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Pompous Rhombus posted:
I felt the study guide was a lot more difficult than the test itself.
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Oct 19, 2009 18:19
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Pompous Rhombus posted:
Your job is literally 'being there'. I think most of the couriers have routes they manage and your job is fairly routine and you'd make a SHITLOAD of money with per diem (and depending if your office lets you pocket the rest if you stay at a lovely hotel that could be a lot) but drat gently caress that.
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Oct 19, 2009 21:26
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Pompous Rhombus posted:I'd never touch my per diem: I’d go to Craft Service, get some raw veggies, bacon, Cup-A-Soup— baby, I got a stew going. They seem to be happy enough and as I said most are on a regular schedule so it's not like you have no chance of making a family situation work. You see a lot of retired people just sorta traveling the globe chillin' making silly money.
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Oct 20, 2009 01:19
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 BLEEP BLOOP HURF DURFIf you want to be a world roaming IT guy your opportunity approaches! quote:UNCLAS STATE 110470
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Oct 27, 2009 14:52
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TCD posted:Oh god Vile, you're getting another fresh wave of goons in the IMS track. Slowly, quietly, the ranks of the United States diplomatic corps are being filled by goons.
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Oct 27, 2009 18:37
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CherryCola posted:Has anyone gotten their results from the test yet? It's exactly three weeks today and I'm getting really nervous. Do they only send a message if you've passed or will they send a "sorry you're terrible" message as well? Nothing yet.
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Oct 28, 2009 17:39
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CherryCola posted:I passed!!! Now on to the personal narrative. I'm realizing now how little experience I have leading other people. How did you receive the notification?
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Oct 28, 2009 19:29
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https://actapps.act.org/fsotresults/goLoggedIn.do nvm, found it. 
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Oct 28, 2009 19:41
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TCD posted:Sorry dude I failed so that others might pass! That's ok, I'm REALLY ENJOYING messing with this new SMART garbage I couldn't imagine just giving it all up.
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Oct 28, 2009 20:18
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Defleshed posted:I seem to have failed as well. I was pretty much just taking it as a lark, but I'm more insulted/confused than anything else. The geography/political questions were straight out of eighth grade and there's no loving way I failed the essay portion. The only thing I can think of that put me under the bar were the retardedly nebulous "think of a time you helped someone who wasn't born in the US" style questions. Well you can fax in to get your detailed results. I'm pretty sure I bombed the english grammar section.
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Oct 28, 2009 21:27
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AKA Pseudonym posted:Congrats to the folks that passed and to VR on his SMART installation (I can't wait) SMART (State messaging and archival retrieval toolkit, which is the replacement for the old telegram system) is a piece of poo poo. I hate it and I'm bitter as hell that they are deploying this half built garbage for their worldwide beta deployment. quote:Vilerat - I already spoke with Mark (and he was very helpful!), did you have any advice on what not to write for the IM position coming up? Well the initial part is just the big rear end application packet but at some point you have to write essays just like the generalist position. It's not as harsh as the generalist one though and I got the impression they are just trying to make sure you aren't an idiot once they invite you in.
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Oct 29, 2009 00:53
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Business of Ferrets posted:Congrats to the passers! Well done! I'm going to be up for 2 soon as an IMS. I think my window of it being "worth it" is closing.
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Oct 29, 2009 15:31
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FYI all you NFL fans in nowhereville. Talk to your MGMT officer because the NFL is giving out free online sunday ticket feeds (one per post, so set up a group viewing) or field pass radio feeds.
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Nov 1, 2009 20:49
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Mask posted:I have to ask this and apologies if the question itself may be remedial. aww  worry about that when you're a higher ranking officer. You'll be told what to think and how to report for a long time before you're applying your years of hard learned regional expertise solving the worlds ills.
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Nov 2, 2009 22:33
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Mask posted:Sorry if that came off as a 'holier than thou' write up, I meant it more so that if one was not the most versed in IR or specifically versed in one region and not much else, how well do you think they would do through the initial process of attempting to get hired as an FSO? I just feel as if the test might be a bar higher (or several) than what I would be ready for or am I just over thinking the process? Sorry was a bit tongue in cheek. BOF could answer this a lot better than I.
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Nov 3, 2009 00:25
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Pompous Rhombus posted:The FSO I talked with last year said if you're single you're almost guaranteed a tour in one of those two in your first 5 years. That's bullshit. Iraqistan jobs are purely volunteer at this point. Your first two tours are directed however, but they don't direct you to unaccompanied.
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Nov 3, 2009 18:41
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Ah, good to know. Can't say I fancy living in a compound. Depends. Those assignments are huge career enhancers and the money is incredible. In Iraq at least they give you three R&R trips back home during the year which makes the tour do'able. I'm pretty sure Iraq took a few years off of my liver too and the whole 'work hard party hard' aspect is in full force.
