Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT)

For those interested in joining the United States Foreign Service, the first step is to complete the Foreign Service Officer Test or FSOT.

The FSOT is broken down into 4 sections: Job Knowledge, which is kind of like trivia, Situational Judgement, where you have to choose the best and worst ways to deal with a variety of fictional situations, English Expression where you have to correct the spelling or grammar of a variety of English texts (or choose the best replacement sentence, etc.) and an essay.

I completed the FSOT today and achieved a score of 164. The minimum cut-off to proceed to the next step used to be 154 but since June 2022 that is not the case. Out of 200, 164 is considered an okay score. 180-200 are outstanding, 160-170 are alright. 154-159 is just barely passing.

In 10-12 weeks or so, I'll find out if I have been invited to the next step of the process, the Foreign Service Oral Assessment (FSOA) which is an all-day event held in Washington, D.C. Invitations to the FSOA are made by the Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP) which is kind of a black box.

If you pass the FSOA with a minimum score you are placed on the Register of suitable candidates, rank-ordered by your score. The State Department offers positions to people off the Register for 18 months until you are said to "time off." A 5.25 out of 6 is the minimum passing score for the FSOA. A 5.5 gives you a reasonable shot of getting an offer on the Consular track, which is what I'm interested in.

 

Is that the same exam Millbarge and Fitz-Hume took?

 

Ohh! Oh! When do you get your cloak and dagger??

 

Congrats. I took it about 10 years ago, and it was pass/fail. After I passed, I had to fill out an experience inventory that wasn't friendly to blue collar workers.

 

Same exam - but Fitz-Hume cheated - Dustin didn't. Millbarge didn't really pass - Dustin did.
Millbarge and Fitz-Hume were accepted anyway, as two expendable agents were needed. Dustin won't be expendable - he's WAY smarter than those two guys...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spies_Like_Us

 

Designer (ha!) here. How be I do the cloak --- and maybe a pair of matching "stilettos?"
Or maybe you'd prefer Louboutin or Ferragamo for those.... a bit pricey, though.

 

Got the results back. I was not selected to move forward with the Foreign Service Oral Assessment (FSOA) this time.

Common, but disappointing. I'll try again next year. In the meantime, I recently inquired about the US Army Reserve (nearly impossible with my medical history and I was already medically DQ'd from the Canadian Forces but I want it in writing) otherwise I'll kick myself if I could have gotten in with waivers but didn't try.

 

My dad, a young adult academic wunderkind, LSE PhD at 25, failed the Canadian foreign service exam.

 

I was shocked to learn that the Canadian Foreign Service exam is a one-and-done. There is no repeating. Similar to how the Canadian Forces have no waiver process for the military, so when I was medically disqualified that was it.

Meanwhile in the US, candidates have tried up to 7 times (and theoretically could try every year) before being selected for the foreign service, and something like half of all medically rejected applicants to the US military succeed in getting a waiver. (Though that depends on the specific condition. Missing a limb is disqualifying and non-waiverable, while a simple broken bone may require no paperwork at all as long as it healed without issue.)

 

It also depends on whether we're at war and if the services are meeting their recruiting goals. They were granting waivers for certain felonies during the Iraq War. For things like ADHD, I've heard that their willingness to grant waivers depends on the current pressure to recruit.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I also read that the chance of getting a waiver depends on the branch. Surprisingly, the Marine Corps seems to be the most likely to approve waivers.

https://wrair.health.mil/Portals/87/Documents/FY22%20AMSARA%20AR_Final_Publish.pdf?ver=5pBLHGxjgaOVVGBKNPfDug%3D%3D#:~:text=13%2D16%25%20of%20applicants%20were,73%25%20(Marine%20Corps).

 

Yes, given that recruiting numbers are down right now I'm hoping my chances are better. I've actually heard the Coast Guard are the pickiest, then the Marine Corps, then the Air Force, Navy, and finally Army as the least selective/most waiverable given their large size and lofty recruiting goals.

If I get rejected from the Army as expected, I will try the other branches until I've gotten through them all or aged out at 42.

Edit: That doc is very interesting. Having dived into it a bit, the Marines receive more waivers than every branch but the Navy and end up approving more. I wonder if more people trying for the other branches just give up. People really want to be Marines (and Sailors.)

 

I think it's reverse. The Navy receives the most applications, but the Marines have the highest approval rate. Unless you mean that the Navy approves the highest number, and the Marines approves the highest percentage.

The Marine Corps had the highest waiver approval rate for 17 of the 29 DQ categories.

 

Long ago...the USCG was very picky followed by the USAF, USN and USA. The USMC came last in theory but really, after Vietnam there wasn't much difference between the Army and the Marines.

 

The USDOD is unusual in that the Navy has its own air and ground forces and the Army has its own air and water forces. This is the result of plain high level politicking over a hundred years at least..

 

In the 90s I applied to US navy Air-force reserve and the reason I failed was my BMI.
By the time I lost the weigh and the spare tire around my waist my age disqualified me.

 

Our Navy is huge, powerful, and capable beyond anything else the world has ever seen. It's terrifyingly expensive. It's also utterly indispensable. We are a trading nation and require free access to the world's markets and resources.

It was ever thus. The U.S. constitution's Article 1 placed a two year limit on standing armies but there is no such limit on maintaining a Navy. This authority predates the decline of the Royal Navy by a good 150 years. Even then the need was well understood.

 

Good news! I'm hearing that the military is approving waivers left and right due to low recruitment numbers. Gen Z is neither interested in the military nor can most of them meet the requirements.