To A Friend Before An Interview,

or Why The Foreign Service Needs More People Like You.




My Dear (Hey, Boo):

You're about to head into an interview. A big one. Maybe, you think, one of the most important interviews of your life. You have read the news. You have brushed up. You're nervous because you don't think you stand out. Your competition is an exceptional group.

Please don't forget that you are exceptional, too.



What makes you exceptional is not your work ethic, although that is incredible. You're broadly read (excepting J.K. Rowling, and this I don't hold against you), but you have developed focus, too.

It's not your cool intelligence under fire, either. When I haven't had words, you have spoken eloquently to advocate for me.

And it's not your natural gift for languages (yes, you polyglot, you).


What sets you apart from other candidates is your great, open heart.
You are one of the most loyal friends I know. Your love for your friends defends us from difficulty, difficult people, and even our difficult selves. You will stand by me and believe in my best self.
You don't engage in gossip, and you don't prejudice yourself against others. Your response to rumor-mongering: "Do you really know that person? How can you judge? How can we know what goes on with another person?" You allow yourself to be open to even the most socially marginalized people.
You are honest.

You can't put these things on a resume. So you're lucky it's an interview, because I know that you can remember all those things about "cones" and the current events, and you can remember who you are: the kind of open-hearted, steadfastly loyal, deeply caring person that is so desperately needed in the U.S. Foreign Service right now. People can learn languages, and they can memorize what's in the news, but they can't so easily learn what you've got.

Don't forget that. I only wonder: do you need the U.S. Foreign Service?