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What should one study to become a Diplomat?

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Reply 20

e-lover

The Commonwealth

No my friend. That's the formula for a knighthood... :wink:

Or President of Europe.

Reply 21

Drew.

The Commonwealth

I love your signature. 1984 is my favorite book, George Orwell was an amazing writer.

My my you're well read!

Reply 22

gt94sss2

The Commonwealth

My spoken German and French are perfect, trust me.

As others have said, what you study won't affect an application to the Foreign Office.

Neither are any foreign languages you may already know (though they would no doubt help once you're there!) - rather your ability to learn new languages is usually tested during the application process.

Finally, any new employee working the in the Foreign Office can expect to spend at a minimum 2/3 years based in London before you can apply to work in an embassy overseas. Opportunities for any trips abroad while in London would depend on whatever your role is.

Of course, if you have only just doing your A levels, it may all change by the time you do your degree in a few years - unless you join now at the lower grades.

I suggest you read http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-for-us/

Reply 23

Quady

e-lover

You want to be an ambassador? Get rich, put your money on a political party winning a general election and become a big-time party donor.

Example of that working?

Reply 24

Quady

GlamCanyon

Politics.

You seem to disagree with the only person on the thread working for the FCO, why do you think your right?

Reply 25

Quady

cactussed

Fairy snuff, as long as you know how good you are yourself. :smile:

I've met too many people who presume an A level equals fluency.

I suppose your best bet would be to ask the FCO, they could give you guidance better than anyone here (I doubt you'd find many diplomats on here).

Well there is one...

Jewery

I seriously doubg that you'd satisfy the links to the UK or residency requirements. Basically at least one of your parents must be British, and you have to have lived in the UK for at least ten years, and IIRC doing so for the purpose of eduction does not count. IoW, its pretty much impossible for someone born a foreign national to land a job in the FCO other than maybe as a secretary in an embassy somewhere...

Reply 28

GlamCanyon

Quady

You seem to disagree with the only person on the thread working for the FCO, why do you think your right?

Who's that?

Reply 29

az1992

The Commonwealth

How do i make earl gey tea? Oh!

"Rule Britannia!"

you may not realise nor care but i think you have actually found me my dream job!

Reply 30

Quady

az1992

you may not realise nor care but i think you have actually found me my dream job!

Good luck, I hear the applicants to places is at least 3-1.

Reply 31

az1992

Quady

Good luck, I hear the applicants to places is at least 3-1.

obstacles are there to be jumped over

anyway the statistic for any decent job is like that. but atleast it gives me something to work for. the alternative is travelling and writing and living in poverty

Reply 32

Prince Rhyus

e-lover

You want to be an ambassador? Get rich, put your money on a political party winning a general election and become a big-time party donor.

That's how it works in the US but in the UK, it's different.

Reply 33

Prince Rhyus

For the record, there are a few current civil servants who have experience of working in, or working with people from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Central Government who post on these boards.

Reply 34

j3tz

I have yet to meet an ambassador in their late 20s or early 30s. I've met a few in my time interning for an embassy and many of them are in their late 30s, and that's if they're gifted or lucky.

You have to realise that an ambassador can be described as an equivalent to a regional director to a large multinational. That said, be prepared to wait a very long time before you can even be considered to be one.

Furthermore, there are implications to entry to the FCO. You need to fulfil some residency requirements before you can even be assessed. I think you need to have been a UK citizen living within the UK for at least 10 years prior application. Which is fair considering that you will be handling some very sensitive material in the job. You might need to check this implication again though.

Reply 35

Quady

Original post by j3tz

Thanks for being 20 months late to the party :smile:

Reply 36

j3tz

Original post by Quady

Thanks for being 20 months late to the party :smile:

Better late than never :smile:

Reply 37

livingston

If you want to spend all of your time out of London and if you want to rise to the top in a few years then wrong career...

Your most likely entrance route is through the Diplomatic Services Fast Stream. For one thing, that in itself is massively competitive and being from a 'good family' or having good connections will be of no use to you in it.

Secondly, even if you do get through, you will spend much of your career in London. The FCO manages a considerable part of UK Foreign Policy from Whitehall, and if you are unprepared for that element of the work then you should probably question why you want to join the DS.

Thirdly - and more importantly - you have to question your reasons for wanting to join the diplomatic services. You claim that you want to stand up and defend the country you love. That's fine. Why do you believe that can be achieved uniquely through the FCO? People around the country depend on DWP, MOJ, Home Office, DfE, the Treasury etc etc. All of those play a major role in the national wellbeing. A lot of people claim they want to join the FCO with limited understanding of why. If you think you can only serve Britain in the FCO, then you misunderstand the role of the various elements of the civil service and you should rethink your motivations.