PART III: The Written exam

The written exam was scheduled only one day part from the Preliminary interview. The interview was scheduled April 14 and then the written exam was scheduled April 16-18.
I asked for a leave but my boss did not approve, to compromise I need to work on half day outside my working shift just to show them that I am sincere or else they will terminate me haha.
So I work at 2am until 6am then went straight ahead to DFA to take the 8am- 5pm exam.


Ang hirap ng exam!


109 passed the Qualifying exam but we were only 81 on the first day of exam. They said that some people were unable to attend the preliminary interview. On the second day we were down to 80 as one person withdrew.. nahirapan yata sa first set ng exam.




Mahirap talaga ang exam.. one has to really prepare for it. Read world history, topics abount United Nations, current Philippine events and prepare for question that if you are going to be an ambassador, what would you do...(situation).


For foreign language, I thought it might be easy as telling the gender of the word or fil in the blanks or tell the meaning of the word. hell, they asked us to do an essay about which country would you want to be assigned to and why? Explain much.
I was not prepared for I know basic french only so hindi ko na articulate.


Dumugo ang utak ko sa Filipino, there was a poem na iddedescribe mo ung form ng poem.
anong ibig sabihin ng may akda..


Questions mostly are knowing your opinion on certain topics, I think there is no right or wrong answer. Hindi nmn exact science kind of questions so out of 80, 30 lang pumasa..


Unfortunately, hindi ako pinalad makasama.. pero try again next time. Siguro pag hahandaan ko pa magbasa ng mga current events and mag practice gumawa ng essay para mas ma explain ko articulately ang mga sagot ko.

Sabi nga ng asawa ko, success is falling several times but getting up without loosing enthusiasm.

I will try again next year since hindi na ko uulit ng Qualifying, not sure if uulitin ko pa ang Preliminary  interview though..


Sa mga hopefuls, try lang ntin..wala nmn mawawala.. di man makapasa at least yu learn something from reviewing.


Have a great day!!

Part II: Preliminary Interview

Hooraayyyy!!! I passed the Qualifying exams!! I do not know my grades yet, but I care less what is important is that I passed!! I am so happy.. I have been checking for daily updates about the exam results and unexpectedly while browsing Facebook I saw the post from DFA - board of foreign service examinations.


Click on the link below to check the complete list of the successful examinees.

Civil Service Exam Result


Thank  you Lord, I passed. To God be the Glory!! Its all Yours God!



And of course, it is too early to celebrate! This is not the ending but rather just the beginning of 5 phased exam I have yet to face.

I am writing to update you ( in case there will be someone reading this blog) or rather, make myself remember this journey to achieving something I really wanted..

I have to pass a CV containing basic personal information and I was surprised to see these questions are already included in the CV format they have asked me to submit before April 4.

What do you like about your current job? What you don't like about it?
What do you think are the roles and responsibilities of a Foreign Service Officer?
Why do you want to be a Foreign Service Officer ? What can you contribute to the Philippines Foreign Service?

I am still thinking and researching. I hope I will pass the exam..

I just came across this blog and this is really helpful..

Foreign Service Officer exam tips from Duke Villanueva

I am stoked.. I pray that all the hopefuls will pass the exams!

This is for you Nanay!!!!




It was last April 14, 2018 when the Prelimanry Interview happened at Makati Diamond Residences (sozyal!). We were asked to wait in the holding area.. Everyone looks so serious, some were reading books and some reviewers.. Guys were wearing coat and tie . The girls are so pretty in their corporate attire. I was really nervous as we were called one by one.. I have a friend named Karen, she was a former colleague, we were chatting and laughing the whole time we were waiting. We don't want to stress ourselves even more so we just laugh about it. But when the time she was called and I was left alone with no one to talk to, it was then my nerves started to kick in. Out of my extreme nervousness I vomited like twice.. hahaha


The interview process is very formal. The group of panel, three interviewees consisting of ambassador and foreign service office. The question basically is about your background and if you know what you are after for. My interviewers were kind and the question is more of how will I handle the job while taking care of my family. There was a question about what I think on the Marawi Siege. It was a very light discussion unlike with my other co applicant. specially for lawyers the questions to them were like If there is a drug mule that will be sentenced in foreign country, will you resort to bribery in order to save them?


