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Bizob posted:I'm probably going to decline (MY WIFE and infant daughter aren't really into the foreign service) but now I have objective proof that I am better than almost everyone. Sorry to hear that! The foreign service has so many amazing spouses and families. If you don't mind me asking, is it the living abroad she isn't fond of? If she hasn't already, I suggest her reading blogs like Email from an Embassy (wife of an FSO and mother of 4) they are on their 4 or 5 post now. It is great incite how life is and how excited and welcoming the entire community is. Blogs of FSO's and spouse orientation day is what really helped me get excited about our new life.
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Dec 10, 2011 05:20
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Bizob posted:Been a while since I chimed in, but I guess a January class got approved and offers went out today. I got an offer in consular, which is nuts since my candidacy would have expired on Monday. Your wife I get though, but as far as I can tell, it is good for kids.
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Dec 10, 2011 07:05
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Whoa, that happy hour turned into a 5AM party all night around the city. I'm digging this place.
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Dec 10, 2011 12:47
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Just to fill in the details a bit: my wife moved around a ton as a kid, and has always wanted to put some roots down and be around family. I have a huge family, and we've pretty much settled in to one place with family all around for the last five years. During my 18-month candidacy we had our first kid, who is 3-months old, and I convinced my wife to start her own business. If I wanted, I could talk her into going with it, but the last thing I want is her grudging agreement to something as enormous as this, especially if it turns out she doesn't like the lifestyle. I have referred her to a number of the foreign service spouse blogs, and read them myself. She wouldn't be happy as a housewife, and finding work would be make-or-break. The sense of isolation some folks express is something that I can totally see hitting her hard. Considering I was only three days from the window closing on my candidacy on its own, I'd already made my peace with not getting an offer. As much as I'd love to do this, it might just not makes sense. Hell, I don't even know if I could afford it. We'd have to sell our house / figure out how to pay off $100k in student loans on one salary within the next month.
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Dec 10, 2011 17:01
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Bizob posted:Just to fill in the details a bit: my wife moved around a ton as a kid, and has always wanted to put some roots down and be around family. I have a huge family, and we've pretty much settled in to one place with family all around for the last five years. During my 18-month candidacy we had our first kid, who is 3-months old, and I convinced my wife to start her own business. If I wanted, I could talk her into going with it, but the last thing I want is her grudging agreement to something as enormous as this, especially if it turns out she doesn't like the lifestyle. I have referred her to a number of the foreign service spouse blogs, and read them myself. She wouldn't be happy as a housewife, and finding work would be make-or-break. The sense of isolation some folks express is something that I can totally see hitting her hard. With that said, for finances, you can rent the house, and I thought if you go to a hardship country there are student loan repayments. I love this lifestyle, but it's not for everyone.
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Dec 10, 2011 17:26
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Sounds like you made the right choice as well. I can't say I would have done differently in your shoes.
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Dec 10, 2011 20:19
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Bizob posted:figure out how to pay off $100k in student loans on one salary within the next month. TCD posted:I thought if you go to a hardship country there are student loan repayments. Could someone explain this a litte bit further? How can one not continue to make payments on student loans as an FSO?
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Dec 10, 2011 20:41
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Jedi Knight Luigi posted:Could someone explain this a litte bit further? How can one not continue to make payments on student loans as an FSO? As one of the incentives for serving in a hardship post, I thought there was a program to have the Dept cover a certain amount for repayment. I thought. TCD fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Dec 10, 2011 |
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Dec 10, 2011 20:56
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Jedi Knight Luigi posted:Could someone explain this a litte bit further? How can one not continue to make payments on student loans as an FSO? TCD posted:As one of the incentives for serving in a hardship post, I thought there was a program to have the Dept cover a certain amount for repayment. More or less. There's a minimum hardship differential your posting must meet, and you need to have student loan debt in excess of a certain amount. It's been a couple years since I qualified, but I remember neither cutoff was super high (and the guidelines go out with the announcement anyway). I found the whole thing quite painless - all one needs to do is apply when the notice goes out, provide the particulars requested, and wait for it to be approved. A lump sum payment is applied to your loan balance directly - I received something like $5,000. Done annually, the SLRP ("slurp"  ) really adds up. It's a nice little perk for serving overseas.
