Reader Question on the Oral Assessment

Dear Vigg: "I have failed two attempts to get in the DOS as a IMS.  I have made it all they way to OA [the Oral Assessment] but keep falling just short of the cutoff... I wanted to know if you could give me some really detailed pointers on the Memo and face to face interview sessions..."

Honestly, I can't. It's not (just) because we sign a non-disclosure about the content of those tests... but also because they've undoubtedly changed since I took the oral in 2013... Similarly, different people do it every year. They look for what THEY think makes the best FS officer. One of my friends in Chennai spent some time on the interviewing board and he said his big push was to pick people that would handle living overseas well. Someone else may want to focus on people with technical excellence or people who enjoy diplomacy/public outreach. I'll give you some generic pointers for those sections though.

a) The writing exercise in the oral is most likely looking for two things. They know everyone can turn in good writing given unlimited time and resources (you already passed the essay portion of the application), but they want to see how well people write given a time limit and left to their own devices. I can't help you with the content, but you should focus on clear sentences, good grammar, and good paragraph structure. You can always debate how someone prioritizes tasks and/or the solutions they offer, but if there are grammar or spelling errors, it's an indisputable red flag.

b) For the face-to-face interview... I can just tell you what I did. I'm a pretty self confident person, I went in thinking "I am a great candidate, because I can do this job well." In the face-to-face, I focused on telling them why I felt that way and what my motivations were for joining. Normally in interviews you want to talk as little as possible (because the interviewer will fill in the spaces and generally people love to talk about themselves). That's not the case here. You're there selling yourself. Explain to them why you want this job and why you're a good fit. 

Oral Assessment

Best news! I successfully passed my Oral Assessment. What a roller coaster! After experiencing what I can only describe as the most intense nervousness I’ve felt in probably two decades (I’m looking at you, 8^th grade speech class) the day before my Assessment, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself calm and collected the day of. Living relatively close to DC, I was able to commute down for the day. I took the MARC and DC Metro in arriving almost an hour early to account for any possible delays. There was another IMS hopeful being assessed in parallel to me, which ended up being a blessing, because there were a handful of waiting periods that passed much quicker with some friendly chatting, than they would have staring off into space, second guessing everything. To the interviewers’ credit, the entire OA process is well documented on the Foreign Service website, and I’d say that my experience fit into their description perfectly. Being a history major, I’m no stranger to writing assignments, and I’ve always been good at standardized tests (read: multiple choice). I hate to say the first two sections ‘breezed by’ but I was much more confident in myself for those, than for the third and final part of the test. It turns out, talking is much more ‘real-time’ than typing and clicking radio buttons. The tension built as my interview-mate and I waited… and waited… for our interviewers to come collect us. After the better part of an hour, they came for him, and about one copy of State magazine later (or 10 minutes, if you'd prefer), it was my turn. The interview was as advertised, with the slight variation that there were three people present, two to interview me, and one in training, who was ostensibly observing the interviewers, rather than myself. Having a third person didn’t really matter to me, but maybe on some subconscious level it made me less nervous (maybe it leveled the playing field, since it was back to two on two, in terms of who was observing whom!). Once back in the lobby, we awaited our judgment in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere; after all, it was out of our hands now! After a moderate wait, I was called back in and congratulated on my passing the Oral Assessment and given a number (6.2, which means little to me, other than the pass/fail value, since I have no concept of its statistical significance), a conditional offer, and a new bundle of paperwork to chew through. The rest is fairly uneventful; I emphatically thanked my interviewers, spent some time with security, and started the long trip home.
Next step, security investigations, medical exams, and paperwork, Oh My! On the one hand, I know these are serious steps and can certainly end in terminated candidacies… but the other hand is just dancing around and saying, “Psh! I’m not a terrorist, I’m in great health, and I know how to fill out forms. Piece of cake!”

Interview Scheduled

Better news! Weeks and months of hard work (ok, just waiting) have successfully landed me on the schedule for an Oral Assessment. Looks like September 24^th will be the day of reckoning. The invitation came with a rather terrifying attachment describing the Oral Assessment process. The next step is to start working on what approximately amounts to a mountain of paperwork to be completed and brought to my interview. Fortunately, I remember every place I and all my friends have ever lived, doesn’t everyone? Oh… right… On the plus side, it gives me something to do to feel productive while I wait for my Assessment day, rather than nervously speculating about my failure.

Pre-Interview Notification

Good news! I was contact today with a notification that I will be contacted in the future for an Oral Assessment. I was mildly confused why I was receiving an e-mail to prepare me to receive an e-mail (maybe the hiring folks at the Foreign Service are fans of Space Balls?), but I’ll take it! Of course it gave no indication of time frame, so I’m back to waiting.