|
Skandiaavity posted:gently caress, is there any way to change it or is it when the application is submitted? I remember Diplomaticus changed his, just not sure how. I ended up not having to change it, they actually got it right the first time.
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 03:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 09:32 |
|
|
BoF, thanks. Guess I just have to roll up my sleeves and deal with the inflated rent around town. Does the Oakwood even offer discounts to State local hires? (not direct billing, but like a pro-rated rent? 10, 20% off?) I know from a few USAID folks that RiverPlace out in Rosslyn does this, but they're terribly small apartments. Looks like I'll be blowing a chunk of my savings for a while..
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 04:41
|
|
|
dont stay at oakwood if you are local hire, that's double-bad. There are better cheaper places. Didn't MY GIRLFRIEND tour you an apartment once a year or so ago?
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 05:06
|
|
|
Diplomaticus posted:dont stay at oakwood if you are local hire, that's double-bad. There are better cheaper places. Didn't MY GIRLFRIEND tour you an apartment once a year or so ago?  Related question: does main state or FSI have a place where employees post classifieds (ie places for rent, sublet etc)? Just curious.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 07:05
|
|
|
Homie S posted:
FSI did when I was there 2 years ago. Skann, also, local hires in the Department get hosed. Sorry guys. You're on your own for 3-6 months (or more). Base salary, that's it. However, you should already have had a decent place, know where it's cheap to eat, etc. etc. Prior to my stint at FSI, I had been in DC a total of 2 days of my life, and that was for my interview and also had rent implications for my spouse who didn't move with me. Oh for how many IMS in a class? 10 +-5 seems to be the number. IMSs tend to have some turn over at the lower starting ranks. TS clearance, hands on U.S.G. operations so some doors start to open. At my previous IT job I supervised 0 people. I've now supervised 10 people at month long stretches, done final budged planning, come up with some awesome MacGuvery field repairs (one of which netted me a Meritorious Honor Award with Cash) and the poo poo was cabled by RIMC, so it's permanent now. That's a lot more experience than I ever would have had at my old job. I also got a standing ovation at country team led by the Ambassador (Career SFS, not appointee). However, 2 and above, people are in it for a long haul, so there's not as much top turn over. TCD fucked around with this message at 10:14 on May 25, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 09:53
|
|
|
I didn't understand the rationale behind local hires not getting the per diem until it was explained like this in orientation: If you are a local hire you are assumed to already have a place to live & will just continue living there. If you are non-local, then it's assumed that you are already paying for housing back home & having to rent here also essentially paying twice for housing so they give you the per diem to help offset that.
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 11:50
|
|
|
Diplomaticus posted:dont stay at oakwood if you are local hire, that's double-bad. There are better cheaper places. Didn't MY GIRLFRIEND tour you an apartment once a year or so ago? Yeah, it was still significantly expensive (relatively normal for DC, though). $2,200s or so. the current place I am at isn't bad, but wouldn't want to stay here any longer than I have to. (it is pretty small, and also in McLean..) Like I said, just gotta tough it out and take it out of savings for a bit, I guess. vOv At worst it would be only a few (<6) months. The classifieds at FSI look like a good idea. Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 14:51 on May 25, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 14:47
|
|
|
So how many spots does each post have for IMS? TCD said entry level spots have been filled. Does this mean there is a junior IMS and senior IMS? Is this the same for other areas (gen and spec)?
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 22:08
|
|
|
asuran posted:So how many spots does each post have for IMS? TCD said entry level spots have been filled. Does this mean there is a junior IMS and senior IMS? Is this the same for other areas (gen and spec)? The exact number of people, and how many of them are managers or supervisors, and how many are what grade all varies widely and is subject to change. The most senior IM person at post is the Information Management Officer. Under him or her you have the Information Programs Officer who's usually responsible for the classified network, radio, telephone, pouch, and mail and the Information Systems Officer who's responsible for the unclassified network (it's one thing but a big job) under them you have IMSs who can be junior or senior to one another but don't supervise each other. The most typical pattern is probably one each of the three management positions with one or two IMSs under the IPO. But there's all kinds of mixing and matching that's too complicated to go into here. AKA Pseudonym fucked around with this message at 23:46 on May 25, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 23:02
|
|
|
Homie S posted:
There's a billboard in the FSI cafeteria. I think there's something more than that actually, maybe at the Transition Center?
