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The Foreign Service Written Exam is a test for becoming an officer working for the State Department on several different career paths. The wife and I have both lived overseas at some point in our lives and we'd like to do it again. We'd get paid for living overseas and travellingthe world.

From the State Dept website:

Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) advocate American foreign policy, protect American citizens, and promote American business interests throughout the world. They staff our Embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions devoted to strengthening peace, stability, and prosperity. Their perceptiveness, dedication, and creativity drive the formulation and achievement of American foreign policy objectives.

Many FSOs have liberal arts or business degrees; some have advanced degrees in specialized areas ranging from law to the social and hard sciences. Knowledge of a foreign language is not a requirement to join the Foreign Service; you will receive language training required for overseas assignments. However, the State Department welcomes applicants who have foreign language competence, especially in Slavic, Middle Eastern, and Asian languages. Each FSO must choose one of five career tracks (or, "cones"): Management/Administrative Affairs, Consular Affairs, Economic Affairs, Political Affairs, or Public Diplomacy. Increasingly, transnational issues such as the environment, science and technology; the global struggle against diseases such as AIDS; international law enforcement cooperation and counternarcotics trafficking; counterproliferation and international action against trafficking in persons have gained priority among American foreign policy objectives. This shift has opened fascinating new avenues in which FSO's are making major contributions on the cutting edge of foreign policy. Serving in Washington, DC, officers in all tracks implement, and thus also participate in developing, our foreign policies.

What awaits you in the Foreign Service is the opportunity of a lifetime to get to know foreign languages and cultures by living them, and to make a difference in the lives of American and foreign citizens.

FOREIGN SERVICE ASSIGNMENTS

After an initial orientation and training period in Washington (usually between three months and one year), newly hired Foreign Service Officers are assigned overseas. During their first two assignments (each of two years duration), officers hold a variety of positions in order to demonstrate their qualifications for tenure as career Foreign Service Officers. As part of this process, officers early in their careers perform at least one year of consular work overseas and are frequently assigned to at least one hardship post.

Hardship posts are those where living conditions are considered more difficult than in the United States. Such factors as climate, the quality of local health care, crime rate, pollution levels, and availability of spouse employment opportunities are used in deciding which posts are designated hardship; in general terms, most locations outside of Western Europe, Canada, and Australia are considered hardship posts. Employees serving at hardship posts receive a “hardship” differential of between five and twenty-five percent of salary, depending on the severity of the hardship. For example, in 2003, Asuncion, Paraguay is a 5% hardship differential post; Bucharest, Romania is a 15% post; and Kigali, Rwanda is a 25% post.

Assignments are made based on a bidding process. From a list of current openings, employees submit a list of desired assignments. After close consultation with the employee, the Bureau of Human Resources then selects an appropriate posting. Personal as well as professional factors are taken into account in making assignments, but the needs of the Service remain paramount.

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