Career with MFA (FSO)

[carceng]

Anyone able to share their experience with MFA as a FSO? And also the interview process? There's a roundtable discussion, written essays as well as the assessment centre.

Thank you!

Writing test to edit a passage for grammar, spelling, punctuation, summarizing a bunch of passages

Roundtable talk:
1. What is your name, what you are currently doing, and why you applied
2. What is one domestic policy you disagree with?
3. If you could choose, where will you be posted to? Hypothetically. Mine is Brussels, Dakar, or Hanoi.

Essay:
Do you agree that unpopular policies should never be implemented?
What is your understanding of the different tracks: Functional and Corporate, Political and Economic?
Why did you apply for this track?
What life experience has shaped you?
What derailers at work have you encountered?
What skill sets that you have are relevant to MFA?
Rate yourself out of 7 for: Analytical and Logical, Dedication to Public Service, Communication Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Organisational Skills, Adaptability, Understanding of FSO job, Intellectual Curiosity, Teamwork, Resilience

MFA so hard to even get the interview woh

[meowmeow8553]

i went thru all three rounds, and they did reference checks. i'm under the functional and corporate track. now i'm not sure about the status of my application - my 3rd interview was sometime in late oct 2023. then reference checks in november 2023. december i would say everyone's clearing leave. now january, i honestly am not sure whether i should hold on to this/whether got chance aha.

Originally Posted by meowmeow8553

i went thru all three rounds, and they did reference checks. i'm under the functional and corporate track. now i'm not sure about the status of my application - my 3rd interview was sometime in late oct 2023. then reference checks in november 2023. december i would say everyone's clearing leave. now january, i honestly am not sure whether i should hold on to this/whether got chance aha.

Applaud your courage to apply for functional track

[meowmeow8553]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Applaud your courage to apply for functional track

oh no, why eh?? is it cos there is this hierarchy that political and econ track > functional and corporate > fsas?

[carceng]

Originally Posted by meowmeow8553

i went thru all three rounds, and they did reference checks. i'm under the functional and corporate track. now i'm not sure about the status of my application - my 3rd interview was sometime in late oct 2023. then reference checks in november 2023. december i would say everyone's clearing leave. now january, i honestly am not sure whether i should hold on to this/whether got chance aha.

How is the assessment centre component stage like? Also, since you went through with the panel interview stage, could you share how it is like?

Congrats on making it to the reference checks, at this point it is more or less confirmed unless your referees didn't reply them haha.

[meowmeow8553]

Originally Posted by carceng

How is the assessment centre component stage like? Also, since you went through with the panel interview stage, could you share how it is like?

Congrats on making it to the reference checks, at this point it is more or less confirmed unless your referees didn't reply them haha.

the 2nd round (assessment centre component stage) is a full day thing. i'm employed full-time, so i had to take 1 day of leave to attend it.

in general (without going into much details), the assessment is split into four types of tasks which gives an overview of what an FSO does. it is quite stressful, so please have a good night's rest before. i did screw up some parts, and this will implicate your round 3 if you get through. nothing wrong, just be prepared.

at this stage the assessment doesn't distinguish between the two tracks yet i.e. both political&econ and functional&corporate applicants do the same 4 tasks. all are assessed individually, even though some components will have interaction with the other applicants. at the end of the whole day assessment, the interviewer will double cnfm with you which track you would like to apply for (same or you want to change). i stuck with my decision with func&corporate track cos i know my calibre is not suitable for political&econ.

it was a surprise that i got through to the 3rd round honestly. i received the notification that i got thru to the next round 1 week after the 2nd round. perhaps most applied for the political&econ track, not that i'm saying func&corp is less competitive. for my 3rd round i had to reschedule once which made my 3rd round interview really late as i was overseas - it has to match the panellists' schedules too. i don't really recall what questions were asked in the 3rd round but all i felt that i needed to stand by whatever i said and be sure about myself. in relation to 2nd and 1st round, the panellists do refer to your previous answers - and i mentioned i screwed up a little, so i had to explain what happened haha.

you'll really need to know how mfa is set up i.e. what directorates you would be most interested in cos the rotation is 2 years in a directorate. this would have been explained in round 1 of the whole interview process. all these while i referred to glassdoor reviews about the process and the most recent ones are the most accurate imo.

tbh i'm not sure if i got the job. i gave 3 reference names, and they checked with 2 (i have good relations with all my 3 references till today thankfully). they told me MFA has checked in with them. anything can happen like a better candidate can fill the vacancy etc. just go with the flow ~

which stage are you at now?

[carceng]

Originally Posted by meowmeow8553

the 2nd round (assessment centre component stage) is a full day thing. i'm employed full-time, so i had to take 1 day of leave to attend it.

in general (without going into much details), the assessment is split into four types of tasks which gives an overview of what an FSO does. it is quite stressful, so please have a good night's rest before. i did screw up some parts, and this will implicate your round 3 if you get through. nothing wrong, just be prepared.

at this stage the assessment doesn't distinguish between the two tracks yet i.e. both political&econ and functional&corporate applicants do the same 4 tasks. all are assessed individually, even though some components will have interaction with the other applicants. at the end of the whole day assessment, the interviewer will double cnfm with you which track you would like to apply for (same or you want to change). i stuck with my decision with func&corporate track cos i know my calibre is not suitable for political&econ.

it was a surprise that i got through to the 3rd round honestly. i received the notification that i got thru to the next round 1 week after the 2nd round. perhaps most applied for the political&econ track, not that i'm saying func&corp is less competitive. for my 3rd round i had to reschedule once which made my 3rd round interview really late as i was overseas - it has to match the panellists' schedules too. i don't really recall what questions were asked in the 3rd round but all i felt that i needed to stand by whatever i said and be sure about myself. in relation to 2nd and 1st round, the panellists do refer to your previous answers - and i mentioned i screwed up a little, so i had to explain what happened haha.

you'll really need to know how mfa is set up i.e. what directorates you would be most interested in cos the rotation is 2 years in a directorate. this would have been explained in round 1 of the whole interview process. all these while i referred to glassdoor reviews about the process and the most recent ones are the most accurate imo.

tbh i'm not sure if i got the job. i gave 3 reference names, and they checked with 2 (i have good relations with all my 3 references till today thankfully). they told me MFA has checked in with them. anything can happen like a better candidate can fill the vacancy etc. just go with the flow ~

which stage are you at now?

Only the 1st round which was the online roundtable discussion. Received their rejection email after three weeks and didn't even make it to the 2nd round haha.

Hope you got the job by now!

[meowmeow8553]

Originally Posted by carceng

Only the 1st round which was the online roundtable discussion. Received their rejection email after three weeks and didn't even make it to the 2nd round haha.

Hope you got the job by now!

wah.. i hope you're feeling okay. try again in future!

and no eh, i didn't get any reply. not sure if i should check in with them again. i did check in 1 month after the 3rd round (early Dec), and i'm not sure if it will seem a little pushy if i check in again. plus CNY is coming up... maybe i'll check in after CNY.

cos my interview was end oct/near early Nov, so technically december burned due to hols. and jan is a month to clear backlog from dec. feb is cny, so i'll check in end-Feb... long wait. hence.. maybe i feel like i should give up haha.