Tenure!

Welp, I crossed another Foreign Service Milestone. I'm officially tenured. Tenure is a funny thing in the FS. Practically (but not) everyone gets it. You have 3 chances: at 2 years, 3 years, and 3.5 years for specialists. They say 99% of people get it by the third try. They say around 50% get it on the first try, so it's something of a (very) small bragging right. However, every IMS in my specialist class (go 132nd!) got tenure on their first try, which does dampen the feeling of exclusivity, but that's ok! So with the very flattering words below, I officially become a full-time, non-probationary, federal employee.

"The SPTB has completed its review of the files of candidates eligible for consideration for tenure by the 2016 Summer Session.  Below is the list of candidates recommended for tenure. The effective date of tenure is September 12, 2016."

Yeah, I got chills too. They do have a way with words. 

The picture may not be completely accurate, since the Foreign Service has an age-limit... but as a federal employee, we're generally fairly hard to fire anyway. More interestingly, as a 'career officer,' we do have the ability to be rehired to the Foreign Service if we quit, with relatively fewer hoops to jump through. I've met an officer who did this. He quit for several years to live near his children after getting divorce and then applied for reappointment when they were older. 

PS: Side bonus, you can also get a tenure certificate signed by the President...

IMS Vacancy

To quote the Department of State...

	U.S. Embassies Need IT Managers
	Now Accepting Applications
	The U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service isaccepting applications for Information Management Specialists. These are the technical managers who help the United States accomplish its foreign policy mission overseas. From July 13-26, those who are interested and have a formal education OR practical experience in Information Technology fields can apply for positions which allow you, your spouse, and your children to live and work throughout the world. Our Information Management Specialists are the technical leads who function as part of a larger diplomatic team around the world. As a part of this public service opportunity, you’ll receive paid housing or a housing allowance and paid education for dependent children in K-12 when serving overseas, health and medical coverage, federal retirement benefits, student loan repayment opportunities, generous paid leave, and an unprecedented chance to experience different cultures. You will provide IT management services at any of our more than 270 posts overseas, in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere in the United States. To see how we will evaluate your application, review the 12 Dimensions. If you have questions about the selection and hiring process, contactIMSVacancyInfo@state.gov. If you have questions about the work itself, contact ITJobs@state.gov. Finally, if you prefer to speak with someone directly, please contact the Diplomat in Residence in your region to make an appointment. Good luck, and we are looking forward to hearing from you. View IMS Employee Videos Stella, Information Management Specialist Tony, Information Management Specialist
	STAY CONNECTED with careers at the U.S. Department of State: DOWNLOAD our mobile app, DOSCareers          SUBSCRIBER SERVICES:  Manage Preferences  |  Unsubscribe  |  Help

Fame and Fortune

It was bound to happen. A handful of people here at post have mentioned my blog to me, but all of them knew me... before they found my blog. For the first time, I met someone who knew me, because of my blog. I was very flattered to be recognized by Ken (pictured), and generally happy to meet him. I'm glad my blog has helped untangle some of the mystery behind becoming an IMS. 

I guess I can check off the "fame" part of "fame and fortune." Unfortunately (for me), the most likely people to read my blog are those who are joining after me. So I have a job for you all. Get promoted quickly, so I can leverage your knowing of me into sweet jobs, AKA "fortune!"

Yeah. Probably not. Anyway, Ken mentioned someone in his cohort was having a hard time. I want to give a shout-out to Tom. Keep in mind you're at a low point on the Menninger Curve and, in some ways, it's best to have your hardest tour first. Not only does it set easily surpass-able expectations for future posts, but it's the only time where "equity" matters for bidding. People posted in the harder posts from my cohort went to places like Sydney, Prague, and London. Also, if I heard the situation correctly, I imagine you have a heartfelt thanks from everyone else in your cohort. Keep up the good work; before you know it, you'll be staring your departure in the face and (hopefully) wondering where the time went. 

Promotion!

I got promoted! Whoo hoo, par-tay, celebraaaaaaate! Oh wait, it was an administrative promotion*; I earned it merely by not getting fired over the last 18 months. Well, whatever, it still counts! If I keep up this rate of promotion, I think I'll be running the entire Department of State in like... 10 years. NOTE: That is not how it works.

On a more serious note, my cohort received our 18 month administrative promotions from FS 5 to FS 4 beginning this pay period. It's the first milestone in our IMS careers, next up: Tenure**. Unforunately, getting tenure is a merit-based-competitive thing, so we may not all get it at the same time (on our first try). Then again, my cohort was pretty awesome, so you never know.

