Finally!

Good news about my Foreign Service Oral Exam - I passed! It was my fourth attempt.

So what happens now? I sit on a list for a maximum 18 months, wait for my security clearance to go through, and hope that I ranked high enough to get a call. Realistically, however, this isn't going to happen, at least not without the bonus points for knowing a foreign language.

The minimum passing score is 5.25 out of 7 (75%); I scored 5.3 (75.7%). I imagine that puts me pretty low on the List of Eligible Hires, but if I pass a language test my final score will be higher.

If I use a "world language" such as French, I'll have to get ranked as "General Professional Proficiency" in order to get a 0.17 (2.4%) bonus. This means being able to "speak accurately and with enough vocabulary to handle social representation and professional discussions within special fields of knowledge."

However, if I go with a "hard" language (i.e. Korean or Chinese), I can get a 0.4 bonus (5.4%), and the standard is lower -- "Limited Working Proficiency." This is really significant, and may give me the advantage I need to rank high enough.

I plan to take the language test around mid-May. If I fail with Chinese, I can try again six months later (which would put the next attempt at the end of my internship in China) or try Korean.

What's more, while I sit on the list of eligible hires, I can start a new candidacy by taking the written exam again on April 8. It doesn't cost anything to take it, so I might as well hedge my bets.

For further information about the oral test, here's some info on the whole process.