Diplomatic Service Officer

Also known as:

Civil Service Diplomatic Officer
Foreign Office Diplomatic Officer

Introduction

Diplomatic Service officers are civil servants who work at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Britain and at embassies, high commissions and consulates abroad. Officers may spend up to two-thirds of their career working overseas. To enter, knowledge of foreign languages is an asset, but not essential.

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Work Activities

The Diplomatic Service protects and promotes British interests abroad, and advises and supports Ministers as they think about and put into practice Britain's foreign policy. International issues can be very complex, potentially involving armed conflict, trade disputes, human rights and the environment, so skilled diplomats are very important.

Diplomatic Service officers (DSOs) may work in one of a number of sections within diplomatic establishments. These include political officers, economic officers, commercial officers, information officers and management officers.

Political officers are responsible for monitoring political, economic and social developments in the host country and reporting them back to London. They also advise the host country of decisions made in London. They monitor the host country's politics, its relations with other countries, and its political attitude towards Britain. They research the country's political, social and economic developments. To do this, they read newspapers closely, and interview politicians and important people like opposition party leaders and human rights activists.

In larger establishments, there may be an economic officer who works closely with political officers and reports to London on economic developments. An important aspect of the work of a DSO involves promoting British business interests abroad. Commercial officers must understand the local trading environment and advise British businesses accordingly. For example, commercial officers give advice to British businesses that are thinking of exporting goods or investing in the foreign country.

Information officers promote British policy abroad, brief the local media and other opinion formers, and respond to general enquiries about the United Kingdom.

Some DSOs carry out consular work, which involves helping or advising United Kingdom nationals abroad. They may also be involved in immigration work, such as processing visa applications from people of other nationalities who wish to visit Britain.

Management officers are responsible for the establishment's budgets and the day-to-day running of the offices. They are also responsible for staff housing and other facilities that contribute to the smooth running of missions overseas.

Fast Stream entrants help to form commercial, political and economic policies. Operational entrants do the practical work of the Diplomatic Service including assessing visa applications and supervising administrative assistants.

Entrants to the Diplomatic Service gain experience in a range of jobs in the first few years of their career. They receive their first overseas posting after two or three years working in London.

Diplomatic Service officers who enter through the Policy entry point can spend up to half their career in overseas countries, on postings of up to four years. Operational entrants are likely to spend up to two-thirds of their careers in other countries.

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Personal Qualities and Skills

To be a Diplomatic Service officer (DSO), you should have a strong interest in current and international affairs, and you must be willing to live in different societies and cultures.

You must be able to think on your feet and show initiative. Diplomatic Service officers need to be clear, objective thinkers, able to make important decisions based on the information they have at hand. For example, you may be involved in immigration matters as an entry clearance officer, making vital decisions that could affect the lives of whole families.

You must be able to react quickly and calmly to a very wide range of situations, for example, a natural disaster, ethnic tension, or the arrest of a British tourist on suspicion of drug trafficking. You have to be able to gather all the facts and keep others informed as the situation develops. You will need strong communication and interpersonal skills, for example, to keep London informed about a political development, or to give support and advice to a British citizen involved in a traffic accident.

Diplomatic Service officers must enjoy handling responsibility - you may arrive in a post to find you are the only person dealing with a dossier (a specific set of information).

You need to be flexible and mobile because you will be moving to new jobs about every three years.

You don't need any prior knowledge of languages, but the Diplomatic Service will test your aptitude for learning languages if you reach the final interview stage of the application process for the Policy Entry Point.

In some countries, living and working abroad can be tough, so you need to be very adaptable and resilient. You must be prepared to work anywhere.

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Pay and Opportunities

Salaries vary depending on roles and responsibilities.

The pay rates given below are approximate.

Salaries for diplomatic service officers start from around £19,500 a year. Policy entrant Fast Stream salaries start from around £21,700 a year, rising to around £39,000 after four years.

Officers usually work 42 hours, based around nine to five, Monday to Friday, but may be required to work shifts, evenings and weekends, depending on their duties.

Competition for all posts is fierce - typically 5,000 entrants compete for 35 Fast Stream entrant positions a year, and 3,000 entrants compete for 50 Operational entrant positions twice a year.

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Adult Opportunities

It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

If you don't have the usual qualifications needed to enter your chosen degree course, a college or university Access course could be the way in. These courses are designed for people who have not followed the usual routes into higher education. No formal qualifications are usually needed, but you should check this with individual colleges.

• 47% of people in occupations such as diplomatic service officer have flexible hours.
• 1% of employees work on a temporary basis.

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