Within the day, we were notified with the result since the written exam is scheduled two days after.
I was so glad to receive the call that I passed!!
I didn't review the rest of the day because I really felt exhausted and just enjoyed the rest of the day with my family..

My journey to become a Foreign Service Officer. Part I: Qualifying test

It was on 2008 when I became interested in taking the Foreign Service exam. My then boyfriend, who happens to be my husband now shared a lot of wonderful stories being a child of an ambassador and it captured my interest...

I always wanted to take the exam however there were a lot of issues from year to year like missing my diploma, getting pregnant, missing the deadline and etc. I was not able to take the exam.

However, on one fateful day in December 2017, I remembered to check who pass the FSOET and saw that the deadline for 2018 exam application is in three days time. Hurriedly, without thinking twice (since Im not pregnant) I have decided to take the exam. I filed my application on December 8 which happens to be the deadline of accepting applicants.

Today, January 28, 2018 is the Qualifying Test schedule. I took the exam at Angelicum College, and while taking the exam I thought of writing down my experience to help the fellow FSO aspirants like me because resources and blogs about this exam is really limited. Im just sharing my experience, hoping it will kind of help or inspire others. Its prohibited to share the exact questions or part of it, you might get jailed. :)

Tip number 1.
* You have to be really early at the testing site. They do not accept late comers and they are very strict with time.
7:30 am is the call time but the exam starts around 8am, (its actually around 8:15 when the bell rang).
While waiting for the exam to start, you will have to fill up the attendance sheet, write down your examinee number and answer sheet in number in a big sheet of white paper consisting of pictures of applicants, their name and of course signature.

Tip number 2
* Use regular ballpens- no sign pen, fancy shiny pens, correction pen (yung pwede mabura yung ink)
The proctor said, if you use other than the regular pen the computer will not be able to scan the answers it properly.

Tip number 3
* Water- I am quite surprised that they are strict with mineral water bottles because they have asked the examinees to remove the labels of the bottles. Forget your starbuck tumbler dear, bring something transparent and if you will buy wilkins, remove the label.

The first three tips are actually written in the test permit instruction though.

Tip Number 4.
*Exam- Be prepared- the questions on Qualifying test is like a Civil service exam. By the way, i just realised that the qualifying exam is actually officiated by the Civil service commission and not DFA.

They will give you an answer sheet, you have to write down your examinee number, exam details such as dates, place of exam etc. Names are not written. Your answer sheet number, written on the right most part should be the same with your assigned seat number.

Test booklet number should be the same with your answer sheet number. Few minutes before we started, we check if the pages were complete by briefly scanning each pages.

Exam starts once the bell rang.

Exams consists of 160 items.

Grammar, sentence construction- questions came in English and Filipino.
I was surprised there was no abstract reasoning- yung mag pictures na kung ano no haha..
Math was more of analyzation, it thought they will give out complicated fractions, algebra, calculus which I am really scared of but none! Happy me.

I got really kamote with Management exam. Its a situational kind of question and they also gave out question na if you were the Philippine ambassador what would you do? Questions about performance management. Older applicants with broad management experience might treat these questions as bonus.
I was not able to prepare for this kind of questions but its okay.. IF I pass i would be really happy, if not ok lang. I will try again. Besides, this is just the beginning of the long 5 phase examination.

Study Civil Service exam reviewer and other IQ test you can find in the internet.
look for some management/leadership questions too.

I will let you guys know if I passed, for sure there will be part II of this article.

I will start to prepare for the next phase, Preliminary Interview and Written test. Since the result will be released 41 days from now pa naman. Its better to prepare, if di man pumasa charge to experience na lang. :)

If someone could share some tips, please post naan to help me and others pass this exam..

Here are some of the great sites I read for tips and inspiration.

FSOE sample question
Tips from the Passer


I pray I will pass this exam to make my Nanay in Heaven proud of me.

