How do I become an Ambassador?

What does a diplomat do and how to become a ambassador?

• My major is business and economics. I'm thinking of becoming a diplomat and hopefully an ambassador. I'd like to know from someone who's familiar with this subject, what diplomats do, how to become one, and some tips, advice. Please feel free to comment whatever you feel it could be helpful. Thank you.

• Answer:

  A diplomat is a government employee whose job is to interact with a foreign country in order to improve the lot of his country. That's pretty basic. If you're asking about the different functions within the Foreign Service, that, too, is fairly basic. There are consular, administrative, political and economic areas that people work in. There are two ways to become an ambassador- "career" and "appointed." When a president gets elected, he generally appoints ambassadors. Not all ambassadors are appointed, but a good number are. The other route is to work your way up the ranks of foreign service officers. This can be rigorous, since the population of FSOs is a pretty capable bunch of people. If you haven't yet graduated, you've got time. Sign up for the Foreign Service Officer exam. You may find books that show you how to pass this test. As with other areas, there is no guarantee you'll pass, but you'll generally do better by learning how the test works. Should you guess? Should you do the easy questions first, then come back to the harder ones? You might already be familiar with techniques of taking tests, but it will help to learn about this specific exam. Advice? Make sure your grammar and punctuation are perfect. Not "pretty good," or "darn good." Perfect. Next comes cognitive thinking and critical judgement. The exam includes questions that don't have a good (or even "best") answer; they're looking to see how you make guesses. Take the test as often as you need to pass. You didn't ask, but I'll tell you this- the salary is fair to good (not "excellent") and the perks are decent. But there will be a lot of places you'll be sent that you wouldn't want to live in. Getting assigned to London, Rome, Oslo and Tokyo requires excellent employee reviews. Getting assigned to Mali or Burma or Yemen is much more likely. Some places are so bad, you can't bring your family. Other places are so small, there is no off-duty life apart from the same folks you work with during the day. Many places have unreliable infrastructure- utilities, food, transportation, etc. If you are an empty-nester, it could be the right choice for you. If you're raising a family, the foreign service might not be your best choice. The foreign service can be great, but it can be miserable, too. .... Take care.