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TCD posted:Is that a diplomatic assignment? One of our RSO staff in Riyadh worked there as a contractor for 5 years. I think it's only contractors and DOD people, no State folks. You'd have to be seriously insane to go there. She loved it, and she is certifiably nuts. (Lovely - but nuts.)
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Jun 12, 2012 21:33
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Skandiaavity posted:What is curious: there is LQA of $15,900 for group 3. Hmmmm. Who do you rent from?!
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Jun 12, 2012 21:34
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AKA Pseudonym posted:I'm pretty sure the IT stuff is all done by contractors. I applied for that job many years ago. I have better judgement now. Not sure if this was true or not, but a friend blew off wanting to contract in Antarctica due to it not being classified as an expat area for tax purposes.
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Jun 12, 2012 21:42
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So it's likely it's just foresight / placeholder for Arctic/Antarctic spots, even though there is no real location to be sent? That would make sense. I figured it would be an extension of the NZ Embassy.. or for some kind of unilateral treaty (or amendment of existing one) it would jump up to the Secstate level as other countries would definitely be involved. The_chavi: i guess rent from the Navy, as they own the base? or just $15,900 to buy supplies.. I don't even know, it's odd enough that you'd get LQA and education at all.
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Jun 12, 2012 21:52
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The Electronaut posted:Not sure if this was true or not, but a friend blew off wanting to contract in Antarctica due to it not being classified as an expat area for tax purposes. The recent IT contracts I looked at were also much lower than they used to be.
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Jun 13, 2012 18:13
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Skandiaavity posted:i guess rent from the Navy, as they own the base? or just $15,900 to buy supplies.. I don't even know, it's odd enough that you'd get LQA and education at all. Maybe you rent from the penguins. There are penguins there, right? Someone has to give them visas!
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Jun 17, 2012 18:49
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Yeah Christchurch, NZ is a consular office and they are the ones that give the visas for Antartica, and is the jump off point. Someone in my DH's Trade Craft course got that post.
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Jun 17, 2012 20:01
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Closet Nerd posted:Yeah Christchurch, NZ is a consular office and they are the ones that give the visas for Antartica, and is the jump off point. Someone in my DH's Trade Craft course got that post. No, apparently I told you that wrong. Yes, Christchurch is the jump off point for many people going to Antarctica, but there is apparently not a consulate there. The dude I was talking about went to I think Wellington, but I think part of his job involves going to Christchurch fairly regularly.
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Jun 17, 2012 21:05
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On the off-chance... Have any of the FSOs here worked in countries such as Afghanistan or Iraq, and would be willing to give me a bit of an overview as to how you guys conduct public diplomacy? I'm interested specifically in Afghanistan, but would also be interested in other 'underdeveloped countries either in-conflict or post-conflict'. At this point I am looking for personal (off the record/anonymous) opinions on how PD is conducted, or could be improved, etc as opposed to actual policy. If any one is willing to answer questions, or give some background, please let me know!
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Jun 18, 2012 06:05
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I have yet another diplomacy related query. Is it safe to say that the better two countries "get along", the higher number of consulates they will have? Or does it have more to do with the resources of the home country?
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Jun 18, 2012 15:11
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hitension posted:I have yet another diplomacy related query. I think this falls into the 'depends' category. Look at the list here: http://www.usembassy.gov/
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Jun 18, 2012 19:45
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hitension posted:I have yet another diplomacy related query. Not really. In some countries, we have tons of consulates for historical reasons - Germany is one example, where there were consulates near many military bases. Japan's another. There also are consulates where there were big business hubs with people who couldn't travel easily to the embassy - Izmir, Turkey is one such former example. A lot of these smaller consulates are being closed down now, to cut costs in an era when people can travel far more cheaply than they could in the past. Historically we had consulates in important towns (Trabzon, Ottoman empire or Salzburg, Austria), but in a lot of cases there's no sensible reason to keep those posts open anymore. Conversely, in some cases we can't close consulates because of particular political interests in the States - say a large immigrant population in the US has a kinship tie to the city with a consulate, in some cases they might lobby against closing the post. It's happened fairly often. In some cases we have consulates simply because of need - the nature of our relationship with Mexico is that we have to have a bunch of consulates there to handle bilateral issues and massive demand for visas, but that's not so much a reflection of relations as it is a reflection of geography and socioeconomic pressures. It's a lot harder to open a new Consulate than it is to close an old one. The sheer amount of research and resources needed to open a new facility now - security, funding, negotiating diplomatic privileges - means that it's difficult for us to pivot our resources quickly to where they're needed. Generally, we accommodate these shifts by removing positions in areas of relatively less importance and adding them to extant embassies and consulates elsewhere (shifting away from western Europe to east Asia, for example).
