A.   The entry-level salary for Foreign Service Officers ranges from the mid-thirty to the high-sixty thousand dollar range, depending on education level and prior work experience. Junior officers generally serve their first two tours overseas, for a total of four years, and can benefit from overseas allowances, including housing and financial incentives (e.g., hardship differential), which make for an attractive overall compensation package. For the complete list of benefits click here.

A.   Yes. Employment opportunities for spouses vary by country of assignment. The Department's Family Liaison Office maintains a listing of job opportunities at most posts and may be contacted directly once an assignment is known. The Department also has a growing number of "tandem couples" in which both spouses work for a foreign affairs agency of the U.S. government.

A.   Spouses, children under age 21, and, in rare cases, dependent parents may accompany Foreign Service employees abroad at Government expense. However, even though family members are not required to be medically cleared before an offer of employment is extended, family members must be medically cleared before traveling overseas at U.S. Government expense to accompany Foreign Service Officers on assignment. This means employees could be assigned overseas unaccompanied by those family members who do not have clearances. Further, the rules for claiming your parent or parent -in-law as a dependent are strict, and involve showing proof that they have been more than 51% dependent on you for an extended period of time. Security concerns and lack of adequate educational or health facilities at certain posts may dictate against eligible family members accompanying the officer to such posts.

A.   Yes, certainly. They might opt to bring their own car, or they might buy one from a departing colleague when they arrive at post. There are a number of possibilities. Just keep in mind though that you are limited sometimes by certain restrictions - right-hand drive cars, sometimes limitations on retractable headlights, emissions, etc. All of this information about a particular country is readily available to you as part of the assignment bidding process so you can be well informed.

A.   Yes - each overseas post and American Embassy has an Orientation Program for all new arrivals at post. You are also assigned a "sponsor," an official sponsor and a community sponsor who matches your interests and family composition.

A.   Good question. Of course it depends on your state of life, i.e., married, single with kids, etc. It also depends on whether the post is a limited or full shipment post. You should always bring things that will make your home overseas your personal home. Contact the Family Liaison Office prior to departure.

A.   It is the policy of the Department of State to provide equal opportunity and fair and equitable treatment in employment to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, political affiliation or marital status, or sexual orientation.

A.   You have lots of opportunity to enjoy the local culture - compare it to the time you have available right now when you go home after work. The host country is your home - after work every day and on weekends. You are a U.S. government representative - but you are also a resident and a tourist.

A: If a candidate declines an offer of employment, his/her name will remain on the register until their 18 month candidacy period runs out. However, there is no guarantee that his/her name will be reached again and another employment offer made.

A. The appointment process to become a Foreign Service Officer requires strong commitment. Occasionally, candidates request deferral of their candidacy. Active or reserve military personnel serving abroad, or U.S. civilian government employees serving abroad, including Peace Corps, may request deferrals for the period of their overseas service, up to a maximum of two years. Requests for deferrals from any other candidates will be considered on a case-by-case basis; however, candidates should be aware that only truly compelling deferral requests can be approved. A deferral does not result in additional time for a name to remain on a register. A deferral merely "stops the clock;" at the end of the deferral period, the candidate's name will be re-added to the Register for the period of time remaining from their original candidacy.

A.   Foreign Service personnel can express their preference for postings, but must be willing to serve worldwide according to the needs of the Service.

A.   As public servants, Foreign Service Officers must publicly defend U.S. government policy, despite personal reservations. There is an internal channel through which an employee may present dissenting views on specific foreign policy issues. If an officer cannot publicly defend official U.S. policy, he or she has the option to resign.

A.   The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has implemented a program for the repayment of student loans under certain conditions. By law, the maximum any federal agency can award is $10,000 a year, or $60,000 over a lifetime. In each of the first three years of our program, the Department approved payments of $4,700. In return, an employee must agree to remain with the paying agency for at least three years. For the complete list of benefits click here.

A.   Veterans who pass the Oral Assessment and qualify as preference eligibles are entitled to .175 for a 5 point preference or to .35 for a 10 point preference, based on a seven point scale. Specialist candidates, who are assessed on a 100 point scale, and who pass their oral assessment are entitled to an additional 5 to 10 points added to their competitive rating. In all other situations, veterans' preference is not a factor.

