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Yeah, the snow canceled Thursday's OAs, so my friend got hosed. I'd hate to see the weather shut down Friday's OAs too, as one of my friends I studied with the last time around is scheduled for that day. Speaking of storms, these OA cancellations are nothing compared to the shitstorm engulfing State's FOIA office these days!
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Mar 6, 2015 05:19
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zzonkmiles posted:Yeah, the snow canceled Thursday's OAs, so my friend got hosed. I'd hate to see the weather shut down Friday's OAs too, as one of my friends I studied with the last time around is scheduled for that day. id love to hear more about it. can you send me all of the relevant work information from your personal email account? tia
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Mar 6, 2015 06:44
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A friend of mine missed the Bang side of Crash/Bang for the second time, go figure.
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Mar 6, 2015 10:59
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Nutrimentia posted:A friend of mine missed the Bang side of Crash/Bang for the second time, go figure. They're not missing much.
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Mar 6, 2015 21:22
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So are any FSOgoons touring in Guangzhou or any China post this year? I got my housing assignment today and it looks really nice.
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Mar 7, 2015 01:35
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Bloodnose posted:So are any FSOgoons touring in Guangzhou or any China post this year? I got my housing assignment today and it looks really nice. theres a handful from my A100 heading there. are you at FSI yet? Happy to introduce you.
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Mar 7, 2015 02:33
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Bloodnose posted:So are any FSOgoons touring in Guangzhou or any China post this year? I got my housing assignment today and it looks really nice. Haven't been very active in this thread, but I'll actually be heading to Guangzhou around late June. Currently finishing up mandarin language at FSI, feel free to PM me sometime and we can arrange a time to chat.
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Mar 7, 2015 02:34
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Homie S posted:They're not missing much. Considering they are from a non-gun culture, its understandable they were disappointed. Pretty relevant article about State culture and IT jobs
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Mar 9, 2015 12:26
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Nutrimentia posted:Considering they are from a non-gun culture, its understandable they were disappointed. Eh... this probably isn't the venue to say anything.
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Mar 9, 2015 13:24
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I just sent my PNQs over to Nutrimentia (thanks!) for thoughts and polishing help. Would anyone else be willing to take a look? I figure the more eyes, the better. They're not due for another 10 days or so, so there's lots of time left.
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Mar 9, 2015 13:44
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TCD posted:Eh... this probably isn't the venue to say anything. Gration stories are the stuff of AF legend though.
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Mar 9, 2015 15:09
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TCD posted:Eh... this probably isn't the venue to say anything. We will need many, many beers. re: guangzhou i know a PAS officer there, good guy. Said the new building is v. nice.
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Mar 10, 2015 09:16
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First day at fsi today. It's a lot bigger than I expected. Can't wait to see the bid list tomorrow.
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Mar 10, 2015 20:11
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Leif. posted:Gration stories are the stuff of AF legend though. Seriously. Also hearing about Cynthia Stroum from Luxembourg was pretty eye opening.
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Mar 10, 2015 20:52
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Note to self: Do not schedule your OA for the very last week of the testing cycle. Man, the extra time to prepare is nice, but the wait is killing me. My candidacy is frozen in place. Oh, and congratulations to the new A-100 class!
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Mar 11, 2015 15:56
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It is with no small amount of irony that I used my personal email on my phone to get in touch with contacts outside the .gov realm today at work, given that Opennet is still borked...
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Mar 17, 2015 00:43
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Hey All.... long time no post. Life happens I suppose. Life got really busy after my first tour... got married, having a kid. Anyhow, in case people were curious what happened to me. I left Sanaa early in August 2013 via Ordered Departure.... Now I am in Geneva. I'll be in Canberra next starting in October. Oh, and I took the FSOT again for Management Cone. Scored 185.21 and submitting my PNs tonight... alot less pressure doing it when you are already a specialist. Anyhow good luck to everyone in the February testing group. Hope everyone else is doing well as well :p I'm still here if anyone has questions about being an OMS.
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Mar 17, 2015 22:27
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How's Geneva? I understand it's cripplingly expensive and you have to find your own housing?
