Foreign Service Officer Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Foreign Service Officer resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Foreign service officers are the face of their country abroad—they represent the interests of their government, maintain diplomatic relationships, and help navigate cross-cultural challenges. Foreign service officers are often asked to work in highly sensitive environments where trust and discretion are paramount.
Before you can begin building these essential relationships, you’ll need to land an interview. To do that, you need a resume that showcases your experience, skills, and abilities. Here are some tips to follow plus an example for reference when writing yours.
How to Write a Foreign Service Officer Resume
Here’s how to write a foreign service officer resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume, because they’re the first thing recruiters will see. And they’re the best way to showcase your experience and qualifications.
But many applicants make the mistake of using generic bullet points that don’t really tell the story of their experience. For example, rather than saying you “managed projects,” you could say you “managed $1M+ project to develop new software system for international aid organization, resulting in 20% increase in efficiency and 15% decrease in operating costs.”
The second bullet point is much more specific and provides more detail about what you did, the results of your work, and the impact of your work.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job as a foreign service officer, your resume will likely be reviewed by an applicant tracking system (ATS). This system looks for certain keywords related to the job opening in order to determine whether you are a good fit. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
One way to make sure your resume contains all of the necessary keywords is to read through the job posting and take note of the skills and qualities they are looking for. Then, use those same terms throughout your resume. Here are some of the most commonly used foreign service officer keywords:
- Diplomacy
- International Relations
- International Development
- Political Science
- Foreign Affairs
- Nonprofit Organizations
- International Economics
- International Business
- Government
- Civil Society
- Public Policy
- Program Management
- Trade
- Project Management
- Teaching
- Strategic Planning
- Economics
- Research
- Customer Service
- Communication
- Intercultural Communication
- Negotiation
- Foreign Service
- Strategic Communications
- Public Speaking
- Policy Analysis
- Microsoft Access
- Public Administration
- National Security
- Military
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Foreign service officers (FSOs) play a critical role in the U.S. diplomatic corps, and they need to be proficient in the use of technology to carry out their duties. This might include familiarity with foreign language translation software, diplomatic communication tools, or passport management systems. Additionally, FSOs need to be able to use technology to keep track of their travel itineraries and schedule appointments.
If you have experience with any of these programs or technologies, be sure to list them on your resume. And if you’re not familiar with them, now is the time to learn them!