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...)

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...)

Calling all Office Managers

I don't want to make people think that IMS are the only specialists that I care about... That being said, a req just opened for Office Management Specialists! People regularly say the OMS are the people who make the post operate day to day. Their duties go way beyond the Office Manager stereotype of being "just a secretary." Often working directly with the front office (Ambassador or other prime officer), they can be involved in high level diplomacy almost from day one. It's quite a unique job!

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!

Diplomatic Passport Applications

Success! After almost a month of procrastinating, I took advantage of having the morning off to drag my family down to DC to submit our applications for our 'black' passports. I was starting to worry about the timing between getting my passport, applying for our visas and our planned departure, fortunately the woman at the desk assured me that I had plenty of time. Now I begin to eagerly await the e-mail informing me that my passport is ready to pick up! No problem there, though, I'm a pro at eagerly awaiting e-mails after the hiring process!

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!

Pre-Job Paperwork Blues

So... I received my official 'final' offer later (I think) than most. In fact, the offer came in the mail the same day listed as the "last day" to mail it back. I contacted the HR folks, and they said mailing it the next day wouldn't be an issue, but I still found myself in a bit of a rush to complete all of the 'mandatory' paperwork. I don't want to sound too whiny, but here's my short rant on this process.

First off, if you're going to have mandatory paperwork, it's probably better to include that with your offer package. The package I received came with a plethora of optional background information that I could have easily read online, but required that I print out (if you print the entire pdf for each, which includes the instructions) scores of pages to fill out and mail back. Second, if you provide a checklist of everything that has to be sent back... make sure all of the things listed are available from the website you provide. Third, make sure your forms apply to everyone (or at least have a 'not applicable' space, so I can send back a form that doesn't just appear to be blank/neglected). Finally, don't make a note emphasizing the importance of filling out an account number, if the account doesn't exist yet (I'm looking at you, TSP paperwork).

Anyway, all the paperwork was completed, and sent back last week... though I did forget to include a voided check... so that'll be fun. I guess I'll see if I can scan one and send it that way.

The $12,000 Question

Do you live in this circle?

This is a well documented and heated debate, so I'll be brief, but I thought I should weigh in on the local hire per diem disparity. The GSA (General Services Association) outlines the requirements to receive per diem for temporary assignments (such as Foreign Service orientation and training). Those rules state that if you're traveling more than 50 miles, you will be paid per diem for the duration of the trip to cover meals, housing, and travel incidentals. The idea is, any shorter distance and you'll commute from home. This relates to people like me, as we are considered local to the Foreign Service Institute (actually, I believe the distance is measured from the Washington Monument), and therefore do not receive government provided housing and per diem during training. The rates, at time of writing, end up being about $12,000 over my estimated orientation and training period (give or take).

This system generally makes sense. I mean, my wife gets to keep her job (at least in the short term), my son doesn't need a new daycare provider, I get to see my friends and such (on weekends, since I'll have around 3 hours of commuting per day). However, with Foreign Service training, this system breaks down. Since I can't guarantee the speed at which my house will sell, I have to choose between selling early and then renting in Arlington on my own dime, or waiting until training is complete, and hoping the house sells quickly while I'm overseas. Of course this isn't that much different than out of area hires who presumably have to hurry up to sell their houses also. The big difference is, if I do sell my house, I also have to pack my own stuff, put it in storage, and then get it re-packed-out on pack-out day by the official people. Bummer. In the grand scheme of things it's not really a big deal. I'm probably just bitter to be facing a 90 minute each way commute... and having to pay for my own food! (Oh the injustice!) On the plus side, all that time on the trains and buses will give me lots of time to practice a foreign language, if only I knew which one to work on.

What's the take away? Apparently I should have moved last week! Oh, and even if it IS probably fair, nobody likes to miss out on the per diem gravy train! I guess this means no daily crab feast lunches for me.

Invitation Only

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!

Good News, Better News

This morning I performed the sacred rite of all Foreign Service applicants added to the register; I called the Registrar to ask what rank I was. Remember when I said my Oral Assessment score was meaningless to me, since I had no frame of reference? Well, it mostly still is, BUT I now know that it was good enough to land me the number one spot on the IMS register as of 10am on January 8th, 2013! Huzzah! But wait, the good news fairy (Registrar) didn't stop there. She told me that invitations to the February 10th orientation are going out, and... as first on the list, I should be receiving one later today!

Unfortunately as it's now well past work hours, it appears she may have been mistaken as to when I'd receive the offer, but I'm used to being at the end of people's alphabetically organized lists, so hopefully I'll have the 'best' news some time tomorrow. All in all this is a little sooner than I was expecting (I'd been hoping for a March or April start date at the earliest), but there's no time like the present to get this show on the road!

Happy News Year!

As I left work on January 2nd, I was pleasantly surprised to have an email in my inbox from the Foreign Service. I have to admit, I hadn't been expecting to hear anything from them so soon, but there it was, a letter informing me that I'd been added to the IMS register! I am aware, and the register letter clearly reminded me, that being on the register is no guarantee of getting the job... BUT not being on the register is a guarantee of not getting the job. So needless to say, I'll take all the good news I can get.

I have read on other blogs that, once on the register, you can request your 'ranking' and whether there is a start date currently planned for the next cohort. So I promptly emailed my point of contact asking for the details. Unfortunately (though not really surprisingly) I didn't get a response of the Friday after New Years. Here's hoping for a reply next week. Despite the uncertainty, the excitement at my house is boiling over. We obviously don't know the future, but we're already daydreaming about the possibility of being at my first post by August or September of this year. That sounds like such a long time, but I imagine things will move quite quickly once they (hopefully!) start.