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Nov 3, 2009 19:30
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TCD posted:Uhhh... Are those directed? I thought those were all volunteer only.I know Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan are volunteer only right now.
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Nov 3, 2009 19:53
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Hawkline posted:I went through the IMS process in 2007 and got screened out after clearance at the final suitability review stage or whatever it was called. Is there someone I should contact to appeal that decision (for those in the know) to make me reelegible for this hiring round? Otherwise, should I just throw my inquiry letter to the generic Office of Recruitment, Examination and Employment address? Just reapply.
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Nov 4, 2009 12:23
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Business of Ferrets posted:Well, everything came together, and I will be off to Baghdad in the spring. I can answer all your questions about serving at US Embassy Baghdad 
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Nov 9, 2009 15:05
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Barracuda Bang! posted:Vilerat, tell the whole class about serving there, please! It would be better off if people had specific questions. We lived in lovely trailers and ate some kick rear end food. The work week was Sunday through Thursday with us working half days on friday and saturday off (sometimes). Work days were 11 hours long minimum.
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Nov 9, 2009 22:23
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nesbit37 posted:Got my score breakdown today, biographical section killed me. I was 6 points shy, and got only a 42 in biographical. Ouch. That section is so incredibly unfair because you really don't know what the hell they are looking for exactly.
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Nov 10, 2009 01:37
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Business of Ferrets posted:Sweet. Though I understand I will be living in an apartment, not a trailer. Sounds like some things are much better these days! Yeah the new apartments are nice. They would have been real nice if they didn't cut them in half and give you a suite mate thoughwhich totally blows. There is one air conditioning unit per suite so hope your roomie has the same comfort level you do! Also hope they aren't disgusting slobs. One major bummer about that posting these days is they cut the IZ down to almost nothing and they restrict you to compound mostly. We used to be able to just grab a Gator and ride around to all the little shopping areas and restaurants, not really anymore though.
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Nov 10, 2009 15:10
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Business of Ferrets posted:Ah, so that's why the housing questionnaire asks whether you "like your room cold." It's a college party atmosphere. If you're spending that much time in your apartment you'll be that weird shut in guy, don't be that guy (it's not healthy!).
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Nov 10, 2009 17:34
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Dear Vilerat, This is in response to your request for a score breakdown for the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) you recently took. To advance to the next step of the Foreign Service Officer selection process, the Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP) review, applicants must have achieved a score of 154 or above on the multiple choice components of the FSOT and an essay score of at least 6 on a 12- point scale. Essays were scored for those candidates who received at least a 154 or above on the multiple-choice section. There were three parts to the multiple-choice section. You scored as follows: Job knowledge: 55.06 Biographic Information: 44.32 English Expression: 53.96 Multiple choice total score: 153.34 I do not own enough middle fingers to express how I'm feeling right now.
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Nov 13, 2009 18:04
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This next EER is my first shot at 2 so I think I'm probably too far along doing this job to start all over. This was likely my last worthwhile shot. Oh well!
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Nov 13, 2009 18:20
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Skandiaavity posted:Vilerat: I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Best part is that section that they tanked me on? Completely subjective.
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Nov 13, 2009 18:26
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SWATJester posted:There is an appeal you can do, but from all accounts it has never been successful. Do you got a link for the process?
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Nov 13, 2009 19:22
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SWATJester posted:From the FSOA mailing group: It would be worth 30 bucks just to see if it budges at all. I'm curious exactly how subjective that section is.
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Nov 14, 2009 17:29
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Happydayz posted:what's $30? Just do it. You could get enough points easily from the bio re-grade Yeah, doing it. Why not?
