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Business of Ferrets posted:How sad is it that the highest position to which most of us can realistically aspire is to be Deputy Assistant Secretary of something. Not the most impressive title, to be sure. I'm shooting for Ambassador 
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Jan 10, 2013 02:42
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Skandiaavity posted:I'm shooting for Ambassador Unless we get absorbed into the MGT cone in the next 20 years, probably not going to see a FSS as an Ambo. Unless you're a political appointee. 
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Jan 10, 2013 02:44
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One way or another, I'll see it happen.
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Jan 10, 2013 02:53
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I was discussing some hypotheticals with my girlfriend, and she was concerned about job opportunities for the spouses of FSOs. She's planning to get an advanced degree in GIS or internet technology. In your experience, how robust or satisfying are the opportunities offered by State and/or what can be found in the countries that you have served in for your or your colleague's spouses? Have your significant others' managed to live satisfying lives following you around on postings? EDIT - How's family life when you are on a hazard posting where the family can't follow? Do you get to visit them every once awhile? Where are they housed? I know a guy in another countery's foreign service who got weekend trips to Germany every once awhile as stress relief from all the suicide bombers running around in Kabul and rocket attacks. His family lived there so he could visit them. I don't know what the deal is in the US Foreign Service. Gumog fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 00:35
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Gumog posted:In your experience, how robust or satisfying are the opportunities offered by State and/or what can be found in the countries that you have served in for your or your colleague's spouses? Have your significant others' managed to live satisfying lives following you around on postings? Each hardship post has its own benefits package that you know when you bid on it. Tripoli was one year/two R&R when I bid on it in 2011; we are likely to go to two R&R or three RRB in the next few weeks. (R&R - a [usually two week or more] vacation anywhere in the world. RRB - a [usually 7-14 day] break somewhere that's not too far away from your duty station.) Really, your leave schedule comes down to your manager and post culture. In Tripoli of late, our bosses are of the opinion that they can't really say no to leave requests. (blah blah blah, my ambassador was killed, i need a vacation in berlin.) Some people abuse that privilege and take off two weeks per month. Most of us take about four days/month to just leave for a few days to get our heads back on right. It really depends.
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Jan 11, 2013 01:54
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What's the ratio of 1/2/3 year posts during bid season? Are there any downsides to bidding for one or three year posts?
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Jan 11, 2013 02:21
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Gumog posted:I was discussing some hypotheticals with my girlfriend, and she was concerned about job opportunities for the spouses of FSOs. She's planning to get an advanced degree in GIS or internet technology. Spousal employment is a pretty significant challenge for working professionals. There's a lot of spouses with advance degrees that aren't working or are in clerical jobs. We've been really fortunate having my wife land jobs in the Environment field (both in and out of the Embassy). However, both times took around 5 months to land the job with a fair amount of leg work trying to get one.
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Jan 11, 2013 02:27
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problematique posted:What's the ratio of 1/2/3 year posts during bid season? Are there any downsides to bidding for one or three year posts? Depends on grade and cone/specialty. And there's really no downsides for bidding on 1/2/3 (the upside for 1/2 jobs are the possibility of linking assignments, bidding opportunities and usually more hardship/danger pay). TCD fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 02:28
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TCD posted:Depends on grade and cone/specialty. And there's really no downsides for bidding on 1/2/3 (the upside for 1/2 jobs are the possibility of linking assignments, bidding opportunities and usually more hardship/danger pay). Gotcha, how does it look for IMS?
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Jan 11, 2013 04:34
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I think that was his point, it depends; rather it depends on each bidding cycle as well as each speciality. But there's few downsides for bidding on 1/2/3; 3 assignments are more rare for IMS. For 1's, you'll be precluded from bidding on a 1-post until your second tour regardless of cone iirc. But most do it for the $ as it can be pretty sweet. Only downside to 3's I can think of is they can be in nice areas (correction: the 3's I have seen so far have been in nice areas) and "you're there for possibly 3 years." ; where as a 1 or 2 you'd qualify for more hardships (and thus money, visibility, bidding and promotion potential). Your first tour is going to be a 2 year or at worst case, a rover tour; your second tour has more possibilities but by that time you'll get to know people at your post and learn from their 3 year experiences.. Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 06:03
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So if I wanted to live in AIP for the majority of my career is that a thing or does the FS frown on it? Because I wouldn't mind living in AIP in that capacity for a long time.
