Diplomatic Opportunities for Chinese-speaking Americans

[Meng Lelan]

Actually I already do have a teaching certificate in deaf education. I've been told that student teaching for a semester is all I need to do to add "Teaching Chinese K-12"onto my existing certificate so I'm looking into that. I think I would be using Chinese more than I would in the State Department.

Lelan

[WangYuHong]

I think a lot of people have already stated the reasons, but I just want to add my thoughts anyway.

I think the basic assumption the Department of State goes by is:

You can teach people Chinese,

But you can NOT teach people to be loyal to the US.

So if a person's job is to represent the US to foreign governments, it makes a strange sort of sense to look for loyal workers that have the capacity to learn Chinese. Funding a trip for 30 students to Harbin, while it might impact more people, doesn't guarantee that the US Department of State has more candidates available to represent the US in Chinese-speaking countries.

Also, funding Chinese programs in schools (elementary/high school) is a long-term solution, when there is also a shortage in the short-term as well. If they are currently having troubles trying to find qualified representatives that speak Chinese, institutional changes that produce results 10-20 years down the line don't fix that problem.

But on top of that, the Department of State doesn't set educational policies in the US. In fact, it's up to each individual state to institute their own requirements and states usually delegate that to each local entity (county/city/etc.). Which means that the education you get varies from county to county, state to state. The federal government has a very broad involvement in education (although they don't set specific agendas, much less provide the teaching materials for individual classes), but that is handled by the Department of Education, a separate entity from the Department of State.

The original gripe focuses on a much larger issue with the government: its organizational structure. The separation of power between state and federal, and between different departments and agencies within the federal government, almost ensures that no broad-sweeping changes get enacted and cooperation between the different parties is held to a minimum.

And as for the budgets of the departments, they're like badges of honor to the managers. The bigger your budget is, the more important you are in the organization. Therefore, nobody ever willing gives up any part of their budget, they simply find new ways to spend it. This ever-inflating structure breeds inefficiency, and dynamic reallocation to suit the most-needed issues will never happen.

Even so, if we ever got around to instituting new language programs based on the needs of the US government, I expect we'd see Arabic being the top priority, with Mandarin Chinese coming in second.

[xuechengfeng]

I'm a little curious about the government and their hiring practices with regards to (desperately needed) Chinese speakers. I applied to every imaginable government agency over a month ago (they tell you to stop thinking your considered after 45 days or so). I majored in Chinese. I have overseas experience. I have 2 other degrees (Political Science/International Studies (East Asian focus). I graduated magna cum laude. I've heard nothing from them. I don't mean to sound so pretentious, but if they so badly need Chinese speakers, why am I not being contacted? Seems strange.

[Meng Lelan]

Xuechengfeng,

That kind of happened to me, too. The FBI and CIA used to run ads on the radio and in the papers saying they need people with Chinese skills so I applied. They never contacted me.

Lelan

[heifeng]

I remember talking to some CIA reps before at a career fair and if you have family members /a spouse that is a non-citizen, this could also pose a problem. Security clearances are time consuming and expensive so maybe they have their lil' top secret evaluation process which they flag for candidates that have certain undesirable qualities/circumstances and then just never consider for certain appointments....besides you can love the Chinese language, but for these govt. positions, I don't think you are suppose to "love" China that much....or have too many personal ties with China...

Another news report I saw (interestingly enough at an airport) was how the CIA is putting big money into advertisment campains in major us cities, even in movie theaters to "reach out" to more people. However, all of this is done because out of thousands and thousands of applicants there are only a few "exceptional" candidates...so just because they are mass advertising doesn't mean they are going to automatically start hiring a thousands of people.

I am guessing for a number of positions, they are not looking at academics and language ability alone...If I was a recruiter I'd personally look for someone with military experience, this way they have already served his/her country and kinda proven themself in terms of loyalty...

[Mugi]

xuechengfeng,

If it's "language positions" you've applied for where they want fluent speakers already (as opposed to offering training) and they can trace your real identity to your language related posts here, then to be frank, they will have determined already that you are not yet at the language level that they require. Language centric positions typically require someone who can answer, off the top of their head, all the questions you've ever posted here.

(Please don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to criticise your Chinese ability - just offering you a another possible explanation for why you haven't heard back from gray suits. If it's any consolation, most people I've ever met who have a genuine love of a given foreign language and culture find it very tedious working for their government.)

[FSO]

I'm a little curious about the government and their hiring practices with regards to (desperately needed) Chinese speakers. I applied to every imaginable government agency over a month ago (they tell you to stop thinking your considered after 45 days or so). I majored in Chinese. I have overseas experience. I have 2 other degrees (Political Science/International Studies (East Asian focus). I graduated magna cum laude. I've heard nothing from them. I don't mean to sound so pretentious, but if they so badly need Chinese speakers, why am I not being contacted? Seems strange.

xuechengfeng-

There are basically two reasons why you might not have heard back from the gov:

1. You might not meet your qualifications; USG agencies often look for people with full-time work experience, especially for officer-level jobs. Or there could be some other part of your background that is deficient. On paper you look fine, though, so my guess would be that the reason you haven't heard back is . . .

2. It's the Holiday Season; for all intents and purposes, the USG basically shuts down for a week in late November (Thanksgiving) and for two weeks in late December (the winter holidays). During this time routine applicant processing is probably not taking place, so I would add at least three weeks to your timeline before giving up hope altogether.