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Mar 18, 2015 00:09
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Bloodnose posted:How's Geneva? I understand it's cripplingly expensive and you have to find your own housing? I like it. I know some people hate finding their own housing and having to do LQA but I consider it a perk. I found a kick rear end apartment that GSO probably would never pick for a standard housing pool. Though, Geneva is moving away from LQA after this year which I think is a shame. As for cost of living... it is pretty bad. Most expensive city in the world (maybe tied with Oslo). My rent is $5000ish a month... which is actually a sweet deal. McDonald value meal is close to $15-20. Luckily, our cola is 100%... so that helps quite a bit. The Swiss standard of living is very high but you do pay for it.
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Mar 18, 2015 00:20
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I enjoyed it. The city its self is a little boring, especially for people looking for a nightlife, but you travel very easily since it's right in the middle of Europe and its sort of a hub for EasyJet. It is very expensive but I found the COLA suffecient. Lots of people shop across the border in France which is much cheaper. There's an enormous expat community if you're interested in that. It's not really very Swiss though since it is so international, but you can find Swiss stuff right nearby. I thought LQA would be a major pain in the rear end but it wasn't that bad. I was lucky and got a real nice place. But the housing market is super tight, Geneva usually has less than a 1% vacancy rate, so it's all a matter of what's available when you get there. They're in the process of doing away with LQA though. They were planning on having a housing pool by 2017 but I have no idea if that's still on track. ^^^Wait I missed your earlier post. When did you get to Geneva? I left in May 2014, were we two Goon ships passing in the night? AKA Pseudonym fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Mar 18, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 00:27
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AKA Pseudonym posted:I left in May 2014, were we two Goon ships passing in the night? I got there October 2013... you probably know who I am in the real world. Then again they keep you IMS types locked up in dark rooms. I'm in Public Affairs.
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Mar 18, 2015 10:25
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Finishing up my PNQs today, which I'm feeling much better about than last time when I didn't pass, so that rules. I thought of a question about language training, though. My foreign language background is Mandarin, but I really don't think it's at the 2/2 level, which is what I think is required for language points. Let's say, hypothetically, you were assigned to a post with a language training requirement, but you weren't at a high enough level to bypass it entirely, how does your training work? Do you just get to coast/be bored for the beginning portion, or do you jump into a class partway through, based on a proficiency test or something?
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Mar 18, 2015 13:00
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It's cool that OpenNet is fixed but I'm sad that the Sounding Board is still broken because I just noticed a gigantic thread called something like "stop being mean to Republicans/conservatives" because the whining in there must be glorious 
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Mar 18, 2015 17:44
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Barracuda Bang! posted:Finishing up my PNQs today, which I'm feeling much better about than last time when I didn't pass, so that rules. Actually, you only need a 2/0 for .17 bonus points. A 2/1 will get you .25 bonus points. A 3/2 will get you .38 bonus points. Anything lower than a 2/1 after you tested at a 2/0 will take away your .17 and leave you with nothing.
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Mar 18, 2015 23:32
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Bloodnose posted:It's cool that OpenNet is fixed but I'm sad that the Sounding Board is still broken because I just noticed a gigantic thread called something like "stop being mean to Republicans/conservatives" because the whining in there must be glorious Been around for a few months. It's pretty great.
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Mar 19, 2015 03:39
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zzonkmiles posted:Actually, you only need a 2/0 for .17 bonus points. Is this a newer system? When I was in the pipeline, it was a simple pass/fail test. If you passed, you got the +.17 (or more for the CNL). Once you were hired there was a formal test at FSI during A-100 that gave you the Speaking/Reading score. The pipeline score was based on a phone test only. I suppose it makes sense that they formally assess you and give greater bonuses for higher levels of proficiency (even though FSI language assessment is flawed). Nutrimentia fucked around with this message at 09:37 on Mar 20, 2015 |
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Mar 19, 2015 15:51
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Yeah it's a new system. Used to be you could get a full .5 for Mandarin. I wonder if they changed it because suddenly A-100 was full of Chinese majors or something.
