Foreign Service Officers Job Description: Career Information, Training and Required Knowledge, Employment Outlook and Salary Expectations
Submitted by: Cheska Davenport
Job Overview: Foreign Service officers are persons who represent the state and the people of their nation by means of attending gatherings and conducting relations with other countries and organizations. They promote and protect their country’s socio-economic and political interests by means of observing and analyzing conditions and developments in other countries. They also promote the welfare of citizens abroad, and they are usually stationed at embassies and consulates in the different countries around the globe.
Education, Knowledge and Training Required: To become a successful Foreign Service officer, one should have a college degree in any field. However, since Foreign Service officers are expected to be knowledgeable about diplomacy, international relations, politics and government, the preferred degrees for the said career include political science, economics, public administration and governance, as well as law and history. Candidates for the said job will undergo a series of written, oral and physical examinations and interviews. Students may receive training by means of internships at the Foreign Service Institute.
Skills and Abilities: Persons who wish to be Foreign Service officers should be intelligent, tactful, and learn fast. They should be flexible and capable of adapting to different cultures and environments, and they should have fun in socializing with different people coming from different countries and states. Foreign Service officers should also observe proper grooming at all times, and they must be able to show respect and confidence in front of others. They must have good oral communication skills, as part of their job is to entertain foreign dignitaries, and must have a congenial temperament and not lose their patience easily in case they engage in debates and heated discussions.
Tasks: Foreign Service officers are stationed and work in embassies and consulates in the different parts of the globe. Their duties and responsibilities include representing their home country in various gatherings in the international community, serve as the point of contact between the state and citizens overseas, negotiating talks with foreign dignitaries, and ensure that communications between states are kept intact.
In case conflicts arise in the state where they are assigned in, Foreign Service officers lead the way to ensure that the citizens present in the country they work in are kept safe and secure, and as well lead them back home whenever deemed necessary.
Earnings and Job Outlook: Foreign Service officers are paid based on experience and their rise from the ranks. Those who have no experience yet in the said career earn an average salary of $39,691 per year, while those who have no experience but have degrees in law or international relations may earn higher. Those who have succeeded to advance to higher positions in the consulate may earn as much as $100,000 per year, but this also includes years of experience. Benefits in this type of career include free housing, cost-of-living allowance, paid travel expenses, insurance benefits, retirement plans and vacation leaves, to name a few.
Cheska Davenport is a career search strategist who focuses on creating power resumes and providing job search advice that aim to help individuals achieve their target goals in the job market.
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Word Count: 508 Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 Time: 4:29 AM
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