<p>I’m a senior in high school, and as much as I am loath to violate the sanctity of the Parents’ Cafe, I noticed in a couple of other threads that several parents here are/were expatriates, and had spouses in the Foreign Service. As my interests shift away from medicine and more towards the foreign service, I was wondering if any parents here had any advice to someone who is thinking of joining the ranks of the diplomatic corps. (Specifically, I am thinking of double majoring in International Relations and some sort of management, then getting an MBA for grad school.)</p>
<p>Are there any significant downsides to the Foreign Service that could not be divined from the website/common sense? (I.E. other than having to live in another country, getting civil servants’ pay, etc.)</p>
<p>If I specialize in European languages, is there still a strong possibility of being sent to Ghana or something? (Because I love French and German, but–no offense to Africa–I just don’t want to live there.)</p>
<p>Is there as much job mobility as the official site implies? (My dream is to be a charge d’affaires–or an Ambassador, but those are typically high-powered businesspeople who have seemingly no connection to the foreign service at all–of an embassy, but anything above the passport-stampers would be peachy-keen.)</p>
<p>The test to join seems intimidatingly difficult. Is the application process as stringent as the site seems to apply?</p>
<p>Any other factoids, etc. that you’d like to add?</p>
<p>I am a Foreign Service Officer so I thought I would try to answer your questions. </p>
<p>One of the first things you learn in the FS is that the answer to almost any question is “it depends.” But with regards to languages, if you speak French and test in it with the Department, you will almost certainly serve somewhere in Africa or perhaps Haiti during your career, likely within your first two tours. Those first two are directed, meaning you have some imput but ultimately very little say in where you go. </p>
<p>I took French in high school but chose not to test in it with the Department because those aren’t places I especially want to go. But if you followed the news lately, you know that the Department was very close to forcing people to go to Iraq. They generally don’t force people to go where they don’t want to after the first two tours, but they can, depending on the needs of the service. Like officers in the military, we are commissioned officers and are expected to go where the country needs us. </p>
<p>And if you need a language for an assignment, the Department will teach it to you. They have the Foreign Service Institute to provide all the training we need, including any language that might be needed at post. If you want to learn Azeri, the language of Azerbaijan, they teach it.</p>
<p>There is a tremendous amount of mobility. While the most plum Ambassadorships (like those in Western Europe) tend to go to political appointees (often major contributors the President’s campaign or business associates of his), the majority of Ambassadors are actually career Foreign Service. That is not to say you won’t be a “passport stamper”…you will. Everyone does a consular tour whether you are consular coned (cone=career track) or not. But usually you only have to do one or two tours in it (again, your first two are when you are most likely to do consular work if you are not a consular officer).</p>
<p>The test is difficult but not prohibitively so. Pay attention in your history classes, read a major newspaper or two, and perhaps the Economist. See if there is a local prep session for the test. I took one and it helped a lot. You can even get your degree in Foreign Affairs, although that is by no means necessary. My degree is in archaeology. </p>
<p>Wow, that was really enlightening. Thank you for taking the time to write this up for me. I’ll be sure to take that advice to heart (especially keeping my background in French under wraps).</p>
<p>However, your post did spark another question: you said that your first two tours are directed, but what about later ones: how much pull do you get over time over where you are sent? I had assumed that, as you progress in your career, you keep the same (minimal) level of control over where you are sent, but your position within the embassy gets better.</p>
<p>Just to satisfy my intellectual curiosity: if you (the reader of this post, not in general) are an FSO, what do you do (in terms of day-to-day activities, which the site is not so clear on), and how are you coned? PMs are encouraged, considering it’s not really necessary to keep this thread up top blocking the other Parent Cafe threads.</p>
<p>Thanks to anyone who replies (and thanks again to Schohn).</p>
<p>Hi, we’re not ignoring your post, but can’t help much. We are expats in Asia, but husband works in oil and gas development, not Foreign Service. </p>
