Selection Process
- Submit Your Application
- Initial Review
- Qualifications Evaluation Panel
- Oral Assessment
- Placement on a List
- Foreign Languages
- Medical Clearance
- Security Clearance
- Final Review
- Register of Cleared Candidates
- Veteran's Preference
- Candidates with Disabilities
- Commitment to Foreign Service Work
1. Submit Your Application
Depending upon which of the many different specialist job categories you are applying for, you must refer to the specific vacancy announcement and complete all additional required procedures. Some vacancies only accept online applications, while others require the Application for Federal Employment (DS-1950) (534kb, PDF) and supporting hardcopy documents. To be eligible, you must be
- a U.S. citizen,
- between the ages of 21 and 59 (hired before 60th birthday), or
- between 21 and 36 (hired before 37th birthday) for Diplomatic Security Agent positions and,
- be available for worldwide assignment.
2. Initial Review
A completed application package contains all of the material listed in the specific Vacancy Announcement. Materials submitted for inclusion in the package are reviewed as they are received and become the property of the Department of State. An application can be terminated whenever the materials do not support the basic eligibility requirements for employment in the Foreign Service.
3. Qualifications Evaluation Panel
Candidates who are successful in the initial review stage by meeting the basic eligibility requirements for employment in the Foreign Service and the minimum qualifications established for the specific position will either have their professional experience, job history, and motivation evaluated by a panel of subject-matter experts — the Qualifications Evaluation Panel — or will be asked to meet equivalent requirements on-line, depending on the nature of the vacancy announcement. The panel or the on-line evaluation will forward the most competitive candidates for participation in an oral assessment.
4. Oral Assessment
Candidates forwarded by the qualifications process are invited to participate in an oral assessment conducted by the Foreign Service Assessment Center in Washington, D.C. Travel to Washington, D.C. and lodging are at the candidate's expense. The letter or email message that advises candidates that they had passed the Qualifications Evaluation Panel also advises candidates what documents they need to bring to the Assessment Center. This list of documents can be downloaded here. In addition to the listed documents, candidates are also asked to bring the Social Security numbers of family members who might be traveling with them overseas. This will help the medical clearance process. Provisions for candidates with disabilities will be made available at each Assessment Center but must be arranged with the U.S. Department of State's Board of Examiners in advance. When you attend the oral assessment, please keep in mind that business attire is appropriate.
The Foreign Service specialist assessment consists of a writing exercise and a structured interview. (Office Management Specialists candidates also have a proofreading exercise and a computer skills exercise if the latter is not done online.) Candidates are evaluated on the twelve dimensions listed below. These are based on a job analysis of the work of the Foreign Service and the skills and personal qualities deemed essential to the performance of that work.
- Composure. To stay calm, poised, and effective in stressful or difficult situations; to think on one's feet, adjusting quickly to changing situations; to maintain self-control.
- Cultural Adaptability. To work and communicate effectively and harmoniously with persons of other cultures, value systems, political beliefs, and economic circumstances; to recognize and respect differences in new and different cultural environments.
- Experience and Motivation. To demonstrate knowledge, skills or other attributes gained from previous experience of relevance to the Foreign Service; to articulate appropriate motivation for joining the Foreign Service.
- Information Integration and Analysis. To absorb and retain complex information drawn from a variety of sources; to draw reasoned conclusions from analysis and synthesis of available information; to evaluate the importance, reliability, and usefulness of information; to remember details of a meeting or event without the benefit of notes.
- Initiative and Leadership. To recognize and assume responsibility for work that needs to be done; to persist in the completion of a task; to influence significantly group activity, direction, or opinion; to motivate others to participate in the activity one is leading.
- Judgment. To discern what is appropriate, practical, and realistic in a given situation; to weigh relative merits of competing demands.
- Objectivity and Integrity. To be fair and honest; to avoid deceit, favoritism, and discrimination; to present issues frankly and fully, without injecting subjective bias; to work without letting personal bias prejudice actions.