* An "administrative promotion" is a pay grade increase that is guaranteed as part of your hiring. It is non-competitive and kind of represents the end of your 'training period.' Getting them depends on your position and the grade at which you enter the service. Since all IMS have the same job and grade coming in, we all get an upgrade after 18 months.

** Tenure is a formalization of your job with the State Department. It represents the end of your 2 to 6 year probational employment. Effectively, there's not much difference (for Specialists), except that once tenured you're eligible for competitive-promotion. Also, if you don't receive tenure on your 3rd attempt, you're effectively terminated from the foreign service.

Actually Another Job Openning

Good news IMS fans! The job req is open again. It turns out the Department of State really needs IMs these days. Just think, you could have the pleasure of working with me at your first post! (You know, if it happens to be my second post.) So if you do join and go somewhere awesome, start convincing them they need me early.

Just think, this picture could be you! (Assuming you own a red shirt and look like me with a different face...)

(Yeah, I know this is a repeat of a previous post... so sue me...)

Two Years in India, Week 26: 26% Down

Well, here we are. A quarter of the way through my time in India! I've definitely been slacking on posting recently, partially because I got out of the rhythm when I was in Germany for training and partially because I've been working a lot. 

It's crazy to think that 26% of the way through our tour we're still (albeit somewhat due to laziness on our own part) unpacking. I can really understand why some of the Foreign Service old hats say you spend half your time "in transit." I don't have any profound insights for my quarter-way mark, so let me tell you about my week.

Monday, the mail room (which I'm the American in charge of) received their record highest number of diplomatic pouches. Something like three times the usual and twice the norm for the "holiday season." Needless to say, the area was pretty much packed full until people started picking up their boxes. 

On the computer front, we had some planned and unplanned outages that required extra hours at work. We have contractors here working on our facilities, who require my escorting from time to time. I went to the airport three days in a row and spent countless hours on the phone preparing for and executing one of our diplomatic pouch deliveries. I built spreadsheets and access databases. I went to several CLO functions and a couple appointments at the Med unit (finally getting those long overdue vaccinations). Most importantly I checked approximately 123490183249013 e-mails.

It all sounds impressive, right? It's probably not - we're a pretty laid back post compared to those of some of my compatriots. I mean, I still had time to take a few hours off and visit a craft show featuring crafts from around the country (at local prices... we bought way more than I'd expected) and to have breakfast with my retired upstairs neighbor (poori, dosa, and filter coffee, of course). 

Also, the Locally Employee Staff here are amazing. I've been told they're some of the best in the world (though, I doubt that's easy to objectively measure). I can confidently say that my job would be a gazillion times harder without the dedication, knowledge, and skill of my LES. I guess my point is that if I've learned anything from this job, it's that every day is different and there's always work to do. It's kind of a nice change from the last few years where I mostly sat on my butt doing the same thing every day. Besides, I get to go hang out on the tarmac at the airport!

I'm looking forward to another 74ish weeks in India. (NOTE: My previously estimate of 100 / 104 weeks in India is probably skewed now that I'm spending at least 4 weeks in training, not to mention vacations and R&R... oh well, I still like the idea of 1% per week)

Technically Another Job Opening

Good news IMS fans! The job req is open again. It turns out the Department of State really needs IMs these days. Just think, you could have the pleasure of working with me at your first post! (You know, if it happens to be my second post.) So if you do join and go somewhere awesome, start convincing them they need me early.

Just think, this picture could be you! (Assuming you own a red shirt and look like me with a different face...)

Technically a Job Opening

Ok, maybe throwing "technically" in front of everything isn't the best policy. Anyway, there is an IMS vacancy announcement currently out. I just assume (thanks, healthy ego!) that everyone wants to follow in my footsteps. Good luck to you all!

Two Years in India, Week 3: First Pouch Run

You know, when I originally applied for the Information Management Specialist position with the Foreign Service I thought I was signing up to install and maintain computers. What I didn't realize was that we were in charge of ALL information going to and from the post. Anyway, this week I got my first taste of one of the forms that information takes.

One of our many jobs at post involves packing, tracking, and escorting secure mail from our facilities overseas to the airplanes that take them out of the country (and back, for incoming packages). As far as I can tell, this is generally called a pouch run. Being a consulate (and a relatively small one at that), this isn't a common occurrence in Chennai. However, we wanted to make sure I got a chance to do one before my predecessor shipped out on Thursday. I expected it to be quite exciting, I mean, we get down on the tarmac with the plane and watch them unload and load cargo. Sounds cool, right? Yeah... it's not as cool as it seems. In the end, it was just a long, sleep-depriving night.

