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space pope posted:Hi, I've been following this thread for awhile – I just got accepted into a master's program for international business&diplomacy and would like to end up as an FSO. I have a few questions: -Depends -Depends -Depends -Depends It's a popular phrase here in the Dept. but seriously, it depends.
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Mar 8, 2011 21:13
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drat I'm glad I found this thread, just read the whole thing over yesterday and today. Do we have any goons in the Economic cone(op says no)? Or where I could get some more information about it than what is on their site? I'm really looking for some personal experiences into what they actually do as opposed to their general purpose. I really like the types of subjects covered by the econ officer but if the majority of the work is those topics and just doing reports on them I don't think I would enjoy it. On the other hand management would be cool because it seems like your constantly dealing with different people all the time, but I'm not really interesting in managing day to day things like property rentals and staffing. Basically I would like to know if econ is out doing stuff rather than in a back room doing analysis, I mean I love analysis but I enjoy presenting/explaining/breaking it down for people just as much. Captain Beans fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Mar 8, 2011 |
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Mar 8, 2011 23:08
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problematique posted:Found these numbers interesting from the Yahoo board... Varies per class. My class is particularly POL and ECON heavy because the ones before it were decidedly not. The numbers have been around 13-20 from each cone per class, as far as I can tell, though maybe one of the FSO's whose already been can tell you. The registers were very very very long when I got my invite, with POL in the high 250's. They appear to be slimming back down now into the low 200's or so. But still, it means that everyone is taking a CNL/SCNL while they wait on their clearances, because if you have a 5.3 or 5.4 you're pretty much out of luck right now.
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Mar 8, 2011 23:13
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Hearing highlights need for Foreign Service training, lack of congressional interest Coburn's single focus was saving money. He dismissed State's plans for a 25 percent Foreign Service increase by 2014, saying, "It's not going to be ramped up because we don't have the money to do it." About overseas locality pay for Foreign Service officers, Coburn said: "It's going to go away. People ought to be expecting that." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/08/AR2011030805749_2.html
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Mar 9, 2011 16:04
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problematique posted:About overseas locality pay for Foreign Service officers, Coburn said: "It's going to go away. People ought to be expecting that." Thanks Congress.
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Mar 9, 2011 17:07
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problematique posted:Hearing highlights need for Foreign Service training, lack of congressional interest
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Mar 9, 2011 17:35
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nm posted:"Why do we need diplomacy when we have guns?" -- The right wing America, gently caress yeah!!
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Mar 9, 2011 18:16
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nm posted:"Why do we need diplomacy when we have guns?" -- The right wing Pressure despots to leave when their people are protesting and on the edge of violent revolution? It has never worked before! Except, you know, recently... and before
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Mar 9, 2011 18:33
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I wonder if Tom Coburn knows his party doesn't control the Senate.
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Mar 9, 2011 19:24
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Just took the SCNL test... the most important tip is prepare for anything and everything.
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Mar 9, 2011 19:42
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Wow, That's pretty fantastic. All it takes is one response on the hardship differential survey to slash % rates. Never mind that Congress also wants to screw us over. Thanks Jane Doe, btw, you nor anyone else in the loving country diagnosed that I had a broken leg including the orthopedic specialist (at the best hospital in the country), which is why my knee hurt like a motherfucker walking up and down stairs the day after it happened, which is required for my job because some floors don't have elevators. Huh, I guess it wasn't a sprained knee after all. But that's right, it's up to U.S. levels of care. Jesus loving Christ you're loving high as a kite. Sometimes, gently caress this job and the retarded loving bullshit that comes with it. Edit: This should belong in the OP just so everybody knows what they just signed up for. 1 god drat person fucks over an entire mission out of thousands of dollars. Last edit: And the reason for these hardships, are for people like me, who walk around on a busted leg "that's fine" or my good friend who had 5 eye surgeries in Pretoria, and finally went back to the US where they were like "oh drat, we wouldn't have done any of those", now he's 20/50 and it might get worse. But, Central Africa is nearly U.S. levels of health care and that locality pay, it doesn't cover anything. TCD fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Mar 10, 2011 |
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Mar 10, 2011 17:35
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SWATJester posted:I wonder if Tom Coburn knows his party doesn't control the Senate. He doesn't. He thinks it's the case due to Boehner.
