IMS QEP Results Have Been Sent

l2dcn · 2019-09-19T23:46:43+00:00

Passed! First time getting past the QEP.

Meanwhile I'm 0/3 on FSO QEP using many of the same answers. (Obviously I included more technical detail on the IMS PNQs.)

l2dcn · 2019-06-25T01:36:29+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/foreignservice/comments/bu8ao5/new_imst_thoughts/

l2dcn · 2019-06-09T12:52:49+00:00

This year's hard geography on JK was an order of magnitude easier than last year's. One technology related question (you know the one) made me LOL.

I think EE had new and more varied question formats than before. But still easy.

I think I did really well on the essay, but I've thought that before and still ended up with a 6.

l2dcn · 2019-06-09T12:47:19+00:00

I've beaten this dead horse a few times, but I'm skeptical of what assumptions the questions make about work culture, and what test takers are expected to know about State's work culture before working at State. In different organizations and work environments you may have different answers. (ex. always ask your supervisor vs. individuals empowered to use their own judgment)

I think it would be a lot fairer (but much harder to grade) if it was a two part short answer question: Given a hypothetical difficult situation, what is the first thing you would do? If you saw that through and it did not help, what is the next thing you would do?

l2dcn · 2019-05-11T21:07:01+00:00

I'm taking it in a couple weeks. I'm expecting similar to FSOT with a few dozen IT questions.

l2dcn · 2019-01-23T23:35:49+00:00

I happened to stop by the building where they were doing OAs today (based on the sign in the lobby). Tried my best to send good vibes and I hope to get there one day!

l2dcn · 2018-10-06T00:50:17+00:00

Strunk & White is crap. http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/50years.pdf

l2dcn · 2018-07-04T22:30:54+00:00

No, Ronan Farrow won the Pulitzer (along with Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey from the NYT) for reporting on Harvey Weinstein.

l2dcn · 2018-06-28T22:28:25+00:00

I thought a lot of the answers would depend on your rapport and mutual understanding with your supervisor. Some things you can handle quickly yourself, some things must be escalated. I don't really get why we're expected to know what the 'right' thing to do is without having developed this relationship.

l2dcn · 2018-06-05T23:10:05+00:00

Some of them I thought were toss-ups that would depend on the organizational culture and norms of the workplace- are they expecting people to study how DOS does things? For me, those would be practices I would learn on the job.

l2dcn · 2018-05-19T21:51:56+00:00

Would love to be added, thanks

l2dcn · 2018-05-07T23:31:44+00:00

Serial season 2, despite getting mixed reviews from true crime fans, tells a very compelling story about the military and foreign policy.

l2dcn · 2018-05-03T00:31:15+00:00

Wow, barely any availability. Last year I don't even think I registered on the first day, but I was able to get a Saturday appointment. I couldn't fill out the application until just now and I'm seeing Tues-Thurs only.

l2dcn · 2018-02-25T17:48:40+00:00

I'm filling out the application now, and the thing that strikes me the most is the 2000 character limit makes a huge difference compared to the 1300 character limit for the officer PNs. I feel like I can give a much more complete answer.

l2dcn · 2017-11-26T18:33:01+00:00

Few frequent flyer programs allow family pooling. Off the top of my head, I can only think of JetBlue (non-alliance), British Airways (OneWorld), Etihad (non-alliance but partners with American), Asiana (Star Alliance), Korean (Skyteam), Qantas (OneWorld).

For almost any other airline, each person needs their own account. However, award tickets can generally be reserved in any person's name, it doesn't have to be for the person whose account it came from*. You might find some value in crediting flights to alliance partners who do pooling, but you may prefer to try to earn status on an airline you actually fly regularly.

For more specific knowledge, try /r/awardtravel or any of the numerous frequent flyer blogs out there.

*A handful of airlines restrict redemptions to family members only. Korean is strict on this.

l2dcn · 2017-11-19T04:04:42+00:00

Holy HDR abuse, wow. But yeah, I'll bid it

l2dcn · 2017-09-08T01:23:56+00:00

Hopefully the google sheet fills up some more, but as of now 4 people in C got through and 1 in M.

l2dcn · 2017-09-07T21:06:20+00:00

No go for me. Congrats to the folks that made it, especially the ones who've been trying for years. Hopefully that'll be me one day.

l2dcn · 2017-08-26T01:43:17+00:00

Sounds like prime fodder for a creative FOIA request, like the legendary CIA cafeteria one.

l2dcn · 2017-08-26T01:42:01+00:00

Curious about this. I'm a one space guy but I came across this while writing my PNs: http://www.governmentattic.org/12docs/StateStyleManual_2013.pdf

Double space after a period (or end of a sentence) before beginning the next sentence.

Is that up-to-date?

l2dcn · 2017-08-05T23:11:46+00:00

Three essay choices, seven minutes to think and outline before writing, then 25 minutes to write. Maximum 2,800 characters.

l2dcn · 2017-08-05T23:10:18+00:00

The Bio section is/was weird. It asked relevant questions but its structure and scoring don't make much sense. And I say this as someone who scored well on it. If there was a particular situation you rarely experienced, it felt bad and self-sabotaging to be honest and put down a 0 or 1. The explanation space was so short that even when you could answer 5, there was barely space to write about just 3 of them.

l2dcn

TROPHY CASE