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Jan 11, 2013 06:05
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You could. You'd be called crazy, but you could. Of course, the posts would have to love you for that to happen; I'm not sure life is as glamorous there as you'd think it was. From my understanding (BOF/chavi, correct this); you're pretty much regulated to the compound 24/7. There used to be a ton of drinking, but they curbed that hard in Baghdad. One offense and you're out, basically. But yeah you could essentially focus your career on NEA (Near East Asia / Middle East), which would include sweeter places like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, etc. FWIW, USAID and Peace Corps and the military have longer-term assignments and probably more 'action'.
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Jan 11, 2013 06:09
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Skandiaavity posted:I think that was his point, it depends; rather it depends on each bidding cycle as well as each speciality. But there's few downsides for bidding on 1/2/3; 3 assignments are more rare for IMS. For 1's, you'll be precluded from bidding on a 1-post until your second tour regardless of cone iirc. But most do it for the $ as it can be pretty sweet. A couple of points, nearly all entry level positions are either one or two year assignments with a vast majority being in the 2 year mark. For IMS, at most levels outside of entry level, I'd say jobs are pretty evenly split between two and three year jobs with probably a slight bias on 2 year assignments. There was plenty of three year jobs at the FP3 and FP4 levels - they were also heavily bid with 10-40 bids per opening. E: If I had to a pick a ratio, I'd say 60/40 split - could be wrong. For IMS, AIP are very competitive assignments - due to the money, linking, resetting the hardship clock, etc. Edit: For IMS, and I think most other cones/specialties, winter cycle also has fewer jobs than summer cycle by a wide margin. TCD fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Jan 11, 2013 |
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Jan 11, 2013 07:30
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 Recieved a letter from a non-post Ambassador. It was 22 days late. Not sure how to respond. "Sir, the postal system" is a pretty lovely excuse, isn't it?
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Jan 11, 2013 07:44
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Skandiaavity posted:
Did it come via pouch/APO or local mail? Regardless, if the person is a career FSO they've probably served in places with terrible mail before. Just respond with "I just received your message, and I want to thank you for x." If you write today, an intelligent person will see the dateline and understand.
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Jan 11, 2013 15:04
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Ironically DHL just sent me a package intended to go to a person with a massively different name, in N'Djamena. Because, screwing things up is not limited to the pouch!
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Jan 11, 2013 15:28
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If it was sent through DPO then he's not alone. DPO flat mail is kind of messed up for everybody at the moment. It should start getting better in the next week or so though. They're moving operations to a new facility and the move's not really complete yet. It's not a lot better than "Welp, Postal Service" but it's something specific with at least a vague time-frame.
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Jan 11, 2013 15:50
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I'm curious if any of you know of any FSO with a large number of dependents? Does this affect postings at all? I have a large family (5 kiddos) and I have to get a waiver to PCS to overseas locations due to the extra costs involved. Its usually not a big deal (they offered to send me to Japan) but at least draws notice. The whole issue is really the big hurdle for me in terms of whether it something I want to do or not. On the one hand I think it would be a great opportunity for them to live in other places but I'm not sure if it would be a little too much given the size of the family. Any insight you guys have would be most appreciated.
