The U.S. Foreign Service

Introduction to a Diplomatic Career

The United States Foreign Service refers both to the primary personnel system within the diplomatic service of the government of the United States, under the aegis of the United States Department of State, and to the service itself, comprising approximately 12,000 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S. citizens abroad.  Members of the Foreign Service serve at any of the 265 United States diplomatic missions around the world, including embassies, consulates, and other missions, including the United Nations.

This blog focuses on career U.S. Foreign Service members who work at American Embassies and Consulates abroad.

U.S. Embassies and Consulates

A U.S. Embassy or Consulate is the work center for Foreign Service personnel, as well as many other Federal employees including the FBI, DEA, DHS, DOA, DOD and many other U.S. Federal agencies. But the majority of American employees at our Embassies and consulates are U.S. Foreign Service members who make up the Diplomatic Corps. This website focuses just on the U.S  Department of State Foreign Service personnel.

U.S. Chief of Mission

The top position at an Embassy is the Chief if Mission, which is an Ambassador who is either promoted from a senior career Foreign Service Officer, or politically appointed by the President of the United States. All Ambassadors are confirmed by the U.S. Senate and report to the U.S. Secretary of State. Most Ambassadors assigned to highly desirable locations (Paris, Rome, Athens, Sydney etc.) are politically appointed as a reward by the President for efforts (usually monetary) to the Presidents political party and/or election campaign . 
In 1975, on the 4th episode of the new show Saturday Night Live, a young Dan Aykroyd and Laraine Newman are in a TV commercial parody recruiting for the “Ambassador Institute”.  The ad details how anyone could become a U.S. Ambassador by simply making a $300,000 political campaign contribution. It didn’t get many laughs, but it was very funny to Foreign Service members because it was virtually true, and there actually is an Ambassador training class held at the Foreign Service Institute in Virginia!Career Ambassadors, however, are appointed from within the senior Foreign Service ranks and have a more hands-on approach to leading the Embassy.  However, career Ambassadors usually serve at difficult or hardship posts since most political appointee’s wouldn’t enjoy an assignment to some war-torn, poverty stricken country in central Africa.

The second in command of an Embassy is the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) who is always a career Foreign Service Officer. This person basically supervises all of the department heads within the Embassy, and deals with many issues pertaining to the day to day operation of the Embassy. The DCM also participates in high-level Foreign Affairs issues between the United States and the host nation. Ambassadors often seek guidance and interpretation from the career DCM, thus the DCM is less of a figure head and often gets deep into formulating political, economic and military issues. Politically appointed Ambassadors often have little or no foreign affairs experience and thus the DCM ends up helping these appointees a great deal – even though most of the credit will fall onto the Ambassador. If the Ambassador leaves the country, the DCM steps in as acting Ambassador, and is then titled the “Charge D’ Affairs”.

And last – the chief of a U.S. Consulate is usually led by a senior Foreign Service Officer who has spent a great deal of their career as a Consular Affairs Officer. Consulates deal almost exclusively with consular affairs issues (Visas, and helping American citizen abroad) and thus have less Foreign Service members working in them than an Embassy.

There are two career categories of Foreign Service (FS) personnel – one is a specialist (FS Specialist) and other is a generalist (FS Officer). Both are Foreign Service Officers, but their career paths and how they enter the Foreign Service are quite different.

Foreign Service Specialists

These people provide a variety of support duties that keep the Embassy running, and its staff comfortable, safe and healthy. These include:

• Facilities Maintenance Specialist
• Financial Management Officer
• General Services Officer (management)
• Human Resources Officer
• Construction Engineer (civil engineers)
• Information Management Specialist (IT)
• Regional English Language Officer
• Information Resource Officer
• Printing Specialist (Washington DC only)
• Health Practitioner (Nurse or PA)
• Regional Medical Technologist (LAB)
• Regional Medical Officer (DR)
• Regional Psychiatrist (DR)
• Office Management Specialist (admin)
• Diplomatic Courier (deliver classified mail and packages to our Embassies and Consulates)
• Security Engineer or Technical Specialist
• Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent (protect staff and facilities and provide law enforcement and investigations)

Foreign Service Specialist have all or some of the following: prerequisite education, job certifications, an oral assessment, and some have a written examination. However, the written Foreign Service Examination (see below) is not used.

Most specialists enter one job specialty based on their current job and stay with it for the duration of their career. A few jobs allow members to cross over into other tracks, usually within the management careers or IT. Some jobs even allow members to cross over into the Foreign Service Officer career and skip the Foreign Service examination.

All Foreign Service jobs require some length of technical training at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI) located just outside Washington D.C.. Some jobs require several months and Diplomatic Security Agents are in training for almost a year.

Foreign Service Generalists (Officers)

These are individuals who help formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. These personnel usually start out working in the visa department and then migrate into one of 5 career tracks or “cones”. Their titles and key job description follow:

• Management Officer – Manages the day-to-day support operations of the Embassy.
• Consular Officer – Handles all visa applications and helps American citizens traveling abroad with emergencies
• Economic Officer – Conducts research and helps shape American Economic Policy towards the host country.
• Political Officer – Conducts research and helps shape American Foreign Policy in relation to the host country.
• Public Diplomacy Officer – Spokesperson for the USA and conveys public opinion back to Washington.