In other news, my predecessor did in fact leave, ostensibly leaving me as the only IMS in Chennai. However, we were loaned an Information Programs Officer (IPO) from Delhi to help me manage things until my boss gets here. On the one hand, I think I would have been fine without the help, but I'm definitely glad he's here. Aside from the work benefits of having an experienced hand to help me, he's also just nice to have around from a social aspect! Who wants to be locked away by themselves all day?

I had one final revelation about my job this week. For years, as a government contractor, I was so pleased and proud of the fact that I never really received a lot of e-mails. I thought it was a good indication that I was actually getting work done. This week I realized that the majority of my job now consists of reading and answering e-mails. Sure, I do things also (apparently a lot of things, with how fast the time seems to go at work), but a lot of my job is now just making decisions that other people implement. I don't know how I became a manager, but it just feels weird!

Two Years in India, Week 1

There are huge trees all over the place.
(even in the street!)

Well, it's official. One week down, 103ish to go. That makes it sound like I can't wait to leave, which isn't right. I just was surprised when I realized that I'm pretty much 1% done with my first post. Really makes me think I can't waste a moment here!

I've had a number of first weeks at a new job, in my career, but this one was pretty different from all the others. First of all, I've never started a new job while at the same time combating jet lag. I've never really had a problem with adjusting my sleep schedule in the past, but I've also never had to do so while also caring for a not-yet-two-year-old. My son is completely oblivious to the concept of jet lag, so he pretty much sleeps whenever he wants. Fortunately, (for me) my wife has been playing with him when he's up in the middle of the night so that I would be awake and functioning for work. Of course, sleep is only one of the differences at this job. There's also taking a shuttle, living in a new place, meeting a workforce that is about to turn over by 50%, and heck, even experiencing new foods! Let's not get too far ahead though. 

I have just a three week overlap with the IMS I'm replacing here in Chennai. Since his boss, the IPO, left a week before I arrived, he's been showing me the ropes. It has been very interesting to see the similarities and differences between our training and what actually seems to be happening at post. The biggest difference I've noticed (especially when compared to my pre-Foreign Service jobs) is that almost all of the day-to-day work is handled quite capably by the Locally Employed Staff (LES) here. This means that the IMS, such as myself, tend to roam from project to project, working on whatever unusual or one-off problem that arises. A good example from this week: our AC units for the server room broke, leading us to spend a couple hours on the roof with the repair crew (a real pleasure in the Chennai heat!). 

Another shot of the crazy amount of trees.

Anyway, my predecessor arranged a "going away/welcome" lunch with me and all the LES working in our department. It was a great opportunity to meet everyone and I'm now planning to do the same thing when the new IPO arrives. Other than that, I've been eating lunch in the canteen. The lunch combo there costs 50 rupees (rs, approximately 85 cents) and consists of rice, chapati,  raita, and two gravies (which we'd call curry back in the States) that change daily. Everything is vegetarian and tastes alright, but you really can't beat the price! In the afternoon, I normally swing back down for chai to the tune of 7 rs (~12 cents). 

I ended up working a lot of extra hours this week, mostly due to my incredibly early shuttle-dictated arrival time. I don't mind the extra work, but it did kind of stink to get out right around when it was getting dark - really put a damper on my ability to take photos to send home. Of course, on the flip side, I also spent most of the week without internet (except at work), so I guess it didn't really matter!

Traffic on July 4th.
Fortunately, the jam only lasted half an hour.

Friday was the 4th of July, so we had the day off. The Consul General hosted a party at her residence with burgers, hot dogs, and a pie bake-off. I don't know about the pies' owners, but I'd say everyone that got to eat them was a winner. We also saw our future car (my son fully approved!) and met our soon-to-be driver. I had originally hesitated getting a driver, but after spending a week in traffic here... I'm glad we pre-arranged one. I'll post more about traffic later. 

Enjoy some random pictures of Chennai!

Small shrine in Alwarpet.

Graduation Day

Graduation day! I would never add music to any webpage, but you can try to imagine a Pomp and Circumstance March in the background while you read this. 14:00 found us sitting in the Wood Lobby at FSI. After a couple of speeches, one by Tin Cao (Assistant Dean of the School of Applied Information Technology (SAIT)) and one by Steven Taylor (CIO for the State Department), we were called out one by one and received our certificates. It was very reminiscent of college graduation, except with way fewer people. Our certificate included a copy of the class picture we took during IRM Tradecraft and the certificate posted above. It was a short, but pleasant, ceremony followed by another group photo, general congratulations and mixing with our instructors.