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Mar 10, 2011 18:08
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OP updated
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Mar 12, 2011 18:46
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Lots of interesting stuff going on in the Department's Office of Japanese Affairs: Embattled State Department Japan hand key part of earthquake response (FP) Josh Rogin posted:Maher was removed as director of the Japan office at State on March 9, following reports that he told a group of American University (AU) students that Okinawan people were masters of "extortion," but he was not fired and it was never proven that he made the incendiary comments. Maher has denied the accuracy of the press reports regarding his comments. According to State Department sources, he planned to retire following the controversy, but has now put off that retirement to contribute to the earthquake response, which could last for a while. Incidentally, the guy slated to head the Japan Desk beginning this fall is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. 
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Mar 16, 2011 16:01
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Captain Beans posted:Basically I would like to know if econ is out doing stuff rather than in a back room doing analysis, I mean I love analysis but I enjoy presenting/explaining/breaking it down for people just as much. There generally is little number crunching done by FSOs; such data is usually available commercially or publicly, so no need for econ FSOs (many of whom do not have economics degrees/backgrounds anyway) to do so. Think of econ-coned FSOs as journalists covering the economic beat with a sizable outreach/advocacy and policy role. There is a lot of interaction with the host country.
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Mar 16, 2011 16:28
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That wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've ever heard at American. Although the weirdest did come from when I was in undergrad at FSU, in SE European Studies. We had some visiting lecturer from University of Zagreb in, and he walks into the door and proudly announces that he hates Jews and Serbs, and if there are any in the room they better get out. He was actually a good lecturer though the rest of the course sucked.
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Mar 16, 2011 21:14
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SWATJester posted:That wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've ever heard at American. As an AU alum... I certainly agree  My all time favorite AU moment, though, is when some students attempted to perform a citizens arrest on Karl Rove. They also mooned him.
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Mar 17, 2011 04:11
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Finished the thread. Great read! The Pol track is pretty much my dream job. As a sophomore in college, I have a ways to go, but i'll get there someday. tokenbrownguy fucked around with this message at 06:46 on Mar 17, 2011 |
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Mar 17, 2011 04:15
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IMS goons - any advice for the IMS assessment? 
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Mar 18, 2011 03:37
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Skandiaavity posted:IMS goons - any advice for the IMS assessment? Active directory, Windows server, permissions, basic backup theory.
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Mar 18, 2011 14:25
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Vilerat posted:Active directory, Windows server, permissions, basic backup theory. Disaster recovery( like earthquake), prioritization of resources, interpersonal skills.
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Mar 19, 2011 08:00
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Skandiaavity posted:IMS goons - any advice for the IMS assessment? Agree with above posts. Obvious but important ... overseas experience Supervision ... both people and systems Customer service Good Luck!!
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Mar 19, 2011 22:39
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Nothing like overtime at 2200. But when you get a "thx 4 ur support!" I guess that's a win.
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Mar 20, 2011 01:06
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vilerat: Active directory/permissions: i presume you mean "least access privilege?" following that, data/rows/columns etc on AD.. how to integrate it? Windows server : does edition matter? what specific area do they look for (or is it just general knowledge of WS) basic backup theory, gotcha.. make 2x copy of everything, daily or weekly depending on site preferences TCD: Disaster recovery: did you mean IT resilience? e.g. continuity planning. If so I have this in the bag.. I do IA/InfoSec/COOP/Business Continuity occasionally so interpersonal skills: do you mean that in the 'help desk' sense. (e.g., how to serve customers)..
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Mar 20, 2011 04:23
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I remember very little in the way of technical questions. I got the impression they were most concerned with whether or not you were easy to get along with (especially when dealing with people from other backgrounds & cultures.) So, I tried to just seem really friendly & even cracked a few jokes (in retrospect, 1 may have been a little inappropriate, but they laughed so I guess it's ok.) I figured if I make the interview seem enjoyable then they'd be more inclined to think working with me at a post would be enjoyable & pass me. As a side note: I'm not a naturally outgoing type of person. That is why I thought it was important to try to come off as friendly.