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Jun 18, 2012 19:45
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Thanks for the information! Mostly I was just thinking of how inconvenient it is that the number of consulates the US and China respectively have are relatively few considering the size/area of the two countries and the frequency of contact. I just noticed India also has relatively few consulates in the US as well though. Meanwhile, a country such as tiny Belgium has a ridiculous number of consulates in the US. Granted I guess they have historically had more time to build more consulates but really? Louisville?
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Jun 18, 2012 21:25
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hitension posted:Thanks for the information! Yeah, generally the Belgians are pretty safe in a place like Louisville.  Mexico has something like 40 consulates in the US, IIRC...
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Jun 18, 2012 21:32
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Keep in mind that not all consulates provide all services. Some exist for historical reasons (e.g. CG Leipzig) and thus get recommended for closing. There is really no relationship between "friendly relationship" and number of consulates. It's really more about number of Americans, size of the country, and importance of the cities. Germany had lots of CGs due to military bases, as does Japan. France, on the other hand, has lots of "American Presence Posts", extremely small posts that often fill a PD function. Ethiopia only has the Embassy because there isn't any other major city here -- I would imagine that Mongolia/Ulaan Bataar is the same way. You might want to go to oig.state.gov and read the Inspector General's reports of posts that have multiple consulates: often they talk about the justification for keeping the consulate open (Embassy Athens and Embassy Berlin I know both discuss shutdown of CG Thessaloniki and CG Leipzig, respectively.)
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Jun 19, 2012 07:48
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Visas are another reason for Consulates. I am at a Mission right now that's received final approval to open 2 new Consulates.
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Jun 19, 2012 13:01
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TCD posted:Visas are another reason for Consulates. I am at a Mission right now that's received final approval to open 2 new Consulates. Makes sense where you are - part of rebalancing away from W. Europe. Where will they go, or is that SBU?
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Jun 19, 2012 17:22
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Diplomaticus posted:Reading the AIP compensation/benefits cable. It looks....really good. I might want to do this for my third tour, especially if I can link something awesome for #4. My friend (currently in Iraq) said that as an incentive they're trying to secure your follow on assignment before you even start your AIP tour. She's part of a tandem couple and they both knew where they were going after Iraq at least 2 months before they got to Iraq.
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Jun 21, 2012 18:17
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Miscreant Fromage posted:My friend (currently in Iraq) said that as an incentive they're trying to secure your follow on assignment before you even start your AIP tour. She's part of a tandem couple and they both knew where they were going after Iraq at least 2 months before they got to Iraq. I did this. It was beautiful. Highly recommend it.
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Jun 21, 2012 20:57
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Miscreant Fromage posted:My friend (currently in Iraq) said that as an incentive they're trying to secure your follow on assignment before you even start your AIP tour. She's part of a tandem couple and they both knew where they were going after Iraq at least 2 months before they got to Iraq. I can't see how they couldn't do this though, seeing as AIP is a one year tour. When else are you going to bid?
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Jun 21, 2012 22:34
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Tons of people were bidding while in Iraq. They just have to get started soon after arrival.
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Jun 21, 2012 22:36
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I think there's a limit on the number of links so you might have some AIP posted people bidding as normal bidders.
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Jun 21, 2012 22:57
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TCD posted:I think there's a limit on the number of links so you might have some AIP posted people bidding as normal bidders. Last year was the first time the cap was reached. Would expect the same this year, but it's still too early in the cycle to tell.
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Jun 21, 2012 23:00
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Business of Ferrets posted:Tons of people were bidding while in Iraq. They just have to get started soon after arrival. I guess what I was getting at is that it's setup so you're bidding somewhere around your arrival date due to the fact it's a one year post. Is this any different due to linked assignments?
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Jun 21, 2012 23:24
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Homie S posted:I guess what I was getting at is that it's setup so you're bidding somewhere around your arrival date due to the fact it's a one year post. Is this any different due to linked assignments? You sew up a linked assignment at the same time you get paneled for your AIP tour, so about a year ahead of arriving at post. People who don't link bid at the normal time, though they theoretically are eligible for early handshakes if bureaus want to offer them.
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Jun 21, 2012 23:49
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[ask] me about passing the DSS Special Agent BEX [tell] me how to learn a language in a year so I can actually make it off the register.
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Jun 21, 2012 23:58
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Miscreant Fromage posted:My friend (currently in Iraq) said that as an incentive they're trying to secure your follow on assignment before you even start your AIP tour. She's part of a tandem couple and they both knew where they were going after Iraq at least 2 months before they got to Iraq. It's been like this for a while, I think. I'll hold my grumbles about serving in unaccompanied posts (two out of three so far) that aren't AIP, which means no linked assignments after the fact...
