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Have knowledge, will globetrot for the U.S.
By PAUL DE LA GARZA, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- Put on your thinking cap. Take a swig of coffee. Now answer the following question: The most economical route for an oil pipeline from Turkmenistan to world export markets would cross: A. only Iran. B. only Afghanistan. C. both Iran and Pakistan. D. both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Today, at test sites across the nation and around the world, thousands of would-be American diplomats between the ages of 20 and 59 will attempt to answer questions like this one as part of the State Department's annual Foreign Service exam. In the Tampa Bay area, the exam will be given at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida Southern College in Lakeland and the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The State Department says 25,646 people have signed up for the exam, aimed at "individuals interested in experiencing a global lifestyle and representing America to the world." If history is any guide, however, only half the applicants will show up to take it. David Dlouhy, special adviser to the director general of the Foreign Service, attributes the no-shows to nerves. "I think people wake up on Saturday morning and say, 'Oh, my God! I can't take this test,' " he says, laughing. The exam, which will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., features roughly 250 multiple-choice questions on subjects like the Constitution, U.S. and world history, economics and American customs and culture. There's also an essay. Katy Estes, 31, who briefly studied international relations at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, has taken the exam three times. "It was stressful for me because I really, really wanted it," says Estes, who grew up in Oviedo, outside Orlando. The test is tough, she says, because it's hard to see a pattern. "You have a question on Tanzanian economics next to a question about Malcolm X. There's no rhyme or reason to it. It really keeps you on your toes." Estes, who has worked as a copy editor and a financial planner, last took the exam in November 2000 and did well enough to go on to the oral exams. On Friday, she attended orientation classes at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Va., preparing for her new career as a consular officer. She finds out next week where she will be posted. She thinks she's going to a French-speaking African country, but she's not sure. "It's just great," she says. "I'm having a great time." Pedro Martin, 24, of Pembroke Pines and his wife, Nicole Martin, 26, a Pennsylvania native, recently got hired as Foreign Service officers as well. It looks like they will be going to the Dominican Republic. Like Estes, Martin says the exam was "nerve wracking" because he wanted the job so badly. "It wasn't hard," he says, "but they're definitely looking for the right kind of people." Asked what the State Department is looking for in a candidate, Dlouhy says, "I can reduce it to a word. It's the schmooze factor." "It's not just about reading newspapers and newspaper clippings," he says. "It's about going out on the street and knowing what's going on, and then being able to articulate that." Before applying for the Foreign Service, the State Department suggests, applicants should ask themselves a series of questions to see if they're right for the job. Among the positives: Would I enjoy working and interacting with very important and interesting people? Traveling frequently to foreign lands? Having excellent living accommodations abroad? Among the negatives: Am I able to interact with people who are very frustrated or angry with their situation? Am I able to repeatedly get people out of problems that they got themselves into? Am I able to enjoy spending two-thirds of the next 20 years living overseas? Tons of people say yes. In fact, Dlouhy says the State Department hasn't seen this many applicants since the mid 1980s. He credits a recruiting drive, the leadership of Secretary of State Colin Powell and a rise in interest in foreign service after Sept. 11. The number of people who signed up for the Foreign Service exam peaked in 1984 at 28,000 and hit bottom in 2000 at 12,600. Dlouhy says people lost interest in the Foreign Service because of cutbacks at the State Department, confusion over the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the dot-com boom. Under Powell, however, the State Department has launched an aggressive hiring campaign. While the number of people getting hired is relatively small -- 465 Foreign Service officers for the next three years -- it amounts to the largest peacetime buildup of the Foreign Service. Historically, the State Department has given the Foreign Service exam only once a year. To beef up its diplomatic corps, it plans to administer the test again Sept. 21. The signup deadline is Aug. 13 (for information, log on to www.careers.state.gov). As for that question about the Turkmenistan oil pipeline, the correct answer is: A. only Iran.
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