- Oral Communication. To speak fluently in a concise, grammatically correct, organized, precise, and persuasive manner; to convey nuances of meaning accurately; to use appropriate styles of communication to fit the audience and purpose.
- Planning and Organizing. To prioritize and order tasks effectively; to employ a systematic approach to achieving objectives; to make appropriate use of limited resources.
- Resourcefulness. To formulate creative alternatives or solutions to resolve problems; to show flexibility in response to unanticipated circumstances.
- Working With Others. To interact in a constructive, cooperative, and harmonious manner; to work effectively as a team player; to establish positive relationships and gain the confidence of others; to use humor as appropriate.
- Written Communication. To write concise, well organized, grammatically correct, effective and persuasive English in a limited amount of time.
Candidates are evaluated solely against these criteria by examiners who have received training from industrial consultants on how to conduct assessments in an objective manner in which the candidate's performance is observed and where the score correlates to an established performance standard. Before the assessment begins, all candidates are required to sign a non-disclosure statement that requires the candidate not to divulge the contents of the examination.
The Writing Exercise
For the first part of the assessment, each candidate has 45 minutes to write an essay on a choice of topics from a provided list. Candidates have a computer available to use, but they also have the option to write the essay by hand. The exercise covers the dimension of written communication defined above. Candidates are assessed only on how well they express their views, not on the views themselves.
The Structured Interview
Following the writing exercise, two examiners conduct an interview lasting about an hour covering the remaining eleven dimensions. One of the examiners is a Foreign Service Specialist in the field of the candidate's chosen specialty. There are two parts to the structured interview. In the first part, candidates are asked about their motivation for joining the Foreign Service and about their previous experiences that might be relevant to work as a Foreign Service Specialist. Questions may focus on cross-cultural experiences, either in the United States or abroad, and on other experiences which demonstrate objectivity and integrity, as well as the ability to work well with others. Candidates will be asked to cite specific, real life examples to demonstrate these dimensions. In the second part of the interview, the Foreign Service Specialist asks technical questions in the candidate's chosen field and provides hypothetical workplace problems for resolution.
Exit Interview
At the conclusion of the interview, the examiners consolidate their scores and inform each candidate whether or not he or she has reached the cut-off score. Successful candidates are briefed on the next steps in the pre-employment process.
5. Placement on a List
List of Conditional Offers. Those candidates whose score is high enough will receive an immediate conditional offer of employment — that is we will continue to process his/her candidacy — but it does not guarantee that the candidate will eventually join the Foreign Service. That will depend on the Department's workforce needs and budget, as well as the candidate receiving medical, security, and final review clearances, which can take six months or longer. It is possible that, even if the candidate gets all his/her clearances, the period of eligibility could expire before the candidate's name is reached on the hiring register. Candidates can increase standing on the register if they qualify for veteran's preference and/or demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language.
6. Foreign Languages
While you are not required to know a foreign language to become a Foreign Service Specialist, proficiency in one or more languages will enhance your competitiveness for selection.
If you claim proficiency in a language, once you pass the Oral Assessment, you may schedule a telephone test with our Foreign Service Institute. If you obtain at least a "2," in any one of the six Super Critical Needs Languages (Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Dari, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu) or in a Critical Needs Languages (Azerbaijani, Bengali, Chinese (Cantonese), Kazakh, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Nepali, Pashto, Punjabi, Russian, Tajik, Turkish, Turkmen, and Uzbek), you will receive 5.7 additional points; if you obtain at least a "2" in Arabic, you will receive 7.14 additional points. For world languages — which require a higher degree of proficiency — if you obtain a score of at least "3", you will receive 2 additional points.
For information to help you assess your own speaking level, visit http://www.govtilr.org and click on "Speaking" under the skill level descriptions for a general description of the expected proficiency at the S-2 level. The speaking self-assessment tool, available on the same site, will also help you estimate your language proficiency.