Every IMS class has one student that is voted for by the instructors and other students to be the "distinguished honor graduate," and I was surprised and incredibly flattered to be chosen for my class. Fortunately, I had spent no time preparing myself for such an honor, so I was woefully unprepared when my classmates called for a speech. I'm not much of an orator, but I would like to repeat part of what I said in my (very brief) impromptu speech.

I realized earlier this week that our time, as a full class, at FSI is quickly coming to a close. This really bummed me out, because I've spent the last four months meeting and befriending people that I'll shortly be thousands of miles away from. I knew when I signed up for this job that I'd be constantly shifting around, resulting in a constant change of coworkers, but this is the first time it's really hit me that I might possibly never work with any of the people in my class again. Of course we'll keep in touch, but I will definitely miss working with all my friends who have shared the start of this new life adventure with me. In that respect, I'm very glad to have been a part of such an abnormally large IMS class, since my chances of seeing my fellow new hires again is much greater when there are 23 of us, compared to the standard 6-12.

Congratulations IMSers of the 132nd Specialist Class!

Weeks 6 - 8 of Training: Department of State Applied Systems

Welp, this week winds up the longest of our classes. DoS Applied Systems is, as far as I can tell, a fancy name for "Windows Essentials at Post." Our instructors said that, in the past, the requirement for passing this class was tied to successfully receiving a Microsoft certificate. However, since then they've moved to in-house testing and, to some extent, watered down the Microsoft focus with Department specific best practices. Unfortunately for those of us who have moderate to extensive experience administering an active directory Windows domain... this class was painful. The instructors were fantastic (and very funny!), but it's hard to sit through a class you could be teaching and maintain an appearance of polite interest. Fortunately, the instructors were aware of this, and very willing to turn a blind eye to off-topic internet surfing. 

That's not to say that the course wasn't worthwhile, despite my relatively firm grasp of the Windows material, I did learn some things specific to the Department (such as naming schema and how post transfers work). Also, many of my colleagues with less technical backgrounds found the class quite intimidating. It consisted of Windows administration instruction (tailored to the DoS), practical labs, guest speakers from assorted support groups, and field trips. The guest speakers were well chosen, and I was once again surprised by the shear scale of the Foreign Service. I've seen the gross numbers several times, but they often don't include contractors... and numbers just don't have the same wow factor as seeing a giant call center dedicated to three groups who's sole job is to support the domain level technical needs of our posts overseas.

Week 5 of Training: COMSEC and Crypto

Great example of a crypto device that nobody uses anymore.

This week my quarter-of-the-class group was reunited with another quarter. So with twice the people we learned the magical arts of Communication Security (COMSEC) and Crypto(logy). The course is listed in the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Catalog as:

"...a basic overview of Communications Security, proper handling, accounting and destruction of COMSEC material using the CARDS system. Emergency Destruction procedures, audits and the proper operation of various types of cryptographic equipment are also covered."

That pretty much sums up the class. It was relatively enjoyable, considering the material. Like all security related training, it was both vitally important and extremely dry. Apparently this job generally falls to the new hires at post, so we all have that to look forward to. On the plus side, we got to take a field trip... so I'll call it a win!

Colossus, used to break the Enigma.

PS: If you're ever in and around the Washington DC area and are interested in cryptology, you should check out the National Cryptological Museum!

Week 4 of Training: HF Radios!

Monday morning my classmates and I were happy to be back at FSI for week three of training. This week we tackled High Frequency (HF) Radios, yet another topic I knew nothing about before starting the class. I can now honestly say, radios are WAY cooler than I ever knew. Example: I never knew radios could use ionosphere propagation to broadcast past line of sight.

Our instructor was a huge amateur radio enthusiast and had many decades of work experience, so he was readily able to answer any and every question we had. The class covered everything from theory, to installation, operation and maintenance of HF radios. Although the class was definitely interesting, it was also one of those things you want to know how to use, but then hope to never need to use. In the current day and age, radios aren't really used for primary communication while at post (since we have the internet, satellites, and other direct lines), but can be invaluable for emergency situations. Especially in situations like Cario 2013, when the Egyptian government cut the phone and internet lines throughout the country.

Week 3 of Training: How to Commute!

Ostensibly the second week of training (for my quarter of the cohort) was about communication systems. It was taught by DTS-PO, and I'll let you read about what they do, if you so desire. The training was good, albeit a little lengthy for the amount of material being covered. We were learning about a system that none of the six of us have ever used, so it was definitely worth while, but...