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Nov 15, 2009 18:04
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iceslice posted:You mentioned in one of the GiP threads that the transition from military to FSO was easy, and this seems like an appropriate place to ask about it. Can you expand on this? I still have 5 years in the Army to focus on, but my grandfather was a FSO for 25+ years and I've always been curious about getting into it. Certainly! I'll start off with the hiring process. From the point where you get 'accepted' you have a two year window within which you can set a start day with State. For you this means once you are two years out start the process and then work with your HR tech to set a new hire class date that closely coincides with your ETS. As I mentioned in the other thread you can buy back your military time if you haven't hit your retirement and apply those years towards your State Department retirement. I purchased around 7 years of my USAF time and that cost me a little over 3 grand which is pennies really. You rotate posts every 3 years and there is a competative bidding process to get onward assignments. Unlike the military (with the exception of your first two assignments) you have to network and lobby for your ongoing assignments so if you are good at your job you have a much higher chance of getting to all the great places you want to live at instead of just putting your top 8 choices and taking up prayer. On the flip side if you have a bad corridor reputation then I'd get used to shitholes or spending most of your time wandering the halls in DC. Life in the Foreign Service is best described as all of the cool stuff you enjoyed about the Military without all the stupid bullshit. Like to live in foreign countries and experience fun cultures but really aren't big on getting your weekend liberties taken away because some idiot got a DUI? Hate 3 am bag drags because your section chief wants to make sure you guys have your gear squared away and is a dick? Love the idea of a 20 year retirement and no chance of getting laid off? These are the things I was referring to. No you are not likely to run around with a gun unless you are Diplomatic Security but thems the breaks. On the other hand since I've been with State I've done more time flying around in military helicopters and have come closer to being blown up by incoming fire than when I was in the military so ymmv. Another similarity is housing although I'm going to take some liberties with the word similar. When you arrive at post you are assigned a house from the Embassy housing pool that is usually pretty good but as with everything 'It varies from post to post'. When I was in Pretoria we had a really nice 5 bedroom house in a great neighborhood and it really seemed over the top but in other places you get the bare minimum as required by regs. Here in Montreal we have LQA which is where they just give you money and wish you luck. The pay in State is I think very good and the benefits are fantastic. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/113576.pdf If you come in as a specialist you'll probably be coming in at the FS-5 range with the step depending on what you negotiate with HR. After 18 months you get admin promoted to 4 and from there on it's competative annually. Leave takes into account total government service time so if you have a few years in the military already you'll be getting 6 hours a pay period (every two weeks, not 1st/15th) and holidays/weekends don't count against you. Add in local holidays and admin travel days when going on your annual R&R along with mandatory home leave after your tour and you end up getting more leave than Active Duty military. Also yes they do pay for you and your family to go back to the states or wherever once a year for R&R if you are in a not so great place. I do mention Specialist there which may not be what you are interested in, but the pay/rank/benefits are all identical. Also I should mention Specialists get paid overtime if you work overtime  .
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Dec 2, 2009 14:49
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iceslice posted:Thanks for the info. Do you receive any preference as prior service? I think I remember reading you receive a small bump in your testing scores. Is there anything beyond that? 5 or 10 pt veterence preference.
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Dec 2, 2009 19:02
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Winna posted:I feel like, if you went into the foreign service single, it would be very difficult meeting young singles as well with this lifestyle. Any truth to this observation? Singles issues are ironically much louder than married issues in the Foreign Service. I've found they go way out of their way to take care of families but just sorta expect singles to cope somehow. On the flip side I do see a lot of FSO's getting married to locals, but you'll have to get past the inevitable cultural differences. I don't know about buying peace corps time. Do they even have a retirement program?
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Dec 4, 2009 12:47
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Pompous Rhombus posted:If you marry a foreign national, could you potentially lose your security clearance? Not likely unless you marry somebody with some major red flags.
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Dec 4, 2009 22:15
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Happydayz posted:Just so you know, Peace Corps = (likely) never going to work in the intelligence community. Maybe that's not your thing, but you should think carefully before closing off an option. I thought it was the other way around? As in if you have worked in the intelligence community you can't work for PC?
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Dec 11, 2009 14:27
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Dattserberg posted:Just received my score breakdown from the October exam: I sent in the 30 bucks to get mine re-evaluated, will post what the response is.
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Dec 20, 2009 18:54
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Ugghhh. It's ALL who you know and how you lobby. If you get post to want you then you are almost guaranteed to get the assignment. If bureau wants you in that position but post wants somebody else, somebody else will get that job and you'll be left with a rep who offers condolences and shrugged shoulders. The whole assignment system is really unbalanced and designed to encourage networking and handshakes.
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Dec 21, 2009 05:11
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CherryCola posted:Oh sure, if it would affect my chances negatively. Visible tattoos or body piercings will affect your chances negatively in any professional environment unless you work for one of those rare places.
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Dec 28, 2009 22:15
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CherryCola posted:well that's what I was wondering. Is a piercing like that still considered an extreme "body piercing." Maybe it's from all my time in South Asia, but I had been thinking that a small diamond on the side of the nose was not really that big of a deal anymore since pretty much every woman has one.. Anyway, this is kind of a weird tangent, but it's good to know what the expectations are. All that said I have met two FSO's with nose piercings and it was no big deal. Wait till you get in and tenured before you do it in my opinion And hashing. Lots of FSO's hash. We had a fun hash going in Pretoria. It's absolutely not considered a negative for you to go out and have fun like this. It's actually considered a positive since you are getting out and doing things with other post people or locals.
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Jan 5, 2010 12:47
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Got the result of the challenge back from ACT and they just said they reviewed it and scored it correctly. I don't think they rescored it at all, just checked to make sure the numbers match what they originally put. Oh well!
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Jan 11, 2010 20:30
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