7. Medical Clearance |  |
The Office of Medical Services of the Department of State determines a candidate's medical fitness and ability to serve overseas. Many Foreign Service posts are located in remote areas with extremely limited medical support; therefore, each candidate must meet rigorous medical standards in order to qualify for the required worldwide medical clearance. Medical clearance determination by Medical Services is based on its thorough review of each candidate's medical history and physical examination, including an individual assessment of his/her specific medical needs and the medical capabilities of Foreign Service posts to meet those needs.
After receiving a Conditional Offer of employment, each candidate is provided with the necessary examination forms (with instructions) to give to the examining health care practitioner (MD, DO, NP, PA). We also provide an authorization for the Department of State to pay for the examination. However, candidates living within a fifty-mile radius of Washington, D. C. must have their medical examination performed at the Examination Clinic, Office of Medical Services in Washington.
Regardless of who administers the medical clearance exam, the Department's Office of Medical Services determines whether or not a candidate is medically eligible for assignment to all Department of State posts worldwide. While a candidate may effectively manage a chronic health condition or limitation within the United States or in specific areas outside of the U.S., the Office of Medical Services might well determine that the same individual is not eligible for a worldwide ("Class One") medical clearance. Such clearances may only be issued to candidates whom the Office of Medical Services deems able to serve at the most isolated and restricted overseas posts.
Such a post could feature extreme isolation in terms of limitations on reliable air service in and out of the country, unreliable Internet and telecommunications connections, and/or unreliable postal and delivery systems. Any of these limited services can have a severe adverse impact in terms of both bringing in required medical services and/or supplies, and/or permitting timely medical evacuations. Other infrastructure at such a post might also be inadequate. There might be a poor or negligible public health system, poor sanitation, unreliable electricity and a lack of potable water. There might also be infectious and communicable diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, tuberculosis, rabies, encephalitis and gastrointestinal diseases. There might be no health unit at the post and next to no local medical facilities. The emergency room, for example, might be completely inadequate, without ventilators, defibrillators, x-ray capabilities, etc. There often would be no blood bank or medical supplies or medications available locally. Because of political instability, security could be a concern.
Candidates should be aware that these posts are not few in number nor confined to a specific geographic region. Also, there are numerous other posts — in Asia and Europe for example — where conditions appear similar to that of the U.S. but which also feature some of these prohibitive characteristics.
As a result of these characteristics of a post, the stress level among employees might be very high. Given these concerns, the Department of State would only assign employees with unrestricted medical clearances to such posts (of which there are many), and is unable to hire new employees without such clearances.
While the candidate must be medically cleared for worldwide service, the Department of State does not consider the medical condition of eligible family members for pre-employment purposes. It does, however, require that each eligible family member have a medical clearance before they can travel overseas at U. S. Government expense when accompanying an employee on assignment. Please note that employees with a family member who has been issued a limited medical clearance (not worldwide) may be assigned to posts where that family member cannot accompany them. We strongly advise candidates to consider this situation as they pursue employment with the Department of State.
On request, the Director General of the Foreign Service, or designee, may consider granting a waiver of the worldwide availability requirement for a candidate who is unable to qualify for a worldwide medical clearance. Candidates should be aware, however, that the granting of such waivers is rare.
For more information on medical clearances, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
8. Security Clearance | |
Candidates who pass the Oral Assessment must apply for the security clearance required for appointment to the Foreign Service. A comprehensive background investigation, conducted by the U.S. Department of State in cooperation with other federal, state, and local agencies, will provide the information necessary to determine a candidate's suitability for appointment to the Foreign Service and for a Top Secret security clearance.
The process considers such factors as: failure to repay a U.S. Government-guaranteed loan or meet tax obligations; failure to register for the Selective Service; past problems with credit or bankruptcy; unsatisfactory employment records; a criminal record or other violations of the law; drug or alcohol abuse; and less than honorable discharge from the armed forces.
