I have never known what I wanted to be when I grew up. So as I’ve gotten older, it’s gotten harder to find a career that I think I would be happy in long term. I recently discovered the position of Foreign Service Officer. After looking into it more, I think this is a job I could see myself doing for a long time. However, I’m stumped on where to get started. From what I’ve gathered, you need to at least have a bachelor’s degree. But what major would be the most beneficial to this career? I am going to college in the fall as an undeclared major, but I would like to declare a major as soon as possible. If anyone knows anything about becoming a Foreign Service Officer, please help me out!
first of all you could either major in international relations or a more career specific major like information technology.
heres a link that could help get you started:
http://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/officer
also for a foreign service officer no matter what position it is your going to need to take the FSOT aka foreign service officer test. i hope this helped get you started.
Your major in college doesn’t determine whether or not you become an FSO, successfully passing Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) does. Probably the best advice anyone can give you is to pursue the college major that interests you, keep up with current international affairs (read reputable publications like The Economist, Foreign Policy, WSJ, NYT, etc.), and maybe learn a second language or two.
The link that Anonguy67 gave you above is also a good resource to help you learn about being a FSO and what the FSO is like, but you’ve got plenty of time to figure all of that out.
Thank you both for the advice! As far as my major goes, I think I’ve decided to take the general classes first and see what comes naturally. But after doing more research, international relations is looking like a strong prospect.
Anonguy67, the link you provided has proven to be very helpful. It has given me a much more in depth perspective on being an FSO.
Dorie13, thanks for your advice on keeping up with international affairs and maybe learning another language.
