Best news! I received my offer letter yesterday. Oddly, they apparently don't want me to tell them that I plan to accept the position for another two days, but who cares! This time next month, I'll be in orientation... This time...Next.....Month... Oh man is there a ton to do. After months of waiting, who would have thought I'd feel so pressed for time now.
Anyway, my immediate next move is to update my resume and send it with some assorted other information to the Registrar. She'll then work on fitting me into their metric for years of related experience to determine my starting pay. (Herein lies the major bummer to being a Foreign Service Specialist, compared to a Generalist - Pay Matching. My position guarantees me an FS Grade 5, but being a specialist means I'll come in at step 5, 6, or 7, instead of step 14. To be fair, I knew that going in, and I'm honestly ok with it. I'm more interested in quality of life, than quantity of money.) Once the Registrar has worked her magic, they will overnight my offer letter to me, and it'll be (completely) official. That being said, there is no more "competition" at this point, I'm in for the Feb 10th class, as long as I want it. More to come!
How did you know what step you would come in at? How do they qualify that, education level, years of experience?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteLong story short, I didn't. I thought I knew, based on the old State.gov website's description. However, what it listed at the time (which was 1 step per year of related experience beyond that used to meet the minimal requirement for the job) was actually just the minimum step they were required to offer. I believe the registrar has some say in the matter based on the needs of the service and (possibly?) your qualifications. In the end, I was offered more than that, so I'd take this all with a grain of salt.
I should also point out that I'm making way more than I had expected through all of the incentives offered (many of them aren't really apparent at the start). In my specific case, I'm getting 14% overseas (which everyone overseas gets, and is included in most of the online pay scale sheets), plus another 15% differential and 10% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for my first post (Chennai, India). Add in the potential for 9% or 14% through the Skills Incentive Program (SIP), free housing and utilities, and free flights home for R&R (1 for Chennai), and your effective pay ends up being way higher than your grade and step.
References:
SIP http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1877/467mae.pdf
Differential & COA http://aoprals.state.gov/Web920/location.asp?menu_id=95
Thank you for all the information, especially the Mile Markers, they have been very useful. I passed the OA yesterday and am following in your footsteps, just 13 months behind.
DeleteCongratulations! I wish you a speedy background investigation!
DeleteAnd there it is, an invite for the March class. Thanks again for your blog, many a weary day in the waiting process I looked at your blog for motivation to keep going.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the Foreign Service! Now begins the painful waiting until flag day! :-D
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