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What makes an application competitive

• A tested language score

  Not a class you took. An actual proficiency rating in a language the government needs.

• Time living abroad

  Study abroad, the Peace Corps, military deployment. Understanding a place from inside it is the skill.

• Technical skills

  Programming, data analysis, network security or engineering. The community is short of these and hires them fast.

• Military service

  You arrive trained and already cleared, which removes the longest part of the hiring process.

• A graduate degree in a region or a discipline

  Common among analysts, and agencies will often pay for it once you are inside.