics. Edit: ...if those are things you might need to talk about. Really, I have no idea about what your interviews might or might not consist of.

[ December 12, 2008, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Jhai ]

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MrSquicky
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BB,
I'm pretty sure my sister's boyfriend is an FSO. He's been all over with the State department, anyway. If you want, I could see if he's got any advice to pass on.

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Lupus
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congrats!

I can't give you any advice...since I doubt my knowledge about retail management will help you at all...but I wish you luck. [Smile]

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Uprooted
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I really haven't been following Hatrack lately -- I missed all of this until today. Congratulations, BB, wishing you excellent luck in the subsequent steps!

You are having an interview on Christmas Day??? (Is that the Mandarin one, or has that already happened?)

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BlackBlade
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MrSquicky: Any advice he could render would be greatly appreciated.

Uprooted: Yep on Christmas Day, fun neh? Yes that will be the mandarin one. It appears this interview will effect whether I get to move onto the oral examination. I'll be humping some Chinese books to practice with while I'm in Japan counting down the days.

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BlackBlade
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Well I was wrong on the interview time, fortunately I was paranoid about it and triple checked my appointment and realized that it was midnight on Christmas Eve. So now it's Christmas today (I'm in Japan) and my interview is over.

I'm very, very disappointed in myself. Starting out I had a general conversation component and I think I did alright there. Talking about myself is apparently not too difficult for me. I did have alittle difficulty discussing my job as an electronic reader but that's hard in English anyway, but I managed to get through it.

I was then asked to present solutions on our economic situation and I just panicked. The economy is something I am striving to understand even now, and I feel my understanding has increased significantly. Unfortunately my knowledge of specific terms in Chinese is very limited.

After the interview was over I of course replayed the interview several times over in my head and came up with lots of better ways to have responded but, I'm stuck with what I said the first time. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself but I really am pretty disappointed in myself. I wish I had taken a moment to calm myself down but I just dived into it. My interviewers were extremely friendly so for that I was glad. Maybe I am OK and I am just freaking myself out, but I still feel I could have done much better.

But there it is. I'll find out in late February or early March if my application will proceed. I'll keep you folks posted.

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rivka
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Good luck!
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GinaG
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Hey great job. This is fascinating to see your process. I took the FS exam a long time ago and passed, but dropped out to go a different route. So it's interesting to see what might have been in store had I gone on.

I would imagine the economics question in your phone interview was meant to be a challenge. I'm totally guessing, but perhaps they want to see if someone has aptitude. Vocabulary and fluency comes in time, at least for someone who has a good grasp. So pip pip. And all the best for the next rounds.

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Kwea
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I was about to say the same thing. It sounds like that is far more than casual conversation, but it IS something that could come up. Sounds to me like they deliberatly chose a techinacal topic to see how you would react, and how flexable you could be.


I know that in music my teacher would often choose very, very tough peices for us to audition on. She didn't want to see if we know scales, she wanted to see how close we could come to sight-reading a very tough peice, and what we would do when we couldn't play it perfect.


My French teacher asked me all sorts of difficult questions for our oral exams too, including a lot of things we didn't cover in class. She wanted to see how we would explain things when we lacked a specific vocabulary for the topic.


I hope you did well, and I wish you lots of luck!

[ June 16, 2009, 11:48 PM: Message edited by: Kwea ]

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BlackBlade
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Just got the email in my inbox! Of course I clicked on the "see your results" link and died a thousand deaths before the stupid pdf finally pulled up. I didn't even read beyond,

"Congratulations after a comprehensive review of your candidate file you have been selected to participate in the next step of the Foreign Service Officer selection process, the oral examination."

Didn't read any further that is because I rocketed out of my chair, and fist pumped a few times, and then promptly called up my dad, (it's midnight for him) and got him as excited as I was, before telling him I had to go. I'm sure he can't sleep now. I then rolled down the list of family members on my cell, and of course they didn't pick up so now I'm on hatrack.

Oh man, I have no idea what the oral exams will be like. I need to do research and go crazy practicing Chinese between now and the test date. It's looking like I can schedule to take the oral exam any time between May 4th and June 30th. I'll probably opt for later June so that I have more time to prepare, but I don't know. I don't really know anything right now because I am ridiculously happy!

[Big Grin]

edit:
Of course here is a link to how I am feeling right now.

[ February 17, 2009, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: BlackBlade ]

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Scott R
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Congratulations!
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Traceria
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A huge congratulations to you!! It was fascinating following along through roughly four months of posts on this topic, and so glad to hear that you're on to the next step!!!
[The Wave]

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Mucus
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Good stuff [Smile]
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advice for robots
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Nice going, BB!
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Derrell
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[Cool] [Hat]
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The Rabbit
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Congratulation BB, Its great to know that you did better than you thought.

Oral exams are tricky particularly if you aren't accustomed to them. Oral exams are usually conducted to see how well you can think on your feet and whether or not you can apply knowledge to new problems. Going over books and notes to prepare is a start, but the most important thing you can do to prepare for an oral is to practice responding to oral questions. See if you can get one of your professors or maybe a graduate student to work with you giving you difficult questions so that you can practice responding. You need someone who will throw in some twists you haven't seen before so that you can learn to stay calm and think clearly when that happens.

Do you know what topics the exam will cover? Will it be in Mandarin or English?

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Jhai
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Congrats!

Let us know if you want to hang out with any of us in DC (if you'll have time to do so).

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Noemon
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Congratulations, BlackBlade!
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Uprooted
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Hooray!
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BlackBlade
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Rabbit: I'll definitely see what I can do about getting some accurate mock interviews in before I head off to DC. I am not sure if they are going to hit me with Chinese or English. I imagine most of it will be in English, but I strongly suspect I might have a some sort of reading comprehension exam. I really am not sure what topics will be covered. From what I have heard the exams are indeed Q/A sessions where they try to see how you think on your feet. I imagine conflict resolution will be a major component.

edit: It appears they have some preparatory materials on the state departments' website, so I am looking through those right now. They also have oral preparation seminars at Johns Hopkins University, unfortunately there do not appear to be any that I could reliably attend before the exam takes place. They will likely schedule more seminars between now and June, and I'll just have to see if there is anyway I can sit one before taking the exam. That might entail another flight out to DC, I'll just have to see. I want to do everything I can to maximize my chances of getting in.

Jhai: I definitely want to set aside an evening if possible to perhaps catch dinner or lunch with DC area hatrackers. From what I have heard the government pays for your plane ticket and puts you up in the same hotel as other candidates so that they bus them all together in the same vehicle. When I sign up for my test date and get confirmation itinerary I'll definitely let the forum know. That will be sometime in early March that I will be permitted to sign up for the orals.

[ February 17, 2009, 02:23 PM: Message edited by: BlackBlade ]

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rivka
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WOOHOO!

Good luck!!!

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scholarette
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Good luck. I hope this works out!
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Tatiana
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Congrats and good luck! It sounds like you're an excellent candidate for the job.
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BlackBlade
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I'm going in tomorrow, time to make my move. I probably won't be posting on hatrack until tomorrow long after the exam is over. Really hope I'm in top form. Last chance to offer crucial advise I might need. [Wink]
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Valentine014
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Good luck!!
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