Diplomatic opportunities for Chinese-speaking Americans are there ONLY if you can pass the written test offered just once a year (and it's all about English and history, nothing about Chinese) and the oral interviews (if you ever get to that point, again, nothing involving Chinese). As for the language proficiency test, note that it's a telephone interview. I'm hearing impaired so I have no hope of passing that kind of test.

Meng Lelan-

You're right that the State Department hiring process first looks to see if a candidate fits the department's basic requirements, and only then looks at language skills. That said, the boost from knowing a language like Chinese is so significant, that lately people who get to that stage have been pretty much guranteed a job offer. Keep in mind that even FSOs who are China experts will serve in other parts of the world, so knowing a particular language is not the end-all, be-all, but there is still favorable consideration given to folks who are fluent.

Also, note that the written exam is currently undergoing a major overhaul, and the process promises to more heavily weigh experience and skills than before.

That's what I've wondered - do the US citizens who get into the State Department really use Chinese 24/7 and on the job?

This really varies depending on the job. For the position I will be encumbering, cultivating and maintaining relationships with Chinese contacts (official and unofficial) is an essential job function. Most of these folks do not speak English (or don't speak it well enough to discuss complex policy positions with the appropriate nuance). Also, there are opportunities to use the local language when working with the embassy's local national employees. Of course, opportunities outside of work depend entirely on the officer - you are living in-country, after all.

So if a person's job is to represent the US to foreign governments, it makes a strange sort of sense to look for loyal workers that have the capacity to learn Chinese. Funding a trip for 30 students to Harbin, while it might impact more people, doesn't guarantee that the US Department of State has more candidates available to represent the US in Chinese-speaking countries.

Wang YuHong is right about the department's approach to hiring. I wouldn't say it's so much about loyalty (since the security clearance investigation pretty much takes care of that), but instead about the skills and attributes supposedly crucial to being a good diplomat. The work of diplomacy is much more involved, complex, and nuanced than the general public is ever made aware, and such skills are built by adding experience and training to preexisting skills and attributes. Language skills are all fine and good (and even very desireable), but when negotiations get really serious, everyone (including diplomats with near-native language skills) calls in the professional translators.

[Meng Lelan]

You're right that the State Department hiring process first looks to see if a candidate fits the department's basic requirements, and only then looks at language skills. That said, the boost from knowing a language like Chinese is so significant, that lately people who get to that stage have been pretty much guranteed a job offer. Keep in mind that even FSOs who are China experts will serve in other parts of the world, so knowing a particular language is not the end-all, be-all, but there is still favorable consideration given to folks who are fluent.

Also, note that the written exam is currently undergoing a major overhaul, and the process promises to more heavily weigh experience and skills than before.

FSO:

You didn't address the issue of the language exam being a telephone interview. It is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to only offer it as a telephone interview and not as a written exam. I've not seen any discussion of accomodations being made for the disabled for the language proficiency exam, both in FSWE forums or in the State website. The irony is I've seen questions about the ADA posed in the Foreign Service Written Exam.

Yes, I am aware that the written exam is undergoing restructuring a major overhaul and that's been reported in US newspapers. It should include a major overhaul of the way Chinese language skills are evaluated (ie replace the telephone interview with a different test). But teaching Chinese in high school is looking better to me all the time.

I should add that of all the times I ever went shopping or dining in Sanlitun (embassy area), the locals hear me speaking Chinese and they always ask me if I am a teacher, they never ask if I work in the embassy. My impression is they feel foreign teachers in China speak better Chinese than the embassy workers in the area.

Lelan

[adrianlondon]

Maybe not directly relevant, but I have friends working in Beijing for the Australian, British, German and Italian embassies. They speak passable Chinese, but only enough to get by, not to conduct complex business.

They're here in Beijing because of the other skills they have, their willingness to relocate to Beijing for a while, and their willingness to take evening classes to improve their language skills. They all have access to translators when in work (one assumes!), and tend to frequent the "English speaking" environment of Sanlitun for their social lives.

Of course this isn't a representative sample as it's based on people I've met either through this website or through Western (or very Westernised local) friends.

[earendil31]

Thanks to FSO for pointing out this career path to the forum. I think one thing needs to be added. Notwithstanding stereotypes about the intelligence level of various high level members of the government, this test is difficult! The second step that was mentioned, the Oral Assessment, will probably be the single biggest obstacle to any foreign service officer applicant. To pass this assessment you need to be competent in far, far more than just a language. If you are interested in applying to become a foreign service officer, this page should become your new favorite reading material.

[Jamoldo]

As someone who took the Foreign Service Written Exam last spring (well I was still drunk during half of it) just for kicks, I noticed a lot of the questions (at least in the Econ section) were simply too easy. The grammar was not bad either. The killers were the personality section and the essay. I had no idea what to write for the essay and BSS'ed away (prob failed me there), and the personality test (which is easy to figure out but time consuming so you run out of time and either look inconsistent, or like someone who can't answer personality questions). In the end I bet the personality and essay fail the most people, since people don't answer personality stuff consistently enough. I know a number of my fellow exam takers were talking about that..

Finally, statistically only 25 percent pass the written exam and another 25 pass the oral, so about 1/8 - 1/9 people at the written test center will end up getting through...

Just my 2 cents on the process...