A.   Only U.S. citizens may apply for an appointment to the career Foreign Service, i.e., you must be a U.S. citizen by the day you take the Written Exam (for generalists) or upon your application to fill a vacancy announcement (for specialists).

A.   Both the Study Guide and the Registration Guide contain sample exam questions. You can order or download the Study Guide and Registration Guide at this link: careers.state.gov/officer/join/examinfo.html.

A.   There is no set educational level or foreign language skill required to join the Foreign Service as an Officer. Some Foreign Service Specialist positions do have degree requirements. Most officer candidates possess a Bachelor's degree or certification; over three quarters of recent hires have advanced degrees, typically in public administration, international relations, history, or law. Candidates who have passed the oral exam may qualify for bonus points to improve their position within the register list by taking a telephonic language test which assesses speaking proficiency only. The Foreign Service will train officers in job skills or languages required for assignments.

A.   Yes. There are some Foreign Service Officers who entered the Foreign Service shortly before turning the age of 60. The Department of State encourages all interested candidates who meet the age qualifications to apply. The only requirement is that you must have entered an A-100 class before your 60th birthday.

A.   Passers of the written exam fill out the Application for Federal Employment together with other documents they prepare for the next stage of the examination process.

A.   The cut score varies from year to year and is dependent upon hiring needs. You may retake the exam as often as it is offered.

A.   You should report to the test center at the time shown on your admission ticket. Actual starting time of the exam may vary at different test centers due to differences in the amount of time necessary for pre-test administrative procedures. If you report to the center later than the time stated on your admission ticket, you will not be admitted.

A.   Yes, you may change your career track selection in your on-line registration profile. The day of the written exam is your last chance to change your career track selection.

A.   Yes, more than half.

A.   All the sections are timed and you will need to pace yourself.

A.   It pays to guess, eliminate any obvious wrong answers, get a good night's sleep, and have breakfast.

A.   You will be trained in the language that you need for your assignment.

A.   No. A segment of the Job Knowledge portion of the FSWE is specific to the career track the candidate selects.

A.   There is no set percentage that pass. The "passing score" depends on our hiring needs. In general, however, about one third of takers have been asked to continue on to the next phase, the oral assessment.

A.   You'll need pencil and pen, your admissions ticket, AND a photo I. D.

A.   Professional "test-makers" at ACT prepare our exam questions. The questions are reviewed and approved by Foreign Service Officers.

A.   Assuming no serious security or medical issues arise, candidates who pass the FS Written Exam (FSWE) can expect that the minimum time from the FSWE to final clearance will be seven to nine months. It all depends on whether issues arise in either the medical or security clearance processes.

A.   Yes, but the AEP has not been available for a number of years and we do not anticipate offering it again in the foreseeable future. If we decide there is a need for it again, we will post a notice on the website.

A.   The Foreign Service is made up of five different career tracks. At the beginning of the hiring process, you must choose a track. The tracks are Economic, Public Diplomacy, Consular, Management and Political. To assist you with your decision, we developed a questionnaire to help you match your interests to the career track that may be right for you.

A.   There are a lot of different possibilities depending on the size of a post. If you go to a large post you might serve as a General Services Officer or a Human Resources Officer. If you go to a small post, you might be in charge of all management issues.

A.   Your posts prior to tenure aren't "unlimited." Posts offered to Junior Officers are designed to give them the necessary career track experience to move them toward tenure.

A.   Consular officers are specifically responsible for visa adjudication (both non-immigrant and immigrant) and with American citizen services. That is their particular area of expertise. Other officers in the post generally do not get involved in those areas except as duty officer, unless emergencies arise or policy issues crop up.

A.   Political officers get to know local political leaders, journalists, and labor leaders, as well as federal, state, and local government officials. If a political officer reads a controversial article in the local press one morning, he might call a local contact, discuss the contact's views on the controversy, and spend the afternoon putting together a report for his boss or Washington.

A.   It is a long, difficult, formal process to do that. It's highly unlikely it would happen as such changes are based on the needs of the FS. There would have to be a shortage of officers in the career track which you prefer before you could apply to change.

A.   It is not unusual throughout a 20-30 year career that an officer will develop a regional specialty.

A.   We need to know who wants to do what for workforce planning purposes and to look at their background at the oral assessment. We urge people to look carefully at the options before they choose.