Side note, I guess it's time to stop procrastinating and get my son's medical exam turned in... and... you know... apply for his passport.

Medically Cleared for Worldwide Deployment

Remember when I said my excitement was continually building? Well, getting an e-mail informing me of my 'medical clearance for worldwide deployment' certainly didn’t diminish that at all! I knew the medical clearance would be much quicker than the security, but it’s good to know I don’t have any surprise ailments… at least that they tested me for. My wife made the cut also, so we just need to get my son in to his pediatrician, so we can get his paperwork submitted. (The State Department doesn’t do physicals for children under six years old). That’s all for now… my fingers are crossed that I’ll hear back about the security investigation sometime before the new year, even if my brain is skeptical.

Security Investigator Interview

Next step down! I was interviewed by my security investigator this week. I had a stack of paperwork for him, and he went through each page and asked for clarification where necessary. The whole process is pretty painless, for me, but my friends have already started getting calls and a neighbor or two has mentioned meeting my investigator. I don’t have anything to hide, so I’m not concerned, but I’ve read online, and was warned my investigator, that the process is a slow one, so I shouldn’t be expecting anything any time soon. Honestly, although I understand that, and believe it will be awhile… my excitement increases with every step of the process. Oh well, back to waiting for now!

Medical Clearance Exams

Following the suggestion of the interviewers, my wife and I planned to get our medical exams done at the State Department. Apparently that tends to go smoother than having private doctors do it, which makes sense; they do this stuff every day. Our experience started off rocky, with some cancelled appointments, and we ended up with two appointments in one day, instead of the customary two over three days. In the end, however, this turned out to be ideal. We dropped my son off at daycare and drove down to DC for our 8:30 appointment. Traffic was just as horrific as expected, but we made the 60 minute trip in a mere 90 minutes (huzzah!). From there we filled out some paperwork, gave up some bodily fluids, and were released into the world to await our afternoon appointment. This is where the luck kicks in. We both needed chest x-rays… which can conveniently be obtained at one of several walk-in centers within a few blocks of the State Department! Ignoring our still-fasting stomachs, we headed to the nearest center and knocked our x-rays out in about 90 minutes. We grabbed a fancy lunch at the Blue Duck Tavern, and headed back for our afternoon appointments. After what I would call a pretty standard physical, we split up; my wife headed to her evening class in Alexandria, and I headed back home to pick up my little buddy from daycare. I arrived at daycare within minutes of my normal pick up time. Can’t really argue with that! According to the doctor there, we should have our results by sometime late next week.

Oral Assessment

Best news! I successfully passed my Oral Assessment. What a roller coaster! After experiencing what I can only describe as the most intense nervousness I’ve felt in probably two decades (I’m looking at you, 8^th grade speech class) the day before my Assessment, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself calm and collected the day of. Living relatively close to DC, I was able to commute down for the day. I took the MARC and DC Metro in arriving almost an hour early to account for any possible delays. There was another IMS hopeful being assessed in parallel to me, which ended up being a blessing, because there were a handful of waiting periods that passed much quicker with some friendly chatting, than they would have staring off into space, second guessing everything. To the interviewers’ credit, the entire OA process is well documented on the Foreign Service website, and I’d say that my experience fit into their description perfectly. Being a history major, I’m no stranger to writing assignments, and I’ve always been good at standardized tests (read: multiple choice). I hate to say the first two sections ‘breezed by’ but I was much more confident in myself for those, than for the third and final part of the test. It turns out, talking is much more ‘real-time’ than typing and clicking radio buttons. The tension built as my interview-mate and I waited… and waited… for our interviewers to come collect us. After the better part of an hour, they came for him, and about one copy of State magazine later (or 10 minutes, if you'd prefer), it was my turn. The interview was as advertised, with the slight variation that there were three people present, two to interview me, and one in training, who was ostensibly observing the interviewers, rather than myself. Having a third person didn’t really matter to me, but maybe on some subconscious level it made me less nervous (maybe it leveled the playing field, since it was back to two on two, in terms of who was observing whom!). Once back in the lobby, we awaited our judgment in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere; after all, it was out of our hands now! After a moderate wait, I was called back in and congratulated on my passing the Oral Assessment and given a number (6.2, which means little to me, other than the pass/fail value, since I have no concept of its statistical significance), a conditional offer, and a new bundle of paperwork to chew through. The rest is fairly uneventful; I emphatically thanked my interviewers, spent some time with security, and started the long trip home.
Next step, security investigations, medical exams, and paperwork, Oh My! On the one hand, I know these are serious steps and can certainly end in terminated candidacies… but the other hand is just dancing around and saying, “Psh! I’m not a terrorist, I’m in great health, and I know how to fill out forms. Piece of cake!”

Interview Scheduled

Better news! Weeks and months of hard work (ok, just waiting) have successfully landed me on the schedule for an Oral Assessment. Looks like September 24^th will be the day of reckoning. The invitation came with a rather terrifying attachment describing the Oral Assessment process. The next step is to start working on what approximately amounts to a mountain of paperwork to be completed and brought to my interview. Fortunately, I remember every place I and all my friends have ever lived, doesn’t everyone? Oh… right… On the plus side, it gives me something to do to feel productive while I wait for my Assessment day, rather than nervously speculating about my failure.

Pre-Interview Notification

Good news! I was contact today with a notification that I will be contacted in the future for an Oral Assessment. I was mildly confused why I was receiving an e-mail to prepare me to receive an e-mail (maybe the hiring folks at the Foreign Service are fans of Space Balls?), but I’ll take it! Of course it gave no indication of time frame, so I’m back to waiting.