One of the best ways you can prepare for life of being a Foreign Service officer is by reading the blogs of a FSO. In these blogs, you will pick up on some key insights that will not only help you later in your career but also prepare for the test.
In many of the Foreign Service blogs, you read articles about what the exam was like for them and also gain some professional knowledge on the interworking of an embassy, which is really important.
I can distinctly remember reading a friends blog – who no longer has it up – and hearing about his approach to preparing for a Country Team meeting (a meeting in the embassy between the departments that includes the Ambassador, DCM, and other section leaders). In his rant he discussed about the time difference between Washington and the country he was currently in and the things I had to pull before he went in for the meeting. In this particular entry, he had highlighted the importance that he not only prepare on what Washington had messaged overnight but that he be well versed in the local news and how this will affect the embassy.
It wasn’t but a short time later that I found myself in the same position, however, I didn’t have to learn the hard way and right from the first meeting was good to go.
So, make sure you take the time and look at some of the following Foreign Service Blogs. Some of these are real gold mines!
List of Foreign Service Blogs
Kitty Non Grata https://mlab555.wordpress.com/
Life After Jerusalem https://www.lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com
The Kathmandu Diaries https://worldchump.blogspot.com/
You Can Call Me Al https://alcaniglia.blogspot.com/
Worldwide Availability https://worldwideavailability.wordpress.com/
Deeblog https://deeblog.squarespace.com/
Adventures in Good Countries https://kakiser.blogspot.com/
Adventures Around the World https://heathersworldadventures.blogspot.com/
110to220 https://www.110to220.com/
Inflight Movie https://inflightmovie.wordpress.com
Just US https://csamto.blogspot.com/
La Vie Overseas https://lavieoverseas.com/
Stumble Abroad https://stumbleabroad.net/
The World That We Live In https://www.theworldthatwelivein.com/
Unaccompanied Baggage https://fsbaggage.wordpress.com/
Well, That Was Different https://wellthatwasdifferent.wordpress.com/
Criplomats https://www.criplomats.com/
Cyberbones https://cyberbones.blogspot.com/
Travel Orders https://www.travelorders.com/
Kids with Diplomatic Immunity https://kidswithdiplomaticimmunity.wordpress.com/
Six Abroad https://sixabroad.com/
The DiploMad 2.0 https://thediplomad.blogspot.com/
DiploPundit https://diplopundit.net/
Foreign Policy | The Cable https://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/
The Skeptical Bureaucrat https://skepticalbureaucrat.blogspot.com/
John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review, Version 2.0https://publicdiplomacypressandblogreview.blogspot.com/
Best Foreign Service Blogs to Follow
I know that is a lot of them, and some are better than others. Therefore, if sign up for my free FSOT study plan, I’ll make sure to send you my top 3 Foreign Service Blogs and why they really make a difference.
You can to that in the top right corner of this page.
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