how to become a diplomat/foreign or war correspondant

Anonymous #1

above please!!! what would be the best degree to do? does the type of uni matter?

Reply 1

exols

International Relations

Reply 2

Drewski

Original post by Anonymous

above please!!! what would be the best degree to do? does the type of uni matter?

For diplomat; absolutely. Old school ties and the right universities to be 'in' the right political circles.

Journalist, nah. You just have to be talented.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Drewski

For diplomat; absolutely. Old school ties and the right universities to be 'in' the right political circles.

Journalist, nah. You just have to be talented.

so like does it have to be oxbridge? or russel group

do u think language degrees are better than politics for this? x

Reply 4

kat.muse

https://www.faststream.gov.uk/diplomatic-service/index.html
check out the civil service fast stream! any uni degree accepted at 2:2 grade. be aware though, very competitive. sucess rate of about 0.5% in 2018, maybe even less in 2020. tens of thousands of applicants for this stream, with only <50 jobs. crazy! good luck

Reply 5

Anonymous #2

I’m about to do the final interview for the diplomatic scheme and I studied PPE. My university doesn’t matter at all but things like your general level of intelligence or critical ability will be considered through other ways.

You could do any degree as long as you have an interest in international relations and read up on it generally.

Language skills are also pretty important so I’d suggest doing some language courses at university to see how comfortable you are with picking one up. I didn’t do one part of my degree but I generally learn quite a few outside of my course.

Like someone mentioned, it’s super hard to pass the scheme and personally I’d just be happy working in the civil service or in policy. Most people, even myself, are far more likely to be disappointed if the only thing they’ve ever wanted to do is be a diplomat.

Reply 6

henry1999

Original post by Drewski

For diplomat; absolutely. Old school ties and the right universities to be 'in' the right political circles.

Journalist, nah. You just have to be talented.

This is total rubbish; based on hopeless stereotypes.

In Britain, recruitment for the Diplomatic Service is done via the Civil Service Fast Stream. This is the most, if not one of the most, fair and open graduate recruitment opportunities that there are. All applications are university blind and unless you are going to join the Diplomatic Economics service then nobody will mind which degree you do.

It is designed to be accessible so they will not access how many languages you already know (it is considered elitist). They are looking for potential not experience.

That said, having an eclectic range of experience is very useful. This means doing some volunteering and getting involved with societies and the SU at university when you can. Summer internships are also incredibly useful experience. This will help you a lot at the Video Interview, Assessment Centre, and Final Selection Board stages of the application process.

This is the link to their page:
https://www.faststream.gov.uk/diplomatic-service/index.html

I completed their Final Selection Board a couple of weeks ago and this is the link to the brief for that:
https://www.faststream.gov.uk/media/1232/fco-guide.pdf

This is a link to the recruitment data for the Fast Stream (it will give you an idea of how competitive it is and show you how diverse the intake is):
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/767789/Civil_Service_Fast_Stream_Annual_Report_2017_-_2018.pdf

If you come from a disadvantaged background (i.e. you are disabled, minority ethnic, or come from economic disparity) you are eligible for EDIP; and more importantly, SDIP.

I did SDIP and I highly recommend it- it will allow you to fast track to the assessment centre if you successfully complete the internship and helps you understand what the Civil Service is looking for in Fast Streamers.