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Dec 10, 2011 22:52
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TCD posted:As one of the incentives for serving in a hardship post, I thought there was a program to have the Dept cover a certain amount for repayment. There is.
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Dec 10, 2011 22:52
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wazooteyman posted:
I am never referring to SLRP as anything else ever again. Slurp is the best, really.
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Dec 10, 2011 23:10
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I'm a college junior at the moment thinking of the Foreign Service as a career. The OP recommends a master's or equivalent experience--that's fine, I was already thinking of grad school. My question is, is there a strong preference of subject when it comes to grad school or experience? I'm polsci undergrad. Coming out of this, what would prepare me for foreign service, ideally Political track? A master's in polsci? Law school? Apologies if this is addressed somewhere between here and the first page.
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Dec 11, 2011 11:00
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Don't go to law school unless you want to be a lawyer. It's expensive and time consuming and gives you no advantage you couldn't get in easier ways if the Foreign Service is your goal.
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Dec 11, 2011 15:34
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^^^ Listen to this man. Oh god, listen to Kalman.Chantilly Say posted:I'm a college junior at the moment thinking of the Foreign Service as a career. The OP recommends a master's or equivalent experience--that's fine, I was already thinking of grad school. My question is, is there a strong preference of subject when it comes to grad school or experience? I'm polsci undergrad. Coming out of this, what would prepare me for foreign service, ideally Political track? A master's in polsci? Law school? Apologies if this is addressed somewhere between here and the first page. It sounds to me like a Masters in just about any related field can get you in. I'm doing one in Public Affairs and could easily go into any of the tracks due to the broadness of the field; a polisci person would work well in Economics/Political tracks and a marketer might be able to get into Econ or Public Diplomacy. Do what you want.
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Dec 11, 2011 16:49
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Not law. NOT law. It's helpful at times, but other than that is mostly irrelevant and its grossly expensive. If you know that this is the career you want to do, then a school of international service, like Georgetown, American, etc. are good choices. International Development masters are quite helpful for some posts, economics is always helpful. To be honest though, it's not really the degree, but more what opportunities it will give you to exercise it, and what you want to do with it, that's more important. The above degrees will all give you good background (e.g. a degree in development would give you a good understanding of what USAID FSOs or a state econ officer in a developing country might have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.) but none of them are critical, or even more beneficial than the others, in terms of getting in. It's pretty egalitarian: having the masters gives you the pay bump and probably helps you get in, but which masters you have is not as important. I know quite a few poloffs whose degrees are in things like french literature, art history, and the like. They do just fine. So the summary is, do what you like.
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Dec 11, 2011 18:35
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Slaan posted:^^^ Listen to this man. Oh god, listen to Kalman. What sort of degree would then be most related to Consular? I think I remember the OP saying daily language skills are used, so perhaps something in a foreign language?
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Dec 11, 2011 20:44
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maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 03:58 on May 24, 2017 |
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Dec 11, 2011 20:59
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Jedi Knight Luigi posted:What sort of degree would then be most related to Consular? I think I remember the OP saying daily language skills are used, so perhaps something in a foreign language? An MBA or business management/HR type stuff would be more useful. Mid level officers are usually supervising and not on the line which you'll get after 2-3 tours.
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Dec 11, 2011 21:48
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GregNorc posted:My undergrad was in Information Science. So I doubt I qualify under ABET. Your title is pretty apt.
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Dec 11, 2011 22:18
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Jedi Knight Luigi posted:What sort of degree would then be most related to Consular? I think I remember the OP saying daily language skills are used, so perhaps something in a foreign language? Look for something that will provide employment (that you will enjoy) in the event the FS doesn't work out. Then go and learn Arabic or Chinese or Hindi at the same time.
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Dec 11, 2011 22:49
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maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Apr 28, 2019 |
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Dec 11, 2011 23:02
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GregNorc posted:? I think he meant the "Computer Janitors Local 219" thing.
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Dec 11, 2011 23:05
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Diplomaticus posted:Not law. NOT law. It's helpful at times, but other than that is mostly irrelevant and its grossly expensive. Thanks, that's good to hear. I've heard all about how terrible law school is, I threw it in there in case that really was what I should do.