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Jan 11, 2013 16:06
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There are several that I can think of with 4 kids. I also know of a non FSO that has 5 kids. It can affect your housing choices for sure once you know where you're going. A post that is having a housing crunch may simply not be able to accommodate them because the pool may not have a large enough house available in the right timeframe. Another thing: depends on the age of your kids and your financial situation, of course, but consider that you could be posted to a hardship post where you may face a number of problems such as: *Not be able to find things like good diapers, good baby supplies, toys for kids, etc., *Mail service may be unreliable, and ordering online may be expensive if you are doing it in bulk. *It may be a restrictive environment where your older kids couldn't move around freely, the internet may be poor, and they're going to go batshit insane. *Lack of medical facilities, increased possibility of medivacs. *Safety issues. *You may have to do an unaccompanied tour. Or you could have none of these things, and be in an awesome place. Or some combination thereof. And there are pros that come with big families too...bigger housing most notably, opportunities for the kids to learn all sorts of different languages (especially if they are in a multilingual country), and some great experiences.
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Jan 11, 2013 16:34
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Thanks for the reply. None will be in diapers by the time I could be posted, assuming I was accepted right after I retire from the military. From reading your post, it seems that I could be posted somewhere and just not be able to take them due to the unavailability of housing even though the place wasnt an unaccompanied tour per se? Is there any sort of COLA given based on location? I definitely agree it would be a great opportunity for them overall but the devil is in the details as "they" say.
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Jan 11, 2013 17:34
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vulturesrow posted:I'm curious if any of you know of any FSO with a large number of dependents? Does this affect postings at all? I have a large family (5 kiddos) and I have to get a waiver to PCS to overseas locations due to the extra costs involved. Its usually not a big deal (they offered to send me to Japan) but at least draws notice. The whole issue is really the big hurdle for me in terms of whether it something I want to do or not. On the one hand I think it would be a great opportunity for them to live in other places but I'm not sure if it would be a little too much given the size of the family. Any insight you guys have would be most appreciated. It's not like the military where they will sometimes say, "No OCONUS PCS for families of five or more," etc. A guy in my A-100 class has eight or nine kids. Wherever he goes, post has to find adequate housing, which pretty much always means acquiring a new property. It's just the way it is, and has always worked out. When he's in D.C., he lives in West Virginia. (I'm certain some of his kids have moved out since we started more than a decade ago, but he probably still has like six kids at home.)
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Jan 11, 2013 17:37
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vulturesrow posted:Thanks for the reply. None will be in diapers by the time I could be posted, assuming I was accepted right after I retire from the military. From reading your post, it seems that I could be posted somewhere and just not be able to take them due to the unavailability of housing even though the place wasnt an unaccompanied tour per se? Is there any sort of COLA given based on location? I definitely agree it would be a great opportunity for them overall but the devil is in the details as "they" say. There is a cola formula for posts. It's calculated off of your salary and family size. I'd say most families with lots of kids shy away from Europe and a few other expensive cities due to the cost of childcare.
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Jan 11, 2013 20:32
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Are there any incentives for bidding on HTF posts beside standard hardship or danger pay being higher? Unrelated question, what's an "IMS Rover"? It's listed in an OIG report for RIMC Frankfurt staffing (http://oig.state.gov/documents/organization/125267.pdf). problematique fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Jan 12, 2013 |
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Jan 12, 2013 02:08
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problematique posted:Are there any incentives for bidding on HTF posts beside standard hardship or danger maybe being higher? Rovers are positions that are based in a hub city and travel to cover staffing gaps or short-term needs (eg before a White House visit) in a set territory of posts. You see these for OMS, nurse, and consular positions too, and probably others I'm not aware of. Any rover based in Frankfurt could have a huge territory, since that's the main hub for flights to half the damned planet.
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Jan 12, 2013 02:47
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problematique posted:Are there any incentives for bidding on HTF posts beside standard hardship or danger pay being higher? Normally there will be positions that cover the Americas, Africa, The Middle East/Europe/Central Asia, and then the Pacific. In Africa, in a two person post, I worked with the AF Bureau in DC to get IMS rover support. I was a new hire with 2 months on the job in a two person IRM shop, and was then acting IMO for 4 months during the IMO staffing gap. AF was nice enough to send me a person for 2 months so I didn't go crazy or burn down the communications center when I was unsupervised. In another case, when I was alone for 2 months, they sent me a person (actually a WAE IMS - a retired IMS who works a few months of the year) for 1 month.
