On Wednesday, January 21, career diplomat Brian Flora will be on campus for two information sessions on career opportunities with the U.S. Department of State, including a detailed discussion of the application procedure. The first session will be hosted at the REII in Room 004 of Ballantine Hall and will begin at 4:00 PM. The second will begin at 5:30 in the SPEA Atrium. Both sessions will last approximately 45 minutes, with ample opportunity for questions.
During the afternoon, from 1:00 to 3:30, Dr. Flora will be available for a limited number of ten-minute one-on-one meetings for individuals who have taken the Foreign Service Officers Test or are seriously considering applying to take it. The interviews will be held in the SPEA Office of Career Services. To sign up for an individual counseling session, please send Assistant Director Sarah Dodd an email: sjdodd@indiana.edu
To start the Foreign Service application process, you must take the free Foreign Service Officer Test. It is given several times a year at testing centers throughout the U.S. and at many U.S. Embassies around the world. To register to take the FSOT, go to the State Department website at: www.careers.state.gov Applications for State Department Civil Service positions (and all Federal Civil Service jobs) are submitted using the “USAJOBS” process, links to which are also found on the website.
For students who are still in the educational pipeline, or who intend to go on to graduate school, the Department of State has a robust fall, spring, and summer internship program that offers a variety of interesting and challenging jobs in Washington and overseas in U.S. Embassies and Consulates. Please check out the website: www.careers.state.gov
The Department of State is the Federal agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. The Department’s personnel represent the U.S. and protect its interests and citizens around the world. The State Department seeks high caliber employees with the skills and competencies needed to deal with the demands of the coming decades. It recruits a diverse group of individuals with knowledge not only in areas traditionally associated with diplomacy (such as history, political science, international relations, and economics), but also those with backgrounds in business, office management, public administration, natural sciences, communications, law, information management and security. Its 25,000 U.S. employees (Foreign Officers and Specialists and Civil Servants) serve domestically, primarily in Washington DC, and at 265 embassies and consulates in over 160 foreign countries.
