Where the Orals get serious

When you get your oral invitations, you have to schedule your test in advance. You usually have about a 2-3 month period to pick from, sometimes more if you overlap with the end of another testing session. Since invites generally happen 2-3 a year, that can be common. When I scheduled my test in the end of September, I knew I had a lot of schoolwork to do (I’m working on my master degree) so I pushed my test out to January. Why? This would allow me more time to prepare, (lose weight) buy a suit, and scout out a cheap airplane ticket. Since State doesn’t pay any of your expenses for the test, you’re going to have to fund that trip out, find a hotel and transportation as well as food. This does add up, so having a chance to look through cheap tickets is a real perk. Coffee* and I had a few random Marriott certificates which came in handy when you consider how expensive DC can be. I stayed in Arlington at the Residence Inn which is a short 5 minute walk from the metro station at Pentagon City stop (there’s a mall and Ritz Carlton upstairs). From there, it’s just 2-3 stops to the testing location and another short 5-10 minute walk. Much quicker than taxi in my opinion. There’s a variety of hotels in the area and across DC and the metro is very handy. I have a metro card from before and the amounts didn’t expire despite not having been in DC over a year so that was handy.

I’m not going to go in detail about the Orals because there’s a gazillion places online that already do. This is where I do recommend that you check out the FSOA yahoo group. Join, talk, listen and read through the practice sections they have. If you haven’t already, get the official study guide from the State department and get really familiar with how the sections go. You don’t want to waste time figuring out what they’re looking for or what’s going to happen next.

Group Exercise: This is an interesting test because it’s unpredictable. You may be in a group with a lot of great cooperative candidates, you may have someone who is a completely aggressive nincompoop. Being flexible, not being shut in a corner and being diplomatic is very important. Be a leader, not a bully. Be a good listener but not a wallflower.

Case Management: How well do you deal with problems, logistics and people? Not well? Study up some management books and hypotheticals then. This was my weakest section.

Structured Interview: Understand all your experience and how you would apply it to all the sections of the 13 Dimensions. (See, told you it would pop up again). This is the section you have the most control over because you know yourself best. Talk with others, brainstorm, make a spreadsheet, whatever helps you figure out how to remember all your best (and worst) qualities and how you overcame obstacles, etc. If you can, find someone to practice with by getting them to drill you with hypotheticals and interview questions.

One of the perks of the yahoo group is that it puts you in touch with a lot of fellow candidates and in turn, allows for the creation of study groups. The Group Exercise and practicing hypotheticals are helpful when you have other people to actually speak with and give you constructive criticism. Skype and Speek were both really helpful when it came to practicing across continents and is one of those points where you realize how vast is the network of candidates. We had people from Peru, Germany, Japan. I practiced with a candidate in London one day and then Hawaii the next. It helps to stay in touch since everyone has different test dates and hearing that someone you  practiced with passed is a good confidence booster- remember what they did well and build on that.

Remember though, not everything you read online is accurate and the only thing you should swear by are the official instructions the day of the exam. If you get a chance, see if your local Diplomat-in-Residence is holding any prep sessions. Interestingly enough, when I first took the oral in 2009, there were 30+ people who showed up for the prep session. Three years later, there were 5. Candidates vary in location and background but it is still interesting to meet people. Remember, you don’t actually have to have an invite to the orals to attend and I’ve met multiple people who came despite being only in the PN stage or just interested in the process. These prep sessions have videos of practice portions of the assessment which may give you a great visual of what will happen.

There are chunks of waiting time when you’re at the actual oral but use them to talk to the other candidates. I met so many interesting people, from Nairobi to Beijing, with all types of backgrounds. Some may be fresh out of college, others may be attempting a second career. All are intelligent, well-qualified, and bright- just like you. Get to know them, they may be your future colleagues!

The best (and worse) part of the Oral is the end of the day around 4:00. Why? Because that is when you find out if you passed or missed that 5.25 cut off. You won’t get your individual score for each section but they will let you know (with a ticky box) if you passed or not. This means you could fail one section (like Case Management) but pass the other two and still pass the oral. You’re not competing with each other so technically you could all pass or all fail. My day, three of us out of 12 candidates passed. It’s nerve wracking to go through such a long day of assessments (you’re expected to be there at 7:00AM) but at the end of it all, remember. This is the best preparation you can have, even if you don’t make it your first time.

If you do, you’ll proceed with meeting with Diplomatic Security to get your fingerprints taken and certify your SF-86. Then begins that long process of clearances.

*I like tea and Significant Other likes coffee. Duh.