A.   There are mentoring processes which kick in from the minute you pass the oral assessment. Once you join an A-100 class you will have a formal Career Counselor as well as an assigned mentor from a group of volunteer mentors. You'll get lots of advice and guidance throughout your career.

A.   Specialists are: Medical Specialists, Office Management Specialists, Information Management Specialists, Diplomatic Security Agents, Human Resource Specialists, etc. Officers are generalists who enter in career tracks - Economic, Public Diplomacy, Consular, Management or Political.

A.   For 2006-2007, oral assessments are planned for the following cities and dates, subject to change if needed:

Washington DC: Sep. 18, 2006 through late spring 2007
Chicago: Oct. 11, 2006 - Nov. 16, 2006
Austin: Nov. 29, 2005 - Dec. 19, 2006
San Francisco: Jan. 5, 2007 - March 1, 2007
Miami: March 13, 2007 - March 29, 2007
Denver: April 12, 2007 - April 26, 2007

We do not conduct oral assessments outside the U.S.

Please note oral assessments are not offered on weekends or federal holidays, or when the federal government is closed. Failure to make an assessment reservation or to appear for your scheduled assessment will terminate your candidacy.

A.   You may contact us by sending an e-mail to Reschedule@state.gov. In your e-mail you must show your full name, social security number, state the reason for not meeting the deadline and indicate what would be the best date/location options for you. Please know that this will be the only opportunity you will have to secure an assessment.

A.   All candidates who qualify for the Foreign Service Oral Assessment (FSOA) through the Foreign Service written examination are entitled to one assessment per written exam; those candidates who qualify to take the Oral Assessment through other processes may take the FSOA a second time, but not within six months of the original assessment.

A.   Yes, it is possible. Also, it is possible to have active candidacies in different career tracks.

A.   Please e-mail testneeds@state.gov and provide us with your contact information and a brief description of your disability and accommodation requested. We will contact you within the following week.

A.   No. Oral assessments are only conducted in the Continental United States at the locations listed above.

A.   No.

A.   No. Each exam passer is allowed to make 1 appointment.

A.   No. Each candidate must make his/her own appointment. Assessing on the same day and location as a friend or relative is strongly discouraged.

A.   If you registered online, you will receive an email at the address you submitted when you registered for the exam, giving you instructions on how to retrieve your results. If you used a paper application, results will be mailed to the address indicated on that.

A.   Candidates are notified of test results in late July. If you have not received your results by either email or regular postal service, contact ACT, Inc. at (800) 205-6358.

A.   Call ACT, Inc. at (800) 205-6358 or (319) 341-2500 or submit in writing to: ACT, Inc., P.O. Box 4070, Foreign Service Written Examination (82), Iowa City, Iowa 52243-0168, to update your records.

A.   Call ACT, Inc. at (800) 205-6358 or (319) 341-2500 or submit in writing to: ACT, Inc., P.O. Box 4070, Foreign Service Written Examination (82), Iowa City, Iowa 52243-0168, to update your records.

A.   Although individual feedback cannot be provided, you may request a breakdown of your score. Your request must be in writing and show your full name, social security number, and your mailing address. You may fax your request to ACT, Inc. at (319) 337-1122.

A.   All requests for scores must be made in writing within five months of the exam date to: ACT, Inc., P.O. Box 4070, Foreign Service Written Examination (82), Iowa City, Iowa 52243-0168. Test results will not be reported on the telephone.

A.   Yes. You may submit a written request for re-scoring. The answer documents for all three multiple-choice sections will be re-scored by hand for a fee of $30. The fee to re-evaluate the written essay section of the FSWE is $30. Copies of the written essay or multiple choice answer sheets will not be released or provided to examinees. The results of re-scoring will be reported to you in writing about two to three weeks after the request is received. Requests for re-scoring must be received by the FSWE Program Office at ACT within five months after the test date. In your letter, identify yourself by your full name, SSN, mailing address, and section of the test you want re-scored. Enclose a check or money order payable to ACT, Inc. for the appropriate amount and mail to Foreign Service Written Examination, P.O. Box 4070, Iowa City, Iowa 52243-4070.