Archives for 2013

Thirty-five callers joined the first ForeignServiceExam.org conference call last night, Thursday, September 26.  The call lasted about nearly two hours minutes, and the questions were excellent, ranging from how will the sequester affect hiring in FY2014 to how is the culture inside the Foreign Service.

You can find the recording here — https://archive.org/details/26Sep2044RecordingOfConfCall

I am sending the MP3 file out for transcription, and I’ll try to provide a Table of Contents or Index to make it easy to search.

Thanks again for the participation.  I’m planning to do another conference call or Webinar in the near future.  Sign up for my  monthly newsletter to stay abreast of conference calls and podcasts.

Cheers, Bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folks–

The State Department has opened its application season for internships — domestic and foreign — for Summer 2014.  As I’ve said before, an internship at an embassy abroad is the best way to see if you really do want to work as an FSO.  You will have 10 weeks serving in a various capacities in a foreign mission, frequently in a developing country.

When I was DCM in Uganda, we had excellent interns during my three years there, including some who went on to join the Foreign Service, the Civil Service working in the State Department as well as overseas development NGOs.

In Kampala, we treated the interns as if they were officers, well, because they were officers.  No joke.  We were typically shorthanded over the summer — transfer season and R&R trips — so we relied the interns to fill the vacant positions.  Most served in the political and economic sections, but we did have some in the consular, public diplomacy and management sections.  

We also put the interns up in embassy housing which was open awaiting new officers or those gone for the summer.  This helped to defray the costs for the interns.

Why defray the costs? Because these are unpaid internships for undergraduate and graduate students.  These days, there’s a lot of controversy surrounding unpaid internships, likening them to slavery, but if you’re serious about the Foreign Service or Civil Service you reall should take part in this program, which the Department correctly points out is the only way for an undergraduate or graduate student to work in a U.S. Mission abroad.

About half of those accepted serve in Washington, DC or other cities around the country and the other 50% serve at embassies or consulates overseas.

All travel expenses, e.g., airfare, visa, passport, etc., are borne by the intern.

There are a bunch of requirements — at least a 2.5 GPA, for instance — and you can find instructions here.

You must complete the online application on the USAJOBS website and in addition to your biographical and education data complete the following:

• Select up to two (2) bureaus or posts abroad
• Specify a country or countries
• Include a well-written Statement of Interest
• Provide all required documents

NOTE: A couple of words of advice

— if you want to go overseas as an intern, pick a larger post abroad so you can be sure they’ll have empty slots to fill (Not all missions host interns every year).  In Africa, for instance, I’d recommend picking Ghana or Senegal over Togo, Kenya or Uganda over Burundi.

— if you speak or are studying a foreign language, put it on your application.  If you have an interest in a country or region, put it on your application and weave it into your statement of interest.  (On writing, remember no boring, stuffy academic writing in your statement, go for active voice, power verbs, clarity and succinctness.)

— FINALLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, file for your security clearance ASAP.  too many students get tripped up here.  You need a security clearance and that process takes months.  You need to be able to handle documents and information classified at the SECRET and CONFIDENTIAL levels.

Good luck, and as always let me know if you have any questions in the comment box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The statistics are pretty bleak.  Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the then-director general of the Foreign Service, told a Savannah audience in April the following startling fact:

• in 2012, out of 22,000 applicants took the Foreign Service Exam, the State Department hired only 425 FSOs.

What does this mean?  Well, your chances of actually getting hired by the Foreign Service are pretty slim.  In short, you have a 1.9% chance of passing the exams and being offered a job.  Ouch.  It also means that it’s time for Plan B for most applicants.

Plan B is not something to be ashamed of…  We’ve all fallen back on Plan B in our lives.  I applied to Georgetown for undergraduate studies.  I didn’t get in (didn’t even get wait-listed!) so I decided to go to a school where I was accepted, the University of Chicago.  It was my Plan B school.

I want the features offered by a $2,500 a month 1-BR apartment in Washington, DC. I couldn’t cut the price so a I fell back on my Plan B, a $1,500 a month studio apartment in Washington, DC.  We fall back on our Plan B’s multiple times every day.

Of course, career choices are a big thing, a huge thing, really.  So falling back on your Plan B is the stuff of angst, pain and depression.  Okay, you can pick yourself up now.  And get on with your life.

But think about what you wanted from your Foreign Service career:

• living overseas
• an interesting and satisfying job
• helping American citizens or people in general
• advocating policy positions
• a well-paying job with good benefits
• the prestige of being a U.S. diplomat
  

Well, I would argue that except for the last tic you can — right now — apply for an international job that will give you all of the same lifestyle and benefits that you would earn as an FSO.

Think about it.  Yes, there is  a job out there for you that will get you out of the States, push you into a new culture, have you work with smart and funny and bright folks, and make decent, sometimes more money then you would in the ForeignHow Service.

What’s the catch?  Well, you’ve got to find these jobs and get off your butt and apply for these jobs.  And seriously there are thousands of such jobs around the world.

And I promise to help you find them.  This is for Katie helping me to get off my butt and write it.