I took the written portion of the foreign service exam yesterday afternoon. It wasn’t a very big deal to me. The most stressful part of the process was that I had to go to West Virginia to take the thing (wonder why Western Pennsylvania wasn’t granted a test site? Did they do something bad and get it taken away?) But the trip out of town was fun, and both Jon and I took only 2.5 hours to finish the thing, so we hit the outlet mall when we were done.
I have always considered applying for the foreign service, but I have lots of other career options as well, so my heart will not be broken if I don’t pass the written exam. But I thought it would be a good experience to take the test, and if I do pass, then I’ll just have to see how far along I can get in the loooooong application process. All in all, I don’t think the test was hard at all. The hardest part is writing a full essay in 30 minutes on a vague, complicated topic.
Most people go into the test unsure of what exactly to study. I think the only real way to prepare is to take the test. The next time, you’ll know what to expect. I’ll share my study topics below and how helpful I think they were in the exam. In 3 to 5 weeks, I’ll let you know if I passed. Then I can actually judge if my study method worked!
- United States Constitution: I read the whole thing, including amendments, and took some practice tests online with Constitution questions. I also talked to my Constitutional scholar boyfriend about things I was unsure about. I think it was helpful. So the biggest tip here is to find someone who loves to nerd out about the origins of our nation and pick his/her brain!
- World Geography: I’m a huge geography nerd, so I’d say I was over-prepared in this area. I did tons of fun quizzes on www.sporcle.com (and will likely continue to do them regularly for fun. Yup yup!)
- World History: I did quizzes online to prepare, but really if you have a good memory of high school history, you will be fine. Also, knowing things about regions of the world that are often in the news is helpful.
- Thirteen Dimensions of FSOs: These are the qualities the FS seeks in candidates, found here. For the personality section of the test, it is extremely helpful to review these qualities and feel comfortable talking about them in relation to your life experiences. It’s also helpful to review your resume closely.
- English Grammar: Know how to write correctly. Honestly, I didn’t study for this part at all (I’m a former journalist and copy editor.) The only thing that is important to note is that the Foreign Service uses Chicago Style. If you don’t know what that means, you should study more about English grammar.
And that’s it! I think if you study a lot, you will probably stress yourself out too much. It’s a test of general knowledge, so you either have it or you don’t. If you don’t pass, just take it again (it’s free!) If you don’t pass again, you probably aren’t right for the job. No big deal. There are lots of other great ways to get involved in public policy or international affairs. You know, like international education. Good luck, test-takers!
UPDATE on 6/30/11: I passed! So, I stick by my list above.
f a b u l a r z 
Hey, I stumbled across this post when I was searching “Foreign Service Test” on google, because I am currently preparing for the test myself (which I will take in October). Congratulations on passing! What do you think was the most useful subject matter you studied?
I feel a bit rusty on my American history so I have started to review that by taking online quizzes. Were there any geography questions (such as locate Malawi on a map of Africa)? Need to figure out how much time to spend on sporcle.
Also for the essay, do you have any advice on how to prepare for this?
Any advice you can give me would be great! Thank you
-liz
P.S. my email is ecke6362@fredonia.edu– if that is easier for you
Hi Liz! I can’t tell you too much more since we all sign a non-disclosure agreement at the test site. But I will say the most challenging section of the test for most people (based on all the scores I’ve seen on the Yahoo group) is the biographical section. The State Dept website says the bio section “asks you to describe your work style, your manner of interacting and communicating with others, and your approach to other cultures.” If you aren’t prepared to talk about these things then you will run out of time and probably get stressed out during the test. So I’d say the most useful thing I studied was my own resume.
Otherwise, the job knowledge section is very hard to prepare for because it covers so many topics. So I say just work on some areas where you feel most uncomfortable. It’s not about knowing everything; it’s about feeling confident. I think if you feel calm and comfortable on the test day, you’ll answer questions more clearly and quickly.
I didn’t practice at all for the essay because I read enough advice online (mostly the Yahoo group) which said that content doesn’t matter. It’s the way you format the essay that matters. Have an intro and a conclusion, and in between have some supporting points that are relevant. You don’t have to quote famous people or anything fancy. They want to see that you can write clearly and quickly. The quickly part is hard; I was writing up to the last 10 seconds! I ended up passing with 8/12 (you have to get 6/12 to pass the test).
Hope that is helpful. Join the Yahoo group and you’ll hear a lot of people’s study techniques as well. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fswe/
Good luck!
Sara
Thank you Sara for your advice. It is so helpful! I will definitely check out the link.
Hi Sara, I found your blog when searching for info about the exam. You said you were writing right till the end. I also took the test recently and wrote until time ran out. What do you think, does it still except your essay even though you don’t hit the submit button?
Yes, I am pretty certain that whatever you have written by the time the clock runs out is automatically submitted. Good luck, Mike!