5 Requirements to Be a Foreign Diplomat

First, let us get to know what exactly a foreign diplomat does.

Diplomats serve the state by working for the State Department and are responsible for ensuring positive ties between nations and healthy international relations and also help create a good image for the country at a global level.

Here are the requirements for making the cut as a foreign diplomat.

A way with words

Diplomacy means navigating through complicated and awkward relationships between countries and solving problems through a calm-headed approach and the ability to hold your tongue in the most testing of situations.

A gift of the gab is crucial for a diplomat so that any sourness in relationships between nations can just be solved by talking it out and saying the right things.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash /Copyright 2021

Ability to live in different locations

You need to keep your bag packed at all times, be ready to move from one location to another. Sometimes you will have to stay away from your country for a fairly long amount of time, and if you’re a homesick person, this isn’t the job for you.

Ability to thrive in stressful situations

You may be required to address some antagonistic situations and relationships with nations where conflicts are rampant.

You may also need to navigate through conflict zones, and this requires a lot of restraint and a stoic approach, and a calm temperament on your part. Hotheaded and short-tempered attitudes will only make matters worse.

Image by Alyibel Colmenares from Pixabay/Copyright 2021

Interpersonal skills

You will be attending many international formal gatherings and events and meet with foreign leaders from a variety of nations and around 270 different embassies and consulates.

So your interpersonal skills need to be impeccable, and you need to be jovial and be able to get along with people of different nationalities and races.

Multitasking

As a diplomat, you will be required to be well versed with issues concerning the world at large. Science, politics, law, environment, economics, international affairs, you need to have everything at the tip of your fingers to be able to solve diplomatic issues and foster better ties with other countries.