For me, week two was a valuable lesson in how awful commuting can make my life. The traini
ng was not held at FSI, but rather at an offsite location even further from my house. Class started at 8, so I was fortunate enough to miss most of the morning traffic, leaving myself only an hour and a half drive. I was not so fortunate on the way home. My best day was just over two hours, and my worst was almost three and a half. Fortunately, the weather did me a favor and provided our THIRD snow day of the year on Monday. I'll be honest though, it was hard to feel too lucky on Wednesday when I was passing the 5 hour mark of 'commute time' for the day. <start rant> I was also a little bitter because they wouldn't give me mileage for the extra drive distance because it should be covered by the per diem that I don't get as a local hire! <end rant>

Week 2 of Training: Basic Telephones!

This week was our first week of 'actual training' at FSI. Since our group is so large, they split us into 2 groups, and then further split those groups into two groups for half the classes. My subgroup started training with Basic Telephones. The class started with learning to punch 24 gauge cross connects and finished with a practical exam to take the system from no-configuration to fully configured. 

Recycling our used wires!

I'll be honest... I knew next to nothing about phones going into this course... and it was a blast! I learned a ton. The instructor was informative and entertaining; the class was small, and the atmosphere was very relaxed. We finished all the material on Wednesday, so we spent Thursday doing a beefed up practical exam and took our written exam Friday morning. As expected, everyone passed. 

I hope my remaining 9 courses are as informative and fun as this one! Next week's class is offsite, which means a longer commute, but is another subject I know nothing about. I'm looking forward to it.

Information Management Specialist Vacancy

Good news! It's time to follow in my foot steps! There is a new vacancy announcement for the Information Management Specialist (IMS)! It's a slow process (as you can see on the right), but if you follow my timeline, applying to this vacancy, which closes April 6th, 2014, could have you finishing up your first week by this time next year! Best of luck!

Week 1 of Training: IRM Tradecraft

This week was the first week of our specialty-specific training. The week was labeled as the "Information Resource Management (IRM) Tradecraft." IRM is the name of the Bureau that IMS and Information Management Technical Specialists (IMTS) fall under when stationed in Washington.

The week started off with a bang... also known as a snow day. It continued with a two hour delayed start on Tuesday, making the coordinator of our session scramble to reschedule speakers. He ended up getting in almost all of the sessions, by abbreviating most of them by a few minutes. Although this week was technically our first week of 'training,' I think it's more accurate to call it 'Orientation Week Four.' It consisted of a bunch of briefings shallowly touching on subjects only important to IMS (and IMTS). For example, we went over topics like crisis management, hiring locally employed staff (LES), IRM career development, and the remote support structure available to us while overseas.

All in all it wasn't the most exciting week so far, but for our last session they handed out our schedules for the next 13 weeks! Many people have told us that the IMS training is comprehensive, and we'll be ready to do everything on day one... I thought I had a pretty good handle on things going in, but this training includes a bunch of stuff I've never really had to deal with before. Time to learn more about phones, satellites, and radios than I ever expected to!

An Offer You Can't Refine

I received my official offer letter for the Foreign Service Information Management Specialist position today. I accepted my orientation invitation 11 days ago and was really starting to wonder when I'd receive my final offer. In the end, I called up HR this morning and asked for a status update. Apparently my invitation acceptance e-mail was misplaced, so they rushed to get me my official letter. I hadn't been too concerned, since receiving an offer letter after an invitation is not a competitive process, but I have had a little anxiety to see what pay step I would receive. Unlike the private sector, many (if not all) federal government positions use strict metrics to determine starting pay. As a strong believer in always negotiating (or attempting to) starting salary, it was weird to get an offer that I knew I had no influence to change. The IMS position is guaranteed a grade 5 on the FS payscale, but after accidentally reading the FSO salary determination details, I'd spent a short time believing that FSS positions were salary matched (in grade). When I found out my mistake I was understandably bummed.

However, there are more important things in life than money, so I fully intended to take this position regardless of my starting pay. This concept was reinforced when my HR representative called to make sure I was aware of the system they used to determine starting salary, and that it would be a not-insignificant pay cut for me. I told her I was aware and believe the experience and opportunity this job represented was worth the difference in pay. She then pleasantly surprised me with an offer 4 steps above what I'd previously expected. Having already been maxed out on excitement, I can't claim to be more excited than I was before, but I'm certainly happy to accept a 12% increase in my starting pay. Due to the frequent moves, the Foreign Service seems to compensate with an expectation of single career families, so even their lowest starting pay is quite reasonable. Now it's time for the inevitable struggle between wanting to be helpful until I leave my current job and "short timer" syndrome. Wish me luck!