Candidates who hold dual citizenship (39kb, PDF), have had extensive travel, education, residence and /or employment overseas, or who have foreign contacts, a foreign-born spouse, immediate family members or relatives who are not citizens of the United States, should be aware that the clearance process will take longer to complete. The background investigation includes interviews with current and previous contacts, supervisors and coworkers. Candidates who do not receive a security clearance are ineligible for appointment. Potential candidates who have any serious issues that may prevent them from receiving a clearance should give some thought to the likelihood of their being found ineligible before starting this process.
9. Final Review
Upon completion of the background investigation, a Final Review Panel will review the completed file to determine the candidate's suitability for employment with the Foreign Service.
The attainment of U.S. foreign policy objectives depends on the confidence of the public (both American and foreign)in the individuals in the Foreign Service. Given the representational nature of the Foreign Service, the Department of State requires the highest standards of integrity, reliability and prudence. The purpose of the Final Review is to determine, from the candidate's total record, whether the candidate is indeed suitable to represent the United States. The Final Review Panel has the authority to terminate a candidacy at this stage.
In evaluating suitability, the Final Review Panel takes into consideration the following factors:
- Misconduct in prior employment, including marginal performance or inability to interact effectively with others
- Criminal, dishonest, or disgraceful conduct
- Repeated or habitual use to excess of intoxicating beverages affecting the ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of the employee's position
- Trafficking in or abuse of narcotics or controlled substances
- Conduct which clearly shows poor judgment and or lack of discretion which may reasonably affect an individual or the agency's ability to carry out its responsibilities or mission
- Financial irresponsibility, including a history of not meeting financial obligations or an inability to satisfy debts
The most common grounds for a finding of unsuitability are a recent history of drug or alcohol abuse and delinquency in repaying debt or other evidence of financial irresponsibility. Candidates whose file indicates such issues are unlikely to be found suitable for the Foreign Service. Potential candidates should give some thought to these suitability factors and the likelihood of obtaining a positive decision from the Final Review Panel before starting the application process.
10. Register of Cleared Candidates
Names of candidates who have received a conditional offer of employment and who have successfully completed the security, medical and suitability stages will be placed on the register of cleared candidates, in their specialty, and rank ordered by their overall assessment scores. The register is dynamic, changing as candidates receive offers of employment, or withdraw, or new candidates with higher scores are added. Final offers of employment are made to candidates, starting from the top of the register, as openings become available. Candidates not appointed within the eighteen-month period are removed from the register as their eligibility expires.
11. Veteran's Preference
Candidates who can document creditable veteran's service will be given additional 5 or 10 points on the Register.
12. Candidates with Disabilities
The Department of State provides reasonable accommodation to Foreign Service candidates with disabilities throughout the pre-employment process. For qualified candidates who will require accommodation upon appointment, the Office of Employee Relations is responsible for determining reasonable accommodations. In order to be considered qualified, a candidate must meet all requirements for appointment to the Foreign Service. This includes having received an unlimited medical clearance from the Office of Medical Services or a waiver of the worldwide availability requirement from the Employment Review Committee.
13. Commitment to Foreign Service Work
Anyone applying to be a Foreign Service Specialist must be willing to accept the following three commitments of Foreign Service work:
- First: Flexibility. This means that the candidate is willing to perform duties outside his/her functional field should the need arise.
- Second: Public support of U.S. government policies regardless of the candidate's personal views.
- Third: Worldwide availability. Even though the Department attempts to work with each employee's individual and family needs, each employee must be willing to serve anywhere the Department determines is necessary. This can mean in extreme climates, in isolated, potentially unhealthful and unfriendly environments, and/or where the candidate may not have training in the local language.
The Department also has unaccompanied tours, where the candidate would not be able to take his/her family. There may also be tours where local conditions may force the evacuation of families back to the United States while the candidate must remain at post.
Candidates who receive a Conditional Offer of employment must reaffirm orally their acceptance of these three commitments at the end of the oral assessment and in writing once a job offer has been accepted in order to continue the application process.
