Why is the Department changing the Foreign Service assessment process?

The U.S. Department of State is announcing an additional innovation to the Foreign Service selection process to further advance the Secretary’s goals to modernize American diplomacy and win the competition for talent.

To improve the candidate experience and make application to the Foreign Service (FS) more accessible by reducing the financial and logistical barriers associated with travel for in-person assessments held in Washington, D.C., the Board of Examiners (BEX) will transition all Foreign Service assessments to virtual platforms. In Spring 2020, in response to the pandemic, BEX began hosting Foreign Service Specialist Assessments (FSSA) on a virtual platform, a change made permanent in February 2022. Now, candidates interested in 17 FS Specialist job categories (all non-DS Specialist job categories) can test from anywhere in the United States and from most parts of the world. In Fiscal Year 2023, BEX virtually assessed 800 candidates across 14 specialties. Survey respondents have consistently lauded this move.

BEX will now transition the Foreign Service Officer Assessment (FSOA) to a virtual platform as well. Beginning with candidates who took the February 2024 Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), the Department will move to a fully virtual FSOA. The first of the three components, the Case Management Exercise (CME), will be offered separately and in advance of the remaining two components, the Group Exercise (GE) and Structured Interview (SI). Invited candidates may take the CME from home, a private location of their choice, or at one of 850 on-site locations offered through PearsonVUE around the world.