Keeping up with current affairs is a must. Besides the importance of knowing what events are transpiring throughout the world, it is a necessary use of time in order to pass the Foreign Service Officer Test and be prepared for the steps that follow the exam.
In order to keep up, below you will find a listing of all the publications suggested by the State Department on current events. The divisions are separated by periodicals, major daily newspapers, and journals with each image linking to the publishers main website.
An important notion to keep in mind: If you are going to subscribe to one of these publications, then you must commit to it. Reading the headline news or the major titles and headers will keep you updated, but this is not Twitter. What is important here is the substance. Content is king as they say and within the content is where you will find connections and references to the historical events that will help you pass the FSOT.
I look forward to hearing which periodical on the list, or not on the list, is your favorite.
Periodicals
Major Daily Newspapers
Journals
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The fresh idea is here).
Currently, I’m loving The Economist. Trying to keep up with The New York Times as well.
The Economist is great! Not only do they have their weekly periodical, but they also have podcasts and a daily ‘in the news today’ app called The Economist Espresso.
This blog is amazing, congratulations! All of the blogs I’ve searched just talked about how they didn’t study too much for the test and I was getting tired of that already! I plan on studying for the fsot this year too, but the only date of the fsot I found was the one in february,
do you know if the test is happening in other months or where I could find that information?
I’m happy to hear you like the blog Gabriella! What you wrote is actually one of the reasons I started it.
As for the testing windows, there are generally 3-4 (though I think just three might be more accurate) in a year. The first this year begins this Sunday and is considered the February test, the 2nd is usually in June, and the 3rd is usually in October. Basically, every 4 months with a one week window.
For the June window, keep abreast here ( http://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/officer/test-process#ccc2 ), here ( http://pearsonvue.com/fsot/ ), or as I update the information on my website here ( https://pathtoforeignservice.com/next-fsot-window/ ). Self plug 🙂