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Mar 19, 2015 23:39
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Yeah, I think this new system went into effect in 2012. Previously, you could get bonus points in some hard Asian languages with a 2/0 as well, but now you need a 3/0. Sucks.
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Mar 19, 2015 23:58
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mtreecorner posted:Hey All.... long time no post. Life happens I suppose. Life got really busy after my first tour... got married, having a kid. hey! Geneva! i'm around your parts, just a bit more east these days. I will actually driving to France this summer, so if you're around lets hang. Congrats on passing the FSOT. Eastern Europe is a lot friendlier these days than I remembered it. The people, they go straight for the heart.
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Mar 20, 2015 12:38
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Bloodnose posted:Yeah it's a new system. Used to be you could get a full .5 for Mandarin. I wonder if they changed it because suddenly A-100 was full of Chinese majors or something. Yes Which, based on our flag day, is convenient
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Mar 20, 2015 13:08
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Does getting the .17 bonus points in a "regular/noncritical" language obligate you to serve in a post that requires that language too? If that's the case, I'd imagine there would be a lot of S3 Spanish speakers on the register or in a new A-100 who are looking at posts like Juarez or Tijuana and wondering if that is where their first tour would be because of the obligated service requirement.
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Mar 20, 2015 13:57
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Bloodnose posted:Yeah it's a new system. Used to be you could get a full .5 for Mandarin. I wonder if they changed it because suddenly A-100 was full of Chinese majors or something. I think the changes are for the better. .50 was a huge bonus and unbalanced. Then again, I'm biased as a non-mandarin/arabic speaker. I know plenty of officers who did a tour in China (or the middle east) and then never went back... so the benefit to the Department wasn't .50 worthy imho. Skandiaavity posted:hey! Geneva! i'm around your parts, just a bit more east these days. I will actually driving to France this summer, so if you're around lets hang. I'll be here until September so hit me up this summer. mtreecorner fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Mar 20, 2015 |
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Mar 20, 2015 16:14
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zzonkmiles posted:Does getting the .17 bonus points in a "regular/noncritical" language obligate you to serve in a post that requires that language too? If that's the case, I'd imagine there would be a lot of S3 Spanish speakers on the register or in a new A-100 who are looking at posts like Juarez or Tijuana and wondering if that is where their first tour would be because of the obligated service requirement. Nope, only critical languages obligate you to serve there, and unless they've changed it again recently, it's only if you accept bonus language points for taking and scoring well on the in person FSI test. The language section on the website goes into a bit of detail about the process: http://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/officer/test-process
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Mar 20, 2015 16:17
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I've heard of people getting the critical language bonus.....along with a DS country preclusion in basically the only country that speaks the language. Hmmm.
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Mar 20, 2015 22:23
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You can fulfill your Mandarin requirement in Vancouver 
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Mar 20, 2015 23:24
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Preparing my final bid list rankings. Basically ok with anything but a low and happy with any highs so I think I'm doing it right.
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Mar 21, 2015 04:02
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Just bid high on everything. They're all good choices.
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Mar 21, 2015 05:42
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QuackAttackAggie posted:Preparing my final bid list rankings. Basically ok with anything but a low and happy with any highs so I think I'm doing it right. Prepare yourself for getting that low bid. Seriously. You probably won't get it, but if you do, you don't want to be the one stumbling around in shock after flag day. There is always (at least) one.
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Mar 21, 2015 09:12
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Nutrimentia posted:Prepare yourself for getting that low bid. Seriously. You probably won't get it, but if you do, you don't want to be the one stumbling around in shock after flag day. There is always (at least) one. This. There were more OMS positions than OMSes in my orientation, so the OMSes had convinced themselves that if everyone bid low on this one spot then none of them would get it. Someone had a very bad day. I give her credit for making it up to the podium, accepting, her flag, and making it all the way back to her seat before breaking down in tears.
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Mar 21, 2015 09:59
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QuackAttackAggie posted:Preparing my final bid list rankings. Basically ok with anything but a low and happy with any highs so I think I'm doing it right. No you aren't - be okay with a low. There's always at least one surprise every flag day.
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Mar 21, 2015 12:28
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