This is for you Nanay Leony! I miss you and I love you so much!






Para ng halamang lumaki sa tubig, daho'y malalanta munting 'di madilig; ikinaluluoy ang sandaling init; gayundin ang pusong sa tuwa'y maniig. 

Scrap Business.. there's Gold in the Garbage..

We were at the Client's Party where we are the provider of Balloon decors and Photobooth. Its a very nice event where most of guests were professional adults. When its chow time, one of the guest called me and ask me to share the table with his wife. He said they cannot eat all the food in the table so he persistently asked me and my team to join them. We were shy and hesitant at first until the lovely host (our client) approached and asked us to eat with them. And so we ate the sumptuous lunch and in between exchanged a short chit chat with these guests. I never expected I will something from these strangers..


The learning started after I asked a simple question. The husband is working in Quezon City Hall and so I asked "Does your wife works in City Hall as well?".
He said "No, she's not working but she manages our business".
I said "Oh wow! what business do you have?".
He said "Scrap, apartment rentals and computer shop".
I said " YOU ALREADY!! (in my usual gay lingo mode) Its my dream to have a rental business. But it requires a big capital and that only means you are big time Sir!"
He just smiled.
Out of Curiosity I asked him " what is SCrap?" because out of the three businesses he have the term Scarp is very unfamiliar to me.
He explained to me the nature of the business that Scrap is synonymous to the term JUNK SHOP.. Its a business where they buy those that were deemed worthless like metals etc and sell it for a profit. To cut the story short, He shared to me how they got rich!


They only have P250,000 pesos in savings for their children's education and then their friend ask them to join the Scrap business. Although hesitant at first, (because this is the only money they have) he trusted his friend and lend the money with a promise of a monthly dividend. They got really lucky as this was the time of Beijing Olympics where China's demand for metal is really huge. So their small time business was one of the few where China imports metal from the Philippines. They buy second hand metals from destroyed warehouse and sold it to China. The business is very profitable as their P250,000 investment earned P192,000 monthly dividends and multiplied to P8,000,000 pesos!!!
From that money, he was able to buy apartments and set up a computer shop and the rest is history.


I will never forget what he said to me. They started from scratch, they got married when they he was 21 and his wife aged 20 with nothing. They did not finish college and just lived in a very small rented house. They learned that in life you have to be "madiskarte" (Smart), being just "educated" doesnt guarantee success. Learn to trust people but choose wisely who to trust. Do not judge people merely by their appearance as his friend (who helped them to become rich) wears short and sando on a daily business but his bank account is whooping with money..
His wife, though most of the time is quiet during the conversation told me to SAVE money.. whatever we earn in our business save it. Do not be little the Junk shop business because it may look dirty and smell awful but there's definitely Money in the Garbage!!


Just like any other meeting with strangers, we bid our goodbyes and exchanged numbers...
We may or may not meet again but the learning I got from them must be shared and so it is..


If you want to learn more about setting up a Junk Shop business, click the link below:




http://www.mixph.com/2008/05/setting-up-a-junk-shop-business.html

random thoughts from a complete stranger

 

I just had a meeting with a former Senior Vice-President of RCBC COrporate center regarding our little Balloon Decor project. . At the age of 62, he still works as a Consultant and a landscaper on the side. He is strong, jolly, cool and surprisingly humble!! He escorted me to the 47th floor and we passed by through the "secret passage" only execs can get in and out.. Cool isnt it? But what struck ...me this day is that given his stature in life and money in his bank, he still works and he is happy about that. He even exchanged jokes with security guard and my fellow-rank and file employee. COOL! i cant help but think about myself.. how much do i have in my bank? mmm.. I can spend it within a day and yet I always whine about going to work...Im still young yet Im not making the most out of my time... I feel proud of the little things I have but its just actually nothing compare to what other people have. I just realized that being successful in your twilight years depends on how you use your time during your prime years. What you achieve depends on what you sow..Your happiness does not depend on your own definition of success but its the quality of relationship you built with the people thats surrounds you. Kudos to Sir Lito, you inspire me.. #just sharing the thoughts I learn from strangers#