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2011 23:26
|
|
|
Reposting from the yahoogroup:quote:State has announced a new Consular Adjudicators program. The pilot program is in Brazil and China for
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2011 05:50
|
|
|
asuran posted:So how many spots does each post have for IMS? TCD said entry level spots have been filled. Does this mean there is a junior IMS and senior IMS? Is this the same for other areas (gen and spec)? I was saying specifically for my Post... which is a small-medium, there aren't any open spots for entry level assignments because they have all been filled for this rotation cycle. As AKA explained, for how many people are at Post "it depends".
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2011 13:00
|
|
|
TCD posted:I was saying specifically for my Post... which is a small-medium, there aren't any open spots for entry level assignments because they have all been filled for this rotation cycle. Thanks!
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2011 15:49
|
|
|
Diplomaticus posted:Reposting from the yahoogroup: Damnit, ever week it seems that I kick myself for taking Japanese instead of Mandarin at college.  VVV Just graduated last week. And both the Chinese and Japanese professors quit this year because my school treats non-Spanish/French languages like poo poo. Slaan fucked around with this message at 00:07 on May 27, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 26, 2011 17:06
|
|
|
You can always switch. Never too late, and you'll have somewhat of a head start on the kanji.
|
|
#
?
May 26, 2011 22:27
|
|
|
Diplomaticus posted:Reposting from the yahoogroup: Wow, thanks. Glad I'm fluent in Mandarin!
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2011 00:32
|
|
|
 Medical Clearance ROUND CLEAR
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2011 21:54
|
|
|
Skandiaavity posted:
Nice! Did they let you know by e-mail or phone? I got an email saying it should be completed withing 21 days since when I submitted. Was this the same for you? My sec moved faster than med :P
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2011 22:03
|
|
|
Skandiaavity posted:
Grats. I can't feel my left arm. Or more accurately, I feel it really really really hard right now because it's sore as poo poo from round two of Shotfest 2011 (Medical Edition). :iiatetanus:
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2011 22:17
|
|
|
Welp, no luck on the FSO OA. Started on the medical for OMS yesterday (grats Skandiaavity!). If all goes well with clearances I'll have to decide between staying in my current dependable and well paying career or packing up the family and starting over on a brand new adventure abroad. Freaking out.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2011 05:33
|
|
|
asuran posted:Nice! Did they let you know by e-mail or phone? I got an email saying it should be completed withing 21 days since when I submitted. Was this the same for you? My sec moved faster than med :P Neither. I went back to follow up on something and I asked the nurse, who told me. I started it on the first week of May, so the 21 day timeframe certainly seems accurate. You can always call and ask? (also mine is opposite, my med is moving faster than my sec. Probably because they asked for eleventy billion references) SWATJester, drat. How many did they pluck you with? That said, the lady in the lab who draws blood is really talented with a needle. Couldn't even feel it. HOORAY I hope things go well for you and your OMS! edit: get out and enjoy Memorial Day weekend!, brb diving Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 14:07 on May 28, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 28, 2011 14:03
|
|
|
Holy loving poo poo... I just got back from Embassy Kigali does Hangover in Uganda. I have a broken a toe, another guy dislocated his shoulder, another dude hosed his shoulder and leg, and we all almost drowned after surfing a class 5 rapid on the Nile. Our group of 5, by chance, ran into 2 guys from Embassy Khartoum so we had a boat of 7 guys and we hit every rapid as hard as we could. We flipped, wrecked, or just got bounced off of the raft on nearly half the rapids. I broke or did something to my toe on the 2nd rapid of the day so the adrenaline and litres of beer afterward helped numb the dull pain for Saturday. We were able to watch Hangover Bangkok in Kampala (what the poo poo, why does Kampala have a theater and Kigali doesn't). To top the weekend off several of got a nice case of food poisoning. I was able to not puke on the plane, but had to puke on the side of the road on the drive back. I've since wrenched my guts out all night long. What a great weekend.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2011 09:42
|
|
|
I've got a classmate heading to Kigali. He's a cool guy, you'll like him.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2011 17:13
|
|
|
Also this weekend for me was "Let's walk into a sliding glass door at full speed and nearly break your nose......in the middle of your going away party."
