The Application

Fun fact about applying to the U.S. Foreign Service: You can only apply once a year.

This wouldn't be an issue if one applied and then was hired, it really wouldn't come into play at all.  I am not that one. They say the average applicant applies 5 times. Apparently I'm above average since this will be my 6th consecutive year applying!

My husband, who works at the same company as I do, once described me to a training class as "that annoying chihuahua that yaps and yaps until you finally give in to it." Flattering description I know, but it was his way of saying I persistent and generally get what I want.  Let's hope he's right.

Yesterday was officially the date I could apply for 2017, so here I am, documenting my 2017 attempt. The first thing an applicant must do is fill out a registration, much like a quick resume, shoot! My most current resume is on my work computer. It's always good to have that on hand to fill out the registration, so it looks like I might not be completing mine until tomorrow.

After you fill out the registration, you get to schedule a time to take the FSOT exam. I have passed this test 4 out of 5 years. Apparently, last year my head wasn't quite in the game. I couldn't tell you what it was, I have taken the test postpartum, pregnant, and none of the above, but something happened last year and for the first and only time, I did not pass the test and was not invited to the next level of review.

After passing the test, you are invited to respond to a handful of questions, little mini personal essays.  This is where I've gotten stuck each year.  I write my narratives, send them in, and wait for 3 months to not be invited to an oral examination.  This year will be different, I tell myself each year. And each year I believe in my heart, with a grain of salt, that it will and that this is my time.

I realized in 2012, while I was on maternity leave with my first born, that I passionately wanted to join the Foreign Service.  I had considered it at other points of my life, but I realized after she was born I didn't just want to join, I needed to join.

For just over the last decade, I've been a typical cubicle dweller. I've had various jobs within our company, none of which were jobs that I aspired to have when I was younger, but they were adequate and paid the bills. When my daughter was born I realized I owed it to her to do more than just be adequate. I wanted to show her the world. What better way than by serving the country and making a difference?

I won't lie, I was a little nervous last fall when one of the Presidential candidates brought up a nationalistic rhetoric and seemed to indicate that diplomacy was for the weak and that we needed to be stronger. Once that candidate won the election, my worry didn't cease. From my perspective I have a much smaller chance of getting into the Foreign Service than any other year I've applied so far. The budget for the State Department isn't overflowing with cash, and like the corporate world, they too are being asked to do more with less. Taking that into account, with the current administration's nationalistic tendencies and talk that we need to do more at home than abroad, etc., etc., I figure there probably won't be any openings for me to take advantage of.

Though, there is one thing that might be in my favor, maybe. There are some, and I won't lie it crossed my mind as well, who say they don't want to serve under this president. But you know what? This job, this career, this life that I have dreamed of signing up for for the last 6 years isn't about who is in White House. Presidents come and go, parties shift back and forth. Having the chance to join the Foreign Service is above politics, it's a way to serve my country and I think that's pretty amazing. Hopefully those other really smart people who would be my competition don't think of it this way (ha, I have a TERRIFIC imagination don't I?!) and the hiring pool is so slim, they have to take me!

Well here goes nothing, or maybe everything.  See ya on the other side of my application. Ciao for now.