(2025 NOTE: This ARCHIVED post was originally posted on Feb. 14, 2009, on my original, now defunct blog. This post is no longer updated and does not reflect the current format of the FSOT)

(2010 UPDATE: Since originally writing this post, I passed the Foreign Service Oral Assessment – FSOA – in April 2009.  I received Final Suitability and was placed on the Register in November 2009. In January 2010, I received and accepted an invitation to join “THE LEGENDARY” 152nd A-100 Class.  We graduated A-100 in April 2010, with Secretary Clinton herself administering the Oath of Office. I am now serving at my first overseas post.) 

(Originally posted 14 FEB 2009) – Longtime readers of this blog will know that Mr. Crab has long dreamed of joining the U.S. Foreign Service (FS), and is now about 1/3 of the way through the hiring process.  The “Foreign Service exam” is a bit of a misnomer as it’s actually a series of tests and background checks, all of which you must pass to advance to the next level. The entire process takes about 9-12 months (or longer) from the day you complete the online application until the day you are admitted to “A-100” — the Foreign Service Orientation Course,  a sort-of boot camp for Foreign Service Officers (FSOs).   The first major hurdle is the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), more commonly known by its previous name,the Foreign Service Written Exam (FSWE).