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Dec 11, 2011 23:20
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Two questions: Does serving in the Peace Corps help you at all in applying to the Foreign Service? And do you have to have a masters to serve in the foreign service?
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Dec 12, 2011 06:25
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Econosaurus posted:Two questions: The experiences from being a PCV should help; there are plenty of ex-volunteers in the FS. There is no educational requirement to be hired as an FSO. You don't even need a bachelors degree. There are probably some points given in the qualifications review panel stage, but many (if not most) new FSOs don't have a masters degree.
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Dec 12, 2011 06:55
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Business of Ferrets posted:The experiences from being a PCV should help; there are plenty of ex-volunteers in the FS. What would you say changes about your experience when entering the foreign service having a master's vs. not having a master's?
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Dec 12, 2011 07:46
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Chantilly Say posted:What would you say changes about your experience when entering the foreign service having a master's vs. not having a master's? You start off at a higher pay grade.
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Dec 12, 2011 08:13
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Econosaurus posted:Two questions: Yes. No. Business of Ferrets posted:The experiences from being a PCV should help; there are plenty of ex-volunteers in the FS. As far as PCV is concerned, I'd say a good 1/3 of my class had it. For masters/graduate degrees, at least 60% of my class had them; the vast majority of those with only bachelors were either military, police/federal law enforcement, or went to peace corps after college. Very few (like, a dozen or less) were bachelors straight out of college. Chantilly Say posted:What would you say changes about your experience when entering the foreign service having a master's vs. not having a master's? Well, definitely having 1-2 extra years of experiences for the PNQs helps. You'll come in at a higher salary (probably). For the application process, it's simply about having more experiences to talk about; which helps both on the PNQs, and on the SI portion of the oral assessment. Many masters programs naturally facilitate the sort of round-table negotiations that will help you in the GE portion of the oral assessment. You'll have experience writing at a professional level from your thesis, and if it is a teaching masters, you'll have experience with memos, both of which will help with the CM portion of the oral. Once you get in, the substance of the degree may be helpful. For instance, my law degree has helped a bit as an econ officer, with understanding how corporations are structured here; I also have the IPR portfolio and I focused on IP in law school so that certainly helps. An MBA would help with the commercial portfolio, and a finance degree would help with macroeconomic and taxation issues. Any kind of management degree helps every single job; for instance you'll get used to how a formal procurement process works, etc. That sort of thing. No matter what your masters is in, you'll probably find some way to relate it to your job. That's part of being a generalist.
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Dec 12, 2011 08:20
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Thanks. One more thing--for those rare people who did go straight from a bachelor's degree to trying to join the foreign service, what could you tell about what it was like for them? It sounds like I'll want a master's or equivalent experience before going and sitting for the exam, I'm just wondering what things would be like if I did go straight from getting my undergrad degree to the FS.
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Dec 12, 2011 08:45
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Chantilly Say posted:Thanks. One more thing--for those rare people who did go straight from a bachelor's degree to trying to join the foreign service, what could you tell about what it was like for them? It sounds like I'll want a master's or equivalent experience before going and sitting for the exam, I'm just wondering what things would be like if I did go straight from getting my undergrad degree to the FS. BoF and and Diplomaticus can answer further, but I don't think work wise you'd be at a huge disadvantage from not having an advanced degree
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Dec 12, 2011 10:53
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Chantilly Say posted:Thanks. One more thing--for those rare people who did go straight from a bachelor's degree to trying to join the foreign service, what could you tell about what it was like for them? It sounds like I'll want a master's or equivalent experience before going and sitting for the exam, I'm just wondering what things would be like if I did go straight from getting my undergrad degree to the FS. You should start now. There's no reason not to. Either you get in, or you don't and you try again the next go-around with more knowledge as to where you need to improve. Everyone I know with a BA/BS straight out of college is doing fine. Unless you've been through gov't/military bureaucracy before and know what to expect/how to deal, pretty much everyone has the same things to learn.