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Jan 12, 2013 06:58
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problematique posted:Are there any incentives for bidding on HTF posts beside standard hardship or danger pay being higher? A position is hard to fill if it doesn't get a certain minimum number of in-cone, at-grade bidders. The hard to fill designation is usually set after the bid deadline each cycle. I believe serving in a HTF position might fulfill some requirement for getting into the Senior Foreign Service. If a post has enough hard to fill positions for a long enough time, it can be designated an Historically Difficult to Staff post. At these two-year posts, an officer agreeing to serve a three-year tour may be eligible for the Service Need Differential, a 15% bonus to base pay each of the three years. My third tour was in a HTF position at an HDS post. I agreed to three years and got the SND bonus. It was probably the best job I will ever have in the Foreign Service.
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Jan 12, 2013 07:49
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Business of Ferrets posted:If a post has enough hard to fill positions for a long enough time, it can be designated an Historically Difficult to Staff post. At these two-year posts, an officer agreeing to serve a three-year tour may be eligible for the Service Need Differential, a 15% bonus to base pay each of the three years. My third tour was in a HTF position at an HDS post. I agreed to three years and got the SND bonus. It was probably the best job I will ever have in the Foreign Service. Which country, may I ask?
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Jan 12, 2013 08:51
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Business of Ferrets posted:It's not like the military where they will sometimes say, "No OCONUS PCS for families of five or more," etc. A guy in my A-100 class has eight or nine kids. Wherever he goes, post has to find adequate housing, which pretty much always means acquiring a new property. It's just the way it is, and has always worked out. When he's in D.C., he lives in West Virginia. (I'm certain some of his kids have moved out since we started more than a decade ago, but he probably still has like six kids at home.) I think that guy is coming to my post? Someone is coming with 8 kids and housing is having a hell of a time finding a place. Also, in Japan, liquor with snakes! in it is a real thing.  http://i.imgur.com/oUMfC.jpg Skandiaavity fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Jan 12, 2013 |
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Jan 12, 2013 12:44
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I imagine the FSO folks have already gotten this video sent around, but for those who haven't seen it, here's a cool sort of slice-of-life "What is it to be in the Foreign Service?" video the State Dept put out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdh2oZ6NSgY Skandiaavity posted:
Aren't you in SE Asia right now? You can find WAY crazier stuff than that there. This is one a friend took in Laos, which I drank- snake, scorpion and centipede wine. It's about as bad as you might expect it to be... 
CronoGamer fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Jan 12, 2013 |
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Jan 12, 2013 18:06
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Ahh the fun of the ups and downs of the register. I was in the single digits for a while, now I'm back to doubting if I will even get an invite to the next class.CronoGamer posted:snake, scorpion and centipede wine. It's about as bad as you might expect it to be...  Goddamn nightmare fuel that is.
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Jan 12, 2013 19:08
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CronoGamer posted:I imagine the FSO folks have already gotten this video sent around, but for those who haven't seen it, here's a cool sort of slice-of-life "What is it to be in the Foreign Service?" video the State Dept put out. This is fascinating. Thanks!
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Jan 12, 2013 21:21
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CronoGamer posted:I imagine the FSO folks have already gotten this video sent around, but for those who haven't seen it, here's a cool sort of slice-of-life "What is it to be in the Foreign Service?" video the State Dept put out. I mean it's nice, so long as you're a political, PD, or consular officer. To hell with econ and management officers, and don't even talk to me if you're a specialist. =/
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Jan 12, 2013 22:56
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the_chavi posted:Which country, may I ask? PMed you.
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Jan 12, 2013 23:02
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Skandiaavity posted:Also, if you tell them to pick it up straight from the store where you buy it (say, Best Buy or wherever), you can get sweet tax-exempt goods. You have to do that pretty close to packout and not months before, though. So it is possible to purchase furniture or other items while in training at FSI prior to your first assignment tax free and have the shippers pick it up directly from the retail store and place it in storage with your other HHE or have the store deliver it to the HHE storage location? Also, was wondering how easy it is to access your HHE in Hagerstown to add or remove items. Is there a weight limit?...thought I heard something like a minimum of 200 pounds...