<p>My father was a foreign service officer. He had an interest in Africa (did a Masters in African Studies) but his first posting was Thailand and his second was Japan. They tried to teach him Japanese and he failed miserably - that’s when he finally got the chance to serve in Africa. I remember our African posts best, and loved growing up there. You might like it better than you think. My father did become an ambassador eventually, but felt that having been appointed under Carter he was unlikely to get a position under Reagan. (Who also appointed a lot more political appointees even to less desirable places.) My brother-in-law passed the foreign service test, but flubbed the oral test where they put you in a scenario and ask what you would do.</p>
<p>From my observation I think the hardest thing about being an FSO is representing your country even when you disagree with it. You can try of course to influence our actions, but you may have to implement policies you think are wrong. That said, I really think my Dad loved his job. It does involve long hours. He never came home much before eight and always went to work on weekend mornings to “read the cables”. Might not be necessary in these Internet days. OTOH when we lived in Tanzania he took off work early every Wednesday to race sailboats. </p>
<p>My Dad certainly had some say in where he went. As he got higher up in the service he was at least once that I know of requested to be there by the ambassador. I know he lobbied at once point to be part of temporary UN assignment because he thought it would be fun to live in NY for a while. OTOH we almost went to Bordeaux in France, but the assignment fell through.</p>
<p>My father’s undergrad degree was history and so was brother-in-law’s.</p>
<p>Dad took the FS exam in 1989. It wasn’t hard for anyone who listens to the BBC or reads the economist. It is very topical. However, that is not the important part of the exam. If you want to pass, study up on English grammar. Why? This may not be true now… however back then in order to get more women to pass, they weighted this section above all others (since women did better on it). You could pass all the other written sections but not move on to phase 2 unless you had passed that one.</p>
<p>Note that there are several different roles they recruit for: diplomatic, commerce (promotes trade with US and negotiates/requests enforcement of trade treaties), embassy operations (helping out US tourists), “propaganda” (expressing US viewpoints/culture), US immigration/asylum issues, etc. I’m sure US security/anti-terrorism is also a big deal today.</p>
<p>I am currently a Watch Officer in the bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). On my last tour, I did a consular/political rotation. I am public-diplomacy (PD) coned.</p>
<p>My current position involves monitoring incoming intelligence from all of the intelligence agencies and making sure the right people get to see it. In Jerusalem, I did visa and fraud prevention work for the first part of my tour and covered the Israeli settlements for the second part. All of these jobs have been interesting. Mathmom is right, though. Sometimes advocating for policies you don’t agree with is hard. But the work can be very rewarding.</p>
<p>You do get some degree of control over your tours after your first two, but that seems to be changing somewhat with the current need for officers in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. As it currently stands, you essentially apply for a number of positions each time you bid on a new tour, and you lobby for the position (essentially doing interviews and getting people to give recommendations for you). You still may not get your top choice, and like I said, these days, most of us expect we will serve in Iraq or Afghanstan at some point in our careers.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the tremendous feedback. This thread is really helping to cement my decision to aim to become a Foreign Service Officer.</p>
<p>The whole “Advocating policies you don’t believe” thing, to me, doesn’t sound too difficult: I’m sort of a theatre person, so I’m used to being told how to do things (even if I don’t necessarily agree with the director). Not to diminish your difficulties, but I just feel it wouldn’t bother me too much.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the input: this is all stuff I would’ve been blindsided by if I had never asked. (And I’m sure my parents will appreciate that I’m actually doing a little research instead of saying “I’m going to run an embassy” and running off blindly.)</p>
<p>Does anyone have an thoughts/advice on whether ROTC participation and military service would be an asset to a career as an FSO?</p>
<p>I’m thinking of several angles on this:</p>
<p>1) Would ROTC participation improve a candidates’ chances for one of the Diplomacy Fellows programs (e.g. Boren, Pickering, etc.)</p>
<p>2) I assume that military service, as long as one is in the right role, would improve one’s performance in the Oral Assessment???</p>
<p>3) I would also assume that a 4-6 year stint in one of the armed services branches would be an asset to an FSO, but I wonder whether there is a better way to spend that time.</p>
<p>My S is considering an AFROTC scholarship, with ultimate plans to become an FSO, and I’m wondering whether this is a good course of action.</p>