Last week I finally received my results from round two of the foreign service selection process – the Personal Narrative Questions. Once again, I failed to make the cut. Unfortunately, the State Department does not give explanations for why or how people do not make the cut.

In the rejection letter, it states:

“Please note that QEP scoring is not a pass/fail exercise nor is there a pre-set cut-off score. Rather candidates receive a relative ranking in their respective career tracks. The most highly competitive candidates in each career track are invited to the Oral Assessment based on our anticipated hiring needs. Foreign Service Officer hiring targets are adjusted annually. At present, a very large number of individuals are applying for a very limited number of Foreign Service Officer positions and the process is extremely competitive. There are numerous cases where individuals who received an invitation to the Oral Assessment in a previous year will not receive one in a current year.”

I do not know if I will take it again next year. I am not bummed about this, because I knew it was a long shot. I have other irons in the fire, as they say. It is one of the jobs, however, that closely fits my dream job.