96 BOA: Countdown to the Oral Assessment
And so it begins. Actually, it continues. On October 20, 2009, I'm due to walk into a State Department assessment center in Washington DC. I'll join up to a dozen hopefuls for a day of fun and games that State refers to as the Oral Assessment. By now, the very name calls up dread in the hearts of aspirants. Not all of them, of course, just the jelly-kneed ones, like me.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I thought I'd start a blog that would, I hope, detail my new career as a Foreign Service Officer. However, since I've yet to take the Oral Assessment, I have no idea whether it will actually do that. At minimum, this blog might serve as an online diary of someone who is preparing to take the Oral Assessment.
I've looked around and found several excellent blogs by people who have taken or are taking the same path, and I've found them quite helpful. Maybe this blog will help others.
But my motives are not entirely altruistic. The fact is, I'm terribly nervous. And terribly disorganized. I need a place where I can share my doubts. I need someplace where I can also keep track of all the wonderful blogs and bits that have served me so well.
("BOA" by the way, stands for "Before Oral Assessment.")
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I thought I'd start a blog that would, I hope, detail my new career as a Foreign Service Officer. However, since I've yet to take the Oral Assessment, I have no idea whether it will actually do that. At minimum, this blog might serve as an online diary of someone who is preparing to take the Oral Assessment.
I've looked around and found several excellent blogs by people who have taken or are taking the same path, and I've found them quite helpful. Maybe this blog will help others.
But my motives are not entirely altruistic. The fact is, I'm terribly nervous. And terribly disorganized. I need a place where I can share my doubts. I need someplace where I can also keep track of all the wonderful blogs and bits that have served me so well.
("BOA" by the way, stands for "Before Oral Assessment.")
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1 comments:
I hope you don't let your nerves get the best of you. A couple things to know: in the group exercize, there will be four people watching you. There should be 6 people being tested, and three examiners who are each watching two of the testers. You won't know who is watching you. The fourth person gives the instructions and watches the entire group dynamic.
When they are calling names at the end to tell you if you passed, it does NOT matter what order they call you in. Sometimes they call the passers first, sometimes last, sometimes randomly. I was called in the middle, and I was the only person who passed that day.
If you have any questions, I am happy to help. I have been in now 5 1/2 years. I attended one prep session and helped facilitate two more after I passed.
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