Is a JD going to help me get into the Foriegn Service Forum

wwapd · Post by **wwapd** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:11 pm

I have wanted to be in the Foriegn Service for a few years now. I have lived abroad and I am functional in Spanish and Mandarin (Southern dialect). I'm in my mid-20s and have a few years of work experience under my belt. That said, I've been advised that my other experience is really worthless without a JD. I could be a lawyer doing other things I suppose but if I want to be an FSO, why go back to school? My question is getting a legal education worth the money to (possibly) get a job as a government worker? My other question is does this ring true?

BarcaCrossesTheAlps · Post by **BarcaCrossesTheAlps** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:21 pm

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...then you will know if a JD degree will help, hurt, or be completely irrelevant.

cinephile · Post by **cinephile** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:30 pm

Nope. It's a tiny help, if any. And the cost doesn't justify it.

SemperLegal · Post by **SemperLegal** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:39 pm

If you want to be FS Officer (as opposed to embassy staff) a JD is entirely useless. Its all about exam scores and interviews.

As for being a FS officer, having worked w/a few I can't imagine that the ability to thing like a lawyer will help at all, it might even hurt.

notedgarfigaro · Post by **notedgarfigaro** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 4:16 pm

wwapd wrote:I have wanted to be in the Foriegn Service for a few years now. I have lived abroad and I am functional in Spanish and Mandarin (Southern dialect). I'm in my mid-20s and have a few years of work experience under my belt. That said, I've been advised that my other experience is really worthless without a JD. I could be a lawyer doing other things I suppose but if I want to be an FSO, why go back to school? My question is getting a legal education worth the money to (possibly) get a job as a government worker? My other question is does this ring true?

A JD does nothing for you.

Working as a lawyer, however, will give experience they like.

Still, wasting 3 years at lawschool just to work as a lawyer to become an FSO is a silly waste of time. Frankly, it sounds like you have relevant experience already, and you'll get the foreign language boost. So if you want to be an FSO, just take the test, screw law school.

Is a JD going to help me get into the Foriegn Service Forum

Is a JD going to help me get into the Foriegn Service

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