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Jan 13, 2013 01:45
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Yes. You have to arrange that with the store. You can tell transportation where to pick it up. For example, I bought some stuff at Crate and Barrel, and a brand new car, about two weeks before I shipped out; the store was willing to hold it for that long, the dealership wasn't. I just told Transportation to pick up both at <addresses>; they did so with the furniture but I had to pay 'shipping fees', which means alternatively, you can have the store deliver it directly to their warehouse. So basically I paid the dealership to deliver my car for me without taking proper possession of it yet. Warehouse here means the transportation company not HHE. You can't buy it tax-free and import it to HHE, it has to be going to post directly. Another guy in my class bought a used car, he said he would have gotten tax exempt if he didn't drive it off the guy's driveway either, but he needed the car for FSI. Virginia tax isn't that high (it just comes in the mail, out of nowhere) if you're buying used from an individual seller. I think a $30k car only has ~$160 in P/POV tax, so it's not worth your time. If you're buying it used, but from an actual dealer, they add seller's/sales tax which would be in/near the thousand dollar range, and you'd want to claim the exemption and work stuff out with the dealer. Honestly I found most places willing to deal with you as long as they can sell the inventory. Ikea in College Park MD will hold stuff up for a month. Hagerstown is a bit of a different story; you can only go in/out once per assignment orders, I think. (like if you'er going someplace, once then. If you're coming back, another time then.) But any other time, you have to pay to access your stuff. I think it's $200 (but someone at FSI told me 500?) per visit. Weight limits vary but it is definitely more than 200 pounds. I think it was like, 8,000? I heard a rule of thumb is 'if you're hitting your weight limits extensively and do not have a family of 2 or more kids, start investing in real estate somewhere' and storing it at home while renting your house out.
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Jan 13, 2013 03:46
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CronoGamer posted:Aren't you in SE Asia right now? You can find WAY crazier stuff than that there. This is one a friend took in Laos, which I drank- snake, scorpion and centipede wine. It's about as bad as you might expect it to be... There is apparently a tradition among some of my peers to have a going away drink that is the worst thing the sponsor of the party can find. So far, the stuff for a Pol Officer's going away to Bogota is the worst I have had. WAY worse than snake whiskey. It was some ghastly type of Chinese soy liquor. It tasted like soy sauce gone horribly wrong, graveyard dirt, and burning. Nobody else took the challenge after seeing the look on my face, so I guess I won.
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Jan 13, 2013 04:01
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I'm sorry to one-up you, but Kenya's is far worse. let me just put it this way: they add battery acid, for taste
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Jan 13, 2013 04:20
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Someone from my A-100 is in that video apparently!
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Jan 13, 2013 09:06
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Skandiaavity posted:Shipping stuff My posting is mainly unfurnished, so I had to buy an apartment's worth of stuff once I had my housing assignment. I was on Zipcar at the Oakwood at the time, but I was feeling lazy and didn't want to go to IKEA. So I went online and bought everything I wanted there. IKEA in the US will ship from online, so I just gave Oakwood the heads up on the delivery day and they dropped off everything already boxed and ready to go in my apartment. Since I had prearranged my packout for right after, the movers just grabbed everything from there and put it all into the same shipping crate. As for Hagerstown, I think it's 250 dollars per visit. If you put it on your orders they'll let you in once without paying. Also, it is a warehouse - so they will just take you to your crate and leave you. It's up to you to crack open the boxes and find the things you need.
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Jan 13, 2013 10:34
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I don't know of many places where wiping your rear end with poison ivy leaves could come up as a question in the hiring process. The best part is she ostensibly used her real name... http://careers.state.gov/engage/forums/careers-state-gov/embarrassing-medical-issue/2?func=rate;rating=1#id1gf07H-zRqxZX1Lu34Gwcg
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Jan 13, 2013 18:05
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