The whole story

I have this problem where I tell an oft-rehearsed story, and because I'm so familiar with it, I leave important bits out and just assume that people still follow me.

So let me tell the whole story of the Foreign Service job.

Back when Kevin and I lived in Beijing, we went to church with a bunch of other foreigners living in China. Since our church isn't one of the 5 religions officially recognized by the government, the foreigners could meet together, and the locals could meet together, but we couldn't have meetings together. So most of the people we knew from church were also expatriates. Many of the Americans there (and also Canadian, Swedish, Estonian, and a few others) were working in the Embassy there in Beijing. They had a really cool lifestyle where they lived in places around the globe for a few years at a time, manning the embassies and consulates. They lived lives of adventure, and their kids got to see the world. Also, the kids went to great schools where all their classmates were also very motivated students who got a lot of support from their parents at home. What a great environment to grow up in!

As Kevin slogged through law school, he realized more and more that he wanted a job that worked with people in a greater capacity than just helping them make more money. I don't think he has a very argumentative or aggressive personality, and so being a criminal lawyer didn't seem to fit his personality very well. As he was working at his clerkship up in Boise (last October to be specific), he decided to take the Foreign Service Exam. It it a free test that many people take to see if they have what it takes to become a Foreign Service Officer (these are the folks that work in Embassies around the world... just want to connect those dots for you). It's an exam that tests your knowledge of geography, American history, government, management, economics, technology, Therapists, and potent potables. Ha ha. Seriously, though, it tests you on just everything. How do you study for this? People often ask that, and Kevin had a great method for it. He memorized the presidents of the United States and the major events and achievements during that president's term. He studied for several weeks, took some practice tests online and from the library, and watched several documentaries from the library. Oh, and he has been learning a lot in his last 27 years, too. That helped.

He passed the exam, and then he got to wait a few months. In the mean time, he had a telephone interview to gauge his Chinese language ability. Verdict: he speaks Chinese. The application people reviewed his application, resume, and credentials, and eventually invited him to fly himself out to Washington DC for the Oral Exam.

In order to study for this Oral Exam, Kevin worked super hard. He researched the exam on the internet. Some people post about their experiences taking the test. There are Yahoo groups for people who are taking it. He met up with a study group in Seattle. He practiced telling stories to illustrate how qualified he is for the position. He practiced interviewing. He wrote practice essays. As a certified procrastinator, I was amazed at his consistency and determination. Kevin is amazing.

The actual exam went something like this:

Show up at the building wearing a white shirt and tie. Out of the 5 people that passed the Oral Exam on the same day as Kevin, 4 were wearing a white shirt and tie. The 5th was a woman, and she was wearing a white shirt, no tie. The guys wearing blue shirts didn't pass. I'm sure that's not the only reason, but it's worth mentioning.

First they did the group exercise. That's where each examinee is given a few projects to present to the others. After presenting their projects, they all work together to figure out how to fit the projects into their given budget.

Then there was the interview. They asked him questions, and he was able to use several of the stories he'd prepared. He did have to ad lib for one story, and that was the one they heckled him on, asking a ton of follow-up questions.

After lunch, they had the essay section. They were given 30-40 pages of information (some were charts or emails, so they weren't that long), and they were supposed to summarize the info in a memo, and then give the best solution to the problem that was presented. Kevin said that his brain was kind of fried at this point, and he wasn't able to do this section as well.

After this part, they called him in to an office and told him he'd passed and would have to do a bunch more paperwork. So it wasn't until much later that evening that he told me how he'd done. I would like to say I energetically whooped into the phone and danced around the room. What the heck, I will say that's what happened! It sounds like a good reaction.

Now we're in an interesting situation. Kevin has a career, and once the security clearance goes through, he will have a job. That might take 6 months or even a year. Until then, we just kind of wait.

When Kevin finished his exam, he got a certain score. It was high enough to pass, and since he speaks Mandarin, he gets some extra points. So he has a pretty high score. This means that he's pretty high up on the hiring list. So once his security clearance goes through, if he's in the next group of new hires, he'll get called out to Washington DC for training. As I understand it, in training he gets to see which embassies are hiring that year. Then he makes a bid for his top choices, and the embassies get to choose him. Or something like that.

Once he gets a job, then we'll go tootle off to China or Australia or Timbuktu (which is a real place, by the way) for a few years. Every post lasts 3 years, and then you go somewhere different. The State Department arranges your housing and lets you ship a certain allowance of stuff wherever it is you go.

Kevin will work in the embassy doing visa interviews and taking care of stupid Americans that go and get arrested in foreign countries. Stuff like that.

Come see us when you get a chance!