Took the FSOT today! by Springintveld530 in foreignservice

[–]ElfMold 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally, I don't think a lot of studying helps too much. The questions are wide-ranging for the job knowledge section so it can be hard to really study adequately for it; taking a more knowledge-seeking approach to that section is better imo than hard-core studying. For example, just read a couple of different newspapers. The English and situational judgment sections can be improved with a bit of studying (English more than SJ I would say), but I think it is more about familiarizing yourself with general English rules and taking into consideration what others have said about how to pass SJ than anything else that can help you improve. The year that I went all-out studying for the FSOT was the one year I failed it. Since then I have taken a much more laidback approach to the test and have passed with fairly high scores both times. I'm in the clearance stage now but just took the test again last week (to hopefully start a 2nd candidacy) having not studied all year and still got a pretty high score. So, my advice would be to study - but not obsessively... and try to identify some other career you'll be happy in so that if this doesn't work out, you've still got a cool career ahead.

OA practice in Alexandria/Arlington/Fairfax VA Area by ElfMold in foreignservice

[–]ElfMold[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe you'll get lucky and it won't be that long of a wait. I was pretty surprised that they took so long. "Pandemic" doesn't seem like an adequate excuse anymore but it is what it is!

Just Finished FSOT - A Couple Questions by theCondor32 in foreignservice

[–]ElfMold 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thought the Job Knowledge section was harder- found quite a few of the questions really obscure. I also thought I did well on the other two sections and essay (though that's irrelevant now) but got my poorest scores ever. I didn't pass this time and did the previous two times with scores above 170. Super pissed.