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Mar 20, 2011 15:00
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Skandiaavity posted:TCD: Yeah, you're good on the resilience one. Interpersonal skills: How do you help and serve customers, but how do you play on a team, how well do you lead a section if required? Remember, you might be a 2 American IT shop in an Embassy of a dozen Americans. That's a small community, and you don't want to be a goon in that situation. TCD fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Mar 23, 2011 |
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Mar 23, 2011 19:47
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Well, PNQ is due today for everyone that passed the FSOT with me. Hopefully everyone has got their answers in or are wrapping it up. Good luck to the four or five of you guys that came out of the woodworks.
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Mar 24, 2011 01:09
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Best of luck to y'all.
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Mar 24, 2011 02:51
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SWATJester, don't you start soon?
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Mar 24, 2011 02:53
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Dameius posted:Well, PNQ is due today for everyone that passed the FSOT with me. Hopefully everyone has got their answers in or are wrapping it up. Good luck to the four or five of you guys that came out of the woodworks. Yep! You too. I submitted for the QEP the first time they had rolled it out. Hopefully this time around I'm more successful, although it's hard to judge what exactly they'll be looking for out of each 200 word response
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Mar 24, 2011 03:22
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Happydayz posted:Yep! You too. If you are near a good sized university I'd see if they have a diplomat in residence there as they can help coach and prepare you for the QEP if you advance. They are all given some training materials that they are encouraged to use to help prospective students prepare with. Plus they can help you with everything except the PNQ which you've already done anyways. Dameius fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Mar 24, 2011 |
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Mar 24, 2011 03:24
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Dameius posted:Well, PNQ is due today for everyone that passed the FSOT with me. Hopefully everyone has got their answers in or are wrapping it up. Good luck to the four or five of you guys that came out of the woodworks. Good luck to you (and everyone else) as well! It's my first time submitting and I'm not wholly optimistic given my relative lack of life experience, but we'll see. At least if I fail I'll have a building block to improve upon should I make it to PNQs again in the future. I had a hard time answering the first question but had (I felt) pretty decent answers for the other 5. Now the long wait til May begins...
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Mar 24, 2011 03:30
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tismondo posted:Good luck to you (and everyone else) as well! It's my first time submitting and I'm not wholly optimistic given my relative lack of life experience, but we'll see. At least if I fail I'll have a building block to improve upon should I make it to PNQs again in the future. Apparently everyone gets the same six questions but they are randomly ordered, which category was your first question?
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Mar 24, 2011 04:38
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Dameius posted:Apparently everyone gets the same six questions but they are randomly ordered, which category was your first question? Hopefully they don't read these in order, cause if they read that one first it might hurt my chances.
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Mar 24, 2011 05:10
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tismondo posted:Intellectual skills. I know I can analyze complex situations and come up with creative alternatives but I couldn't come up with a really good story to illustrate that. I ended up using something from my first year of university... It was 9 years ago and also doesn't lend itself well to a narrative i think the QEP folk will be interested to read. I had a hard time finding a narrative that would be both compelling to read, answer the prompt fully, and be verifiable by a third party as well. Though I am fairly happy with the answer I gave after spending a lot of time just trying to think of something.
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Mar 24, 2011 05:27
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tismondo posted:
Don't get too worried about it. The QEP is going to look at your whole package.
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Mar 24, 2011 05:47
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Ronald Spiers posted:Don't get too worried about it. The QEP is going to look at your whole package. I've also got other weaknesses I'm worried about - my biographical score, for one. Ahhhh thinking too much with still 2 months of waiting. Gotta somehow refocus all this on studying Korean!
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Mar 24, 2011 05:56
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out of curiousity, what exactly is the specialist process, if it at all differs from the generalist? It seems to be Apply > Get FSOA Assessment Invite > ??? (Security Clearance? A-100?) > Receive Offer Letter?
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Mar 24, 2011 16:42
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For me it was: Apply Get invited to OA Pass OA Get Security & Medical Clearances Pass Final Review Panel Get invite to orientation & training Accept invite Get offer letter Sign and return offer acceptance letter & a bunch of other paperwork
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Mar 24, 2011 18:10
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For me it was: Apply pass QEP Get invited to OA Pass OA Get Security & Medical Clearances Pass Final Review Panel placed on specialty register Get invite to orientation & training Accept invite Get offer letter Sign and return offer acceptance letter & a bunch of other paperwork Bold for me
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Mar 24, 2011 19:24
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