Finding Tomorrow’s Diplomats

It is always nice to see The Foreign Service getting mentioned in the news so that the average American might know that we exist. Here is a recent article from The Washington Post. I’ve pasted it in full below.

Finding Tomorrow’s Diplomats

By Stephen Barr
Monday, July 30, 2007

It has been an annual ritual for decades — a seven-hour written exam,
offered once a year, taken by about 18,000 U.S. citizens with
yearnings to serve their country as diplomats.

But, starting in September, the State Department will change how
Foreign Service officers are selected and hired. The new approach is
called “total candidate” — an effort to make the department more
competitive in targeting and recruiting smart and skilled Americans.

With the change, the written test gets shorter, taking about three
hours. Answers will be entered into a computer, instead of on paper.
The test also will be given 32 times a year, instead of once.

While the test will be shorter, getting into the Foreign Service will
remain something of a long shot. Only a few hundred applicants each
year usually make it through the hiring process, and officials promise
that the department’s merit-based, rigorous approach will not be diluted.

“We’re confident that people who do well on the test are people who
have high potential to be effective Foreign Service officers,” said
Marianne Myles, director of recruitment, examination and employment
for the State Department.

The change in the department’s hiring approach comes as the Foreign
Service strains to fill hardship posts abroad, recruit Arabic, Chinese
and Farsi speakers, and keep up with demand for passports and consular
services.

An estimate by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service shows that
State will need to hire close to 1,400 Foreign Service employees
during the next two years to offset retirements and cope with
increased workloads. The department only has about 7,000 diplomats and
any increase would have to win congressional approval.

But the new hiring approach at State should make it easier to ramp up
Foreign Service hiring. Instead of taking an average of 14 months to
hire for the Foreign Service, Myles said the new approach should cut
hiring times by half, to within seven months.

The new process retains the day-long oral examination aimed at
checking out how well applicants can think on their feet, offer speedy
solutions and know when to assert their leadership skills and when to
blend in as team players.

But getting an invitation to the oral assessment has dramatically changed.

As part of a new online registration process, diplomatic hopefuls will
fill out a basic application form and write a “personal narrative”
that lays out their work and life experiences.

The narrative requires responses to questions designed to allow
applicants to write about what opportunities they have had to show
leadership, their opportunities to interact with people from another
culture and under what circumstances, and other work and life experiences.

“Don’t hold back,” Myles advised. “If you want to enter the selection
process, tell us about your experiences even if you don’t think it is
something important. We want to know.”

After the application and narrative are turned in, applicants will be
notified to schedule an appointment for the written test and
accompanying essay.

If an applicant passes that test, their scores, application and
narrative are reviewed by a “qualifications evaluation panel.” The
panels, usually three Foreign Service officers, will determine which
applicants are invited for the day-long, oral grilling.

Being able to speak certain languages, such as Arabic or Hindi, should
give an applicant an edge so long as they meet other hiring
requirements. In the past, State did not test applicants on their
language proficiency until late in the hiring process; now, it will be
done at the start, so that factor can be taken into account by the
qualifications panels.

Steve Kashkett, a vice president at the American Foreign Service
Association, said the union strives to ensure the hiring process is
objective and free of political influence. “We believe that is still
true after the changes,” he said.

Registration for the new Foreign Service test is underway. The test
will be offered Sept. 8-15 and Dec. 1-8. Tests also will be offered in
March and June. Registration information is available at
http://careers.state.gov.

One thing that probably won’t change is the kind of people who seek
out careers at the State Department, Myles said. “I think we will
continue to see that public service is a very strong draw,” she said.

“We attract people who want to do something that gives back — serve
our great nation. That may sound corny,” Myles said. “But we have an
incredible country and they want to perform a service.”