The Recruitment Process

Since I did an AMA (Ask me anything) on Reddit just over a year ago, I have received messages from a few people asking me about the recruitment and assessment process to get into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore.

I have mentioned in a previous post that the recruitment process is not easy. But here’s a summary of what they are looking for during the recruitment process.

If you are applying for a position as a political Foreign Service Officer, you have to profile your thinking and analytical skills. During the recruitment process, the Ministry will test your ability to make sense of a given scenario meant to simulate a real life foreign policy issue. For example, should Singapore sign the Sokovia Accords? Why? What are the risks? What factors need to be considered? What information do we need?

You must also demonstrate your ability to write well. Standards of English need to be high, and at the very least, what you write should not be riddled with typos and it should not be too casual. [NOTE: Yes, I know that I don’t write that way, but this is just one of many reasons I left. Such formal writing no longer sparked joy.]

Moving on to soft skills, I will highlight two main ones. First is your ability to think on your feet and hold your ground when someone is putting you on the spot. Said person has reasons to be upset and demanding but you need to make sure neither of you cross any red lines. Second is a matter of how you carry yourself both in individual settings and in group ones. Wallflowers do not stand a good chance of advancing. But if you dominate the discussion and lack a more refined touch in dealing with others, that works against you as well.

Now, I’ve said that the above applied to prospective political foreign service officers. But, actually, if you apply for the administrative and consular foreign service officer positions, you will undergo a similar process as well. To some extent, being able to think and analyse problems is an asset for non-political applicants too. But the more important bits, in my opinion and experience, are the soft skills. In particular, your ability to quickly respond to any given situation and come up with good solutions while under time pressure.

For those applying for the Foreign Service Administrative Specialists Scheme (FSAS), I am sorry to say I do not know exactly what the test entails. As far as skills go, they will be looking for people with the same soft skills required for the administrative and consular foreign service officer role.

Before I end this, I will address one common question I get asked from the younger set aspiring to become political foreign service officers (meaning those who are still in university and below) – what can one do to improve one’s chances of getting in?

Go apply for an internship on the MFA website. Or write in to ask about internships. There are limited spaces so apply as early as possible. There is hardly a university degree programme that can prepare you for life in the Ministry (International Relations really won’t help that much). An internship would allow you to see how MFA functions on a day to day basis. Most directorates try to give their interns as wide an exposure as they possibly can.

If you want to apply as a FSAS, you could also consider looking for temporary positions and see if it is really something you want to do.

On a final note, if you tried to apply but didn’t get to the interview stage or a job offer, don’t beat yourself up too much over it. Unfortunately, it is unlikely MFA will explain to you why you didn’t get in. So, I personally think that the best way to look at it is as a sign that things would not have worked out for you there. If you really want to try again, do some introspection and consider what you need to change up.

All the best!

P.S.: I know I have not written here for a long time. Sorry. I will try to be more regular with these. Next up, let’s talk about what to expect when you get in.