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Dec 12, 2011 11:06
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Chantilly Say posted:Thanks. One more thing--for those rare people who did go straight from a bachelor's degree to trying to join the foreign service, what could you tell about what it was like for them? It sounds like I'll want a master's or equivalent experience before going and sitting for the exam, I'm just wondering what things would be like if I did go straight from getting my undergrad degree to the FS. I'm one of those people (though I had about two years of time "out there" before I applied). I'll just reiterate what's already been said: don't saddle yourself with a ton of debt getting a postgrad degree. Not knocking any of the folks who have theirs already, but you already know what you want, right? Why not go for it? Take the exam and see how it goes. If you get in, a few tours down the line you can try for one of the various fellowships/programs that'll give you a Master's anyway. The only immediate, tangible benefit I can think of is the starting salary. You'll be at a pay grade or two higher to start. But even if you start at the first rung of the ladder on the 06 grade, you'll be automatically promoted yearly until you reach the 04 grade. This is so that everyone eligible for tenure is at the same grade when the time comes (your three-year anniversary).
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Dec 12, 2011 16:59
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Could I try for it now? I'll get my BS in May 2013. There's a test the first week of February 2012. Does the process take long enough, or would they let me finish my BS before joining? It sounds more like I'd want to wait until next year and take the exam in the spring of my senior year, just before getting my degree. Could I show up and take the test 'just for practice'?
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Dec 12, 2011 19:52
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Chantilly Say posted:Could I try for it now? I'll get my BS in May 2013. There's a test the first week of February 2012. Does the process take long enough, or would they let me finish my BS before joining? It sounds more like I'd want to wait until next year and take the exam in the spring of my senior year, just before getting my degree. You can also defer an offer or put your candidacy on hold.
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Dec 12, 2011 20:10
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Chantilly Say posted:Could I try for it now? I'll get my BS in May 2013. There's a test the first week of February 2012. Does the process take long enough, or would they let me finish my BS before joining? It sounds more like I'd want to wait until next year and take the exam in the spring of my senior year, just before getting my degree. No, but you can take the test for real and it makes no difference how many times you've taken it before.
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Dec 12, 2011 20:53
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Cool. I'll register for February and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.
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Dec 12, 2011 21:15
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Chantilly Say posted:Cool. I'll register for February and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice. DoS posted:To be eligible, the U.S. Department of State requires that all applicants be: As long as you're over 20, feel free to take the test!
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Dec 12, 2011 22:14
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Now I'm doing some reading on the more detailed makeup and organization of the State Department--what positions in the DC offices get filled by FSOs? For example, I ran across this article on the "crisis center," which I can see from the department website is a component of the office of the Secretary. That article says it takes a direct recommendation from an ambassador to get assigned to the crisis center--so those would be FSOs, probably Political track, working there?
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Dec 13, 2011 04:39
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That's not a great article, because the Ops Center and the Crisis Task Forces are two different beasts. Ops Center is not like an emergency operations center or a situation room where people are all like "OK WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THIS?". A lot of what they do is fielding communications between people, especially other agencies. This quote really gets it the closest from that article: quote:One might imagine a scene out of Jack Bauer’s counterterrorism unit on 24—dimmed lights, flashing screens, constant crises. “It’s not quite like that,” said a senior manager of the center, who insisted on not being quoted by name. “Other agencies probably have cooler toys, but we have smarter people.” Analysts sit in gray cubicles, under signs hanging from the ceiling identifying their titles—senior watch officer, watch officer, diplomatic security agent—which indicate how much information they receive. All wear Madonna-style phone headsets as they shout at each other to instantly set up conference calls or handle incoming cables from overseas diplomats. The watch officers are FSOs btw. I believe anyone can be staffed into ops center from any track. It's considered a "rockstar" position, and my understanding is that usually it goes to third and fourth tour officers. Though I don't get this quote: quote:You have to commit to a full year, although some stay on for decades. Unless I'm missing something, ops is a tour. You can't stay for decades, you do your time and move on to your next post. So I'm not sure what they're referring to by that. For DC jobs, it tends to be a mix of FS and CS. I think almost all desk officers are FSOs. BoF can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I think you see more CS in the functional bureaus than in the geographic bureaus.
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Dec 13, 2011 08:54
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Diplomaticus posted:That's not a great article, because the Ops Center and the Crisis Task Forces are two different beasts. My good friend from a previous post was selected as a consular rep for the watch(consular cone), but she got even more of a rockstar job in DC so she passed on the watch slot. In otherwords, the awesome positions in DC aren't all filled by pol cone FSOs. TCD fucked around with this message at 11:28 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 11:24
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