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2011 17:14
|
|
|
TCD posted:Holy loving poo poo... Your memoirs are going to be a great read. :P
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2011 19:24
|
|
|
Diplomaticus posted:Also this weekend for me was "Let's walk into a sliding glass door at full speed and nearly break your nose......in the middle of your going away party." I have to assume that alcohol was involved. 
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2011 01:24
|
|
|
No, just a very very very very clean door.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2011 01:32
|
|
|
I've been interested in FS jobs for a couple years, largely because of the traveling aspect and getting to "experience the world" and learn new languages. Does the travel and living away from home become tiresome/gimmicky after a couple years? To me it seems like being in a place even like Iraq would be an awesome experience. hayden. fucked around with this message at 16:37 on May 31, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2011 15:28
|
|
|
hayden. posted:I've been interested in FS jobs for a couple years, largely because of the traveling aspect and getting to "experience the world" and learn new languages. Does the travel and living away from home become tiresome/gimmicky after a couple years? To me it seems like being in a place even like Iraq would be an awesome experience. You're not living away from home; your home is at whatever post to which you are assigned. There are some exceptions for unaccompanied assignments, but in general you live at home. The travel and overseas life just gets better as it goes on, in my experience (so far; ask me again when my kids are teenagers.)
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2011 18:00
|
|
|
Right, I meant more just away from whatever setting in the US you're used to.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2011 18:46
|
|
|
hayden. posted:Right, I meant more just away from whatever setting in the US you're used to. That depends on the person. For me, no problem... my wife is having a little more difficulty with it. I have a greater appreciation of the States, but also, the rest of the world and cultural norms we do not have.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2011 19:25
|
|
|
I don't know about the FS specifically, but travelling only gets old when you have to do it like every month for a short term. I presume since it's spaced out, you have a lot more time to adjust, learn about cultural norms/oddities, actually go and gain experience/insight, meet folks for lasting relationships, rather than if you were just to go for a week or business purposes. If you travel once per month to a different place on a work basis, you never really find the down time to adjust and most of your time feels spent on a plane, which is not always the most fun place to be, and since you're working you might not always have the time to go and appreciate what a country has to offer. A different perspective, a foreigner coming to the US and only going to NY or DC. It's nice, sure, but neither city is really representative of what our country has to offer. I know you can get some good food, sure, but you're not going to be able to see the awe-inspiring stuff like the Grand Canyon, miles and miles and miles and miles of corn in the midwest, babes in Miami, winters in Michigan, or even something as flashy as Las Vegas or as ominous as Detroit or Gary, Indiana. Now imagine them going to Tokyo, Paris, London, Nairobi, Moscow, etc, same thing. It really depends on the person, though. Some people just want to settle down in one place, and to others, 2 years might seem too long. And it's probably harder with/on kids, no doubt. But if you're thinking positive, you get a chance to actually show them the places they read about in their history textbooks, which is kinda cool.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2011 04:31
|
|
|
I take the FSOT on the 6th here in DC. Here's hoping. I have my heart set on the Foreign Service, and this thread has been a tremendous resource. (I registered mostly because of this thread)
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 01:46
|
|
|
Bellum posted:I take the FSOT on the 6th here in DC. Here's hoping. Good luck! And remember that plenty of FSOs took the exam multiple times, so stick with it if it is something you want to do.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 02:00
|
|
|
It's June. Who's up for buying rounds or going to have a drink?
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 02:53
|
|
|
Let's do it sooner rather than later, and I can still make it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 03:10
|
|
|
I'm down for the.. 15th or 17th?
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 03:21
|
|
|
I don't get into town until the 21st or so. But no harm in doing something soon and then again when another group of folks is around (though would be great to see Diplomaticus again!)
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 04:19
|
|
|
I should be good for most nights if we can arrange it ahead of time, although I do have my off site coming up. Feel free to PM me and we can work out the details.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 04:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 09:32 |
|
|
hayden. posted:I've been interested in FS jobs for a couple years, largely because of the traveling aspect and getting to "experience the world" and learn new languages. Does the travel and living away from home become tiresome/gimmicky after a couple years? To me it seems like being in a place even like Iraq would be an awesome experience. Well this is the biggest killer of relationships and careers. You're either the kind of person who gets excited every three years to move to a new country and experience everything from scratch or you are the kind of person who should consider a different career. I couldn't imagine living in one play for the rest of my life so this work is perfect for me. Also every post I'm at is my home in my head. I don't even have a stateside residence at this point.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2011 12:01
|
|
