So you want to join the Foreign Service ...

Thinking about taking the Foreign Service Officer test? Do you have what it takes to be a US Diplomat? Take this short quiz to find out!

1. The US Government spends $549,000 to build a single Tomahawk Cruise Missile, about the equivalent of hiring a Foreign Service Officer for 8 years. Can you do more for peace in 8 years than a missile?

a. Yes.
b. No.

2. You've taken the first part of the Foreign Service Test. Do you expect to be hired:

a. within a year?
b. within two years?
c. within four years, after taking the test two more times and learning either Arabic, Chinese or Russian?

3. Select the best response. You are at a press conference in a hostile country and are asked how the US can justify criticizing the human rights record of your host country while imprisoning people at Guantanamo Bay. You respond:

a. "Um, are you a terrorist?"
b. "Yes, but the guys at Guantanamo Bay are bad guys so it's cool."
c. "What a great question. The U.S. has always worked to balance our respect for human rights with our need for national security. President Obama has made it clear that he supports closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, but there are some serious concerns in Congress about how exactly to do this. I'd be happy to talk about our judicial system at a later point, but for now I would like to talk about the blogger you just arrested."
d. "We're America. You're not. Freedom!"

4. Which one of these not an actual capital?

a. Ouagadougou
b. Kantmalta
c. Lilongwe
d. Moroni
e. All of the Above

5. You are responsible for developing a bilateral framework for a reduction in nuclear arms between the United States and Country X. What is a good acronym for this agreement?

a. SHIT (Strategic High Impact Treaty)
b. BARF (Bilateral Arms Reduction Framework)
c. BOOM (Bilateral Operational Oversight of Missiles)
d. START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty)

6. Using the space below, create a politically palatable bipartisan immigration policy.

_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

7. Your salary as a State Department employee is $60,000 a year. You are stationed in Washington, DC, where locality pay is 25%, but will soon be stationed overseas where your differential is 15%. Overseas Comparability Pay is 16%, but may be revoked by Congress at any time. What is your salary?

a. Good question.
b. $69,000
c. $61,560

8. An unwed female English woman gives birth to a baby boy while crossing the Atlantic by plane. The flight's final destination is Ottawa, Canada, but it has a stopover in the United States. The child's father is an American citizen. Is the child an American citizen?

a. Yes
b. No

9. How do you feel about host country spies rummaging through your stuff?

a. I have nothing to hide.
b. Give me a few minutes, and then I'll have nothing to hide.
c. It's cool, just so long as they don't look in my laptop.
d. Wait, they look in my laptop?

10. You're getting ready for the Oral Assessment and aren't sure what to wear, do you:

a. Exercise your best judgment?
b. Poll strangers on Yahoo! message boards for advice?
c. Show up with no pants on?