Foreign Service Officer: ORAL ASSESSMENT STUDY GUIDE

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The 13 Dimensions – A Quick Reference What qualities does the State Department seek in FSO candidates? The successful candidate will demonstrate the dimensions listed below that reflect the skills, abilities, and personal qualities deemed essential to the work of the Foreign Service. Candidates should keep in mind that the 13 dimensions are the only thing that they will be rated on during the Oral Assessment. There is no specific education level, academic major, or proficiency in a foreign language required for appointment as a Foreign Service Officer. • 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 a group’s 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. • Quantitative Analysis. To identify, compile, analyze, and draw correct conclusions from pertinent data; to recognize patterns or trends in numerical data; to perform simple mathematical operations. • 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.
• Foreign Language Bonus Points and Testing • Foreign language skills are now tested only after the candidate passes the Oral Assessment. Successful candidates will be given instructions on how to arrange for a telephone test during their Oral Assessment exit interviews. The telephone test will assess only the candidate’s speaking skills. • Beginning with those who took June 2012 Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), candidates can receive .17 bonus points for all languages listed here (http://careers.state.gov/media/pdfs/language-points-2012) if they pass the telephone language test at the S3 speaking level. Candidates taking the telephone language test in the eight languages eligible for higher bonus points need only pass at the S2 speaking level to obtain the .17 language bonus points. Only the following eight languages are eligible for higher bonus points: Arabic; Chinese (Mandarin); Hindi; Persian (Dari); Persian (Farsi); Pashto; Urdu; and Korean. • To receive the higher bonus points, candidates who pass the telephone test will then need to pass an in-person, two-hour speaking and reading test conducted by the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia. Any costs associated with the in-person test (travel, time in Washington) are at the candidate’s expense. Those who achieve a minimum score of an S3 speaking level and an R2 reading level (S3/R2) will be eligible to receive a total of .38 bonus points. Candidates who receive a rating of at least S2 speaking level and an R1 reading level (S2/R1) but less than an S3 speaking level and an R2 reading level (S3/R2) will be eligible to receive a total of .25 bonus points. Candidates who choose to take the in-person test and do not meet the minimum S2/R1 score will forfeit ALL language bonus points – in other words they will not receive any language bonus points at all. • Candidates may test in more than one language but will receive bonus points in only one. They may also retake the telephone test in the same language after six months. Candidates who do not pass the full in-person FSI test may take a first retest after six months; any subsequent retests are authorized only after a one year interval from the last full test in that language. Language scores are valid for 18 months or the length of any candidacy initiated during the 18 month language score validity period. A candidacy begins on the date the individual takes the FSOT. The Department of State requires candidates to be awarded a country-specific security clearance before being granted the higher language bonus. • Candidates who receive .38 language bonus points must agree to serve once during their first two assignments and once after reaching mid-level grades of the Foreign Service in a country where that language is spoken. Candidates who qualify for .25 bonus points must agree to serve once during their first two assignments in a post where that language is spoken. • Candidates whose candidacies began prior to the June 2012 FSOT, that is prior to June 2, 2012, are grandfathered under the previous policy. For the previous policy please consult our website. • Should there be any differences between the foreign language testing information in this publication and that listed on the Department of State’s website, please assume the information on the website is more current. •
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The Foreign Service Act of 1980 tas
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Introduction The Foreign Service is
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Foreign Service Officer: ORAL ASSESSMENT STUDY GUIDE

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