I’ve noticed that a lot of people have been finding this blog after searching for US Foreign Service terms. I assume that the majority of you are landing on this post, which briefly describes my experience when I applied. I remember how crazy I went trying to find any bit of information during the process, so if you have any specific questions about anything leading up the oral exam, feel free to send them to me at deborah[at]balancedmeltingpot.com.

Best of luck to all of you!

Back in December, I wrote about my candidacy to the US Foreign Service. My reasoning behind moving forward with my application even though I knew we might be moving was to keep our options open.

Well, after much thought and many unforeseen circumstances, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy.

While I was mulling over what to do, I realized that a lot of the other candidates were a lot older than me. I may be speculating as to the reason they waited to pursue this career, but one of the main reasons I felt it wasn’t the time is because of the kids. I couldn’t imagine making them move every two to three years. I know that there are kids who do this and end up successful; however, I don’t think my kids (or their parents) are cut out for that lifestyle.

Oddly enough, this wasn’t a difficult choice to make and it’s one of those times that I feel like it’s the right thing to do. I enjoyed the experience of applying for the position (I chose the Management Cone) and I feel much better prepared should I choose to try again in the future. As I described before, the process if quite long and in a way it gives you a chance to really think about the life you are choosing.

So, the plan for the next five to seven years is that there will only be one diplomat in the family

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I guess it’s no secret that my husband and I enjoy the possibility of moving to new places; especially abroad. Back in June, before my husband’s transfer was finalized, I decided to research the process of joining the Department of State’s Foreign Service. I’m not going to go into too much detail about the process, as other candidates have done a thorough job with this already. My experience with the process has been the following:

June 2009: Took the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT)

July 2009: Notified that I passed the FSOT and needed to submit my Personal Narrative Questionnaire (PNQ) within three weeks

July 2009: Submitted my PNQ’s

September 2009: Notified that I was invited to the Oral Assessment (OA) and had 30 days to schedule

September 2009: Picked February to take the OA

I’m sure the next logical question is: how does this all fit in to your plan of moving to Caracas?

Hmmm, it doesn’t. Well, sort of…

The plan is, if I pass the OA in February, my Top Secret Security Clearance can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months (sometimes 1 year) and given the amount of traveling I have done, I am banking on at least 6 months. That takes us to August 2010. Then, if I make it past adjudications, I will then be placed on the register waiting to be called for the next A-100 class (orientation for all Foreign Service Officers). At that point, I have the option of being asked to be placed on the Do Not Call list for up to 12 months; therefore, potentially being called off the register in August 2011. By then, we will have been in Caracas almost two years and will consider our options at that time.

Why the self-induced torture? I think I went through the process 1) for the experience and 2) to keep our options open. Makes sense, right?

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