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Jun 21, 2012 23:58
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Also, DS might not have linked assignments. Sorry Homie S
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Jun 22, 2012 01:05
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TCD posted:Also, DS might not have linked assignments. Oh I know we don't, I generally know how they work but nothing beyond that really.
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Jun 22, 2012 02:02
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Kase Im Licht posted:[ask] me about passing the DSS Special Agent BEX What the gently caress are your credentials because 4 years of military, another 3 of generic job experience and a semester of graduate school hasn't gotten me a callback. Either that or they haven't gotten to my application yet 
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Jun 22, 2012 18:52
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Vasudus posted:What the gently caress are your credentials because 4 years of military, another 3 of generic job experience and a semester of graduate school hasn't gotten me a callback. Either that or they haven't gotten to my application yet *hugs* Sorry, dear...
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Jun 22, 2012 19:06
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DS opens 1 day application. Something like 17000 people apply.
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Jun 22, 2012 19:39
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Diplomaticus posted:DS opens 1 day application. Something like 17000 people apply. Yeah, sucks. 3 week TDY in Rio almost done.
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Jun 22, 2012 20:28
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Vasudus posted:What the gently caress are your credentials because 4 years of military, another 3 of generic job experience and a semester of graduate school hasn't gotten me a callback. Either that or they haven't gotten to my application yet They said they're inviting about 2000 people to BEX. Pretty sure they're just getting started and they go by geographic area. I think they were doing DC in June, no idea on the rest of the schedule. Be patient? Last year I got the BEX invitation about 6 months after I applied.
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Jun 22, 2012 20:53
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I think Kase's been going through the process pretty much since the beginning of this thread. Actually, so was Skand, but now he's on his way to post. poo poo takes time here.
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Jun 22, 2012 20:59
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Kase Im Licht posted:Ex-lawyer, really good at writing and taking tests and interviewing (at least for typical law enforcement formats). I guess I'm spoiled because I got an invite to the 2011 BEX after like two months of waiting. Didn't end up able to go though because of degree fuckery. If they're doing it by geographic area then I'm double hosed, as I picked Stamford, CT as my assessment location because I didn't want to truck it to NYC this year. I keep having this pending sense of dread that I'm not competitive 
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Jun 22, 2012 21:41
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On July 19, 2009 I wrote the 15th post in this thread:Kase Im Licht posted:gently caress these personal narratives. I hate them. Three years later, here I am still hating them.
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Jun 22, 2012 21:42
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Diplomaticus posted:DS opens 2 week application. Something like 8700 people apply. hurry up and wait amigos.
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Jun 23, 2012 01:40
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Yeah. Well, uh, actually Diplomaticus, I'm on my way.. in Late November/December. Post asked for more specific training, and DRAD & DS had some additional stuff.. they "want to go over", see... the IMO and uh, possibly DCM are coming into town next month to 'have a cup of tea.'  (edit: for DCM, i mean via VTC. I certainly hope they wouldn't be actually leaving..)fwiw, like 80% of the recent specialist class were DS Special Agent Candidates.. and there wasn't any real makeup of DS agents. Men, Women, all sizes, colors and backgrounds. Some had military backgrounds, others didn't. However I think almost everyone except for 1 computer guy had some kind of LEO or LEO-related experience (such as degree in Criminal Justice.) From another perspective, talking with the candidates, in the process where you come from didn't seem to matter much to HR. It appeared to be #1) what your personality is (behavior? integrity?) and #2) what you can bring 'to the table', in a practical way (diff. perspectives, compromises, good eye for things, skilled at communication etc. Not just saying it, but being able to demonstrate it as well) rather than skillset/experience, which were more like a bonus. HomieS, correct that if I got the wrong impression from the new kids. Basically, it appears they're hiring more DS SA/C's than anyone else, possibly even generalist cones as well. So keep your chin up and eventually your number will come. I only wish they'd hire more HR officers, though. edit: also if you want to hear something hilarious, I put in an iPost non-enterprise request two weeks ago (as per the course.) It was just approved. After being escalated. 11 times upwards. Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Jun 23, 2012 |
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Jun 23, 2012 03:29
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Skandiaavity posted:
Meh, the wizards at HR do hiring in a manner that's beyond my pay grade, I'm just supposed to sell what they're offering to the college kids. Also I think specialists class are skewed a bit because DS classes are forced to send half a FLETC class's worth of students through FSI every time. So you may see a full class worth of agents, but that doesn't mean hiring is on the up. I know the generalists get more of an orientation at FSI, but beyond that do they get more specific "cone" training afterwards? I've never asked the FSOs I've worked with about this.
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Jun 23, 2012 05:18
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