Finding Tomorrow's Diplomats

By Stephen Barr
Monday, July 30, 2007

It has been an annual ritual for decades -- a seven-hour written exam, offered once a year, taken by about 18,000 U.S. citizens with yearnings to serve their country as diplomats.

But, starting in September, the State Department will change how Foreign Service officers are selected and hired. The new approach is called "total candidate" -- an effort to make the department more competitive in targeting and recruiting smart and skilled Americans.

With the change, the written test gets shorter, taking about three hours. Answers will be entered into a computer, instead of on paper. The test also will be given 32 times a year, instead of once.

While the test will be shorter, getting into the Foreign Service will remain something of a long shot. Only a few hundred applicants each year usually make it through the hiring process, and officials promise that the department's merit-based, rigorous approach will not be diluted.

"We're confident that people who do well on the test are people who have high potential to be effective Foreign Service officers," said Marianne Myles, director of recruitment, examination and employment for the State Department.

The change in the department's hiring approach comes as the Foreign Service strains to fill hardship posts abroad, recruit Arabic, Chinese and Farsi speakers, and keep up with demand for passports and consular services.

An estimate by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service shows that State will need to hire close to 1,400 Foreign Service employees during the next two years to offset retirements and cope with increased workloads. The department only has about 7,000 diplomats and any increase would have to win congressional approval.

But the new hiring approach at State should make it easier to ramp up Foreign Service hiring. Instead of taking an average of 14 months to hire for the Foreign Service, Myles said the new approach should cut hiring times by half, to within seven months.

The new process retains the day-long oral examination aimed at checking out how well applicants can think on their feet, offer speedy solutions and know when to assert their leadership skills and when to blend in as team players.

But getting an invitation to the oral assessment has dramatically changed.

As part of a new online registration process, diplomatic hopefuls will fill out a basic application form and write a "personal narrative" that lays out their work and life experiences.

The narrative requires responses to questions designed to allow applicants to write about what opportunities they have had to show leadership, their opportunities to interact with people from another culture and under what circumstances, and other work and life experiences.

"Don't hold back," Myles advised. "If you want to enter the selection process, tell us about your experiences even if you don't think it is something important. We want to know."

After the application and narrative are turned in, applicants will be notified to schedule an appointment for the written test and accompanying essay.

If an applicant passes that test, their scores, application and narrative are reviewed by a "qualifications evaluation panel." The panels, usually three Foreign Service officers, will determine which applicants are invited for the day-long, oral grilling.

Being able to speak certain languages, such as Arabic or Hindi, should give an applicant an edge so long as they meet other hiring requirements. In the past, State did not test applicants on their language proficiency until late in the hiring process; now, it will be done at the start, so that factor can be taken into account by the qualifications panels.

Steve Kashkett, a vice president at the American Foreign Service Association, said the union strives to ensure the hiring process is objective and free of political influence. "We believe that is still true after the changes," he said.

Registration for the new Foreign Service test is underway. The test will be offered Sept. 8-15 and Dec. 1-8. Tests also will be offered in March and June. Registration information is available at http://careers.state.gov.

One thing that probably won't change is the kind of people who seek out careers at the State Department, Myles said. "I think we will continue to see that public service is a very strong draw," she said.

"We attract people who want to do something that gives back -- serve our great nation. That may sound corny," Myles said. "But we have an incredible country and they want to perform a service."

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.