(see more in-depth details below)

New members are hired on a career limited appointment, not to exceed five years. They must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language through standardized testing, usually after receiving language training that ranges from 24 to 44 weeks (depending on the difficulty of the language) and demonstrate potential for advancement within the Foreign Service before becoming eligible for commissioning. FSOs are commissioned by Congress, similar to military officers. All Foreign Service Officers must become proficient in at least 2 languages, and many learn more.

The top leadership roles at an Embassy are chosen almost exclusively from the ranks of the FSO’s. Although FSOs who become Ambassadors and DCMs may come from any of the functional career tracks.

FSOs have no specific education requirement, however, you should remember hat this is highly competitive and virtually all Foreign Service Officers enter with a BA degree as a minimum, and many have a Master’s.   The major requirement though is that you are required to take a challenging written test (The Foreign Service Examination) and an all-day oral assessment, both of which are highly competitive. The written test will demonstrate knowledge of US and world history, world politics, geography, current events, economics and writing ability. You can take it once a year and while there is no passing or failing, most people end up taking it two or three times before being accepted into the Foreign Service. If you get a high enough score, you will be asked to take the oral assessment, which will demonstrate leadership and management skills, as well as verbal communications.

“There’s a lot of misconception out there about some of the career tracks that we have,” said Luis Arreaga, director of the State Department’s Office of Recruitment, Examination and Employment.

Here’s a quick rundown [of the Foreign Service Officer cones] for budding development professionals seeking employment in U.S. government:

Economic:

Broadly speaking, economic officers work to promote trade and development policies favorable to U.S. interests. According to one economic officer, people with development backgrounds are usually drawn to this track, as they are the most familiar with the complex economic issues facing developing nations.

Robert Dry, a senior foreign service officer, said one trait that is critical to succeeding as an economic officer is versatility. The work of an economic officer often entails an especially wide range of projects and responsibilities, he noted. For instance, in working for the Foreign Commercial Service, an economic officer often acts as a liaison for any U.S. government agency that foreigners need to contact for business purposes. Dry’s own career highlights in the economic track include working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation, combating mango blight in Oman and helping to organize disaster relief aid in the wake of the 1999 floods in Vietnam.

Management:

Management officers focus less on foreign policy and more on the day-to-day operations of running an embassy, from human resources to procurement. According to Arreaga, the management track may be particularly attractive to those with master’s degrees in business administration and/or experience administering development projects:

“Think of a corporation that has 280+ offices worldwide,” he said. “Think about the infrastructure that you need to support that.”

By offering training in foreign languages and cross-cultural communication, the management track allows diplomats to develop business skills that are in high demand but harder to come by in the private sector.

Management officers tend to rise through the ranks the most quickly, according to Arreaga.

Public Diplomacy:

As the name implies, public diplomacy officers work to promote a positive image of the United States to the general public. This position often involves interacting with the local press, writing speeches, and issuing statements about U.S. foreign policy. But public diplomacy officers are more than spokespersons; they often get involved in efforts that may directly appeal to development professionals, such as coordinating cultural exchanges and scholarship programs. Some embassies’ public affairs offices directly run grant programs, such as the Democracy Commission small grants which promote independent media, government transparency, and the rule of law.

Consular:

Consular officers handle many of the embassy functions that outsiders are most familiar with: assisting American citizens abroad and issuing visas to prospective visitors to the U.S. According to State Department recruiters, the consular track has got a bad rap. Maybe it’s because new diplomats are compelled to spend a year doing consular work during one of their first two tours of duty, or perhaps it’s because the crowded waiting room with staff shielded behind bullet-proof glass windows is a little too reminiscent of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In any case, the consular track is the least competitive but, according to Arreaga, this does not mean it’s the least interesting. Consular officers may end up visiting U.S. citizens in prisons abroad, tracking down parents who have fled the U.S. to avoid child support payments, and coordinating adoptions from far-flung orphanages. Consular officers have the most direct interaction with the local population, Arreaga noted: They often have the best stories to tell and are able to “get the pulse of the country” more quickly than other diplomats.

Deborah Graze, chief of outreach and coordinator of the U.S. Diplomats in Residence program, stressed that issuing visas is a serious responsibility since consular officers are legally enshrined as the main gatekeepers determining who should be allowed to enter the country. Another diplomat observed that junior officers in the consular track usually end up with substantial management responsibilities, as they are often called upon to oversee local staff who process visa requests.

Political:

This track is by far the most competitive, fueled in part by the rumor that political officers have the best shot at becoming ambassador. (Arreaga emphatically stressed there’s no data to prove this.) Political officers deal in statecraft, reporting back to Washington on trends within the governments and societies of their post. Back in Washington, political officers often serve on a country desk, the office responsible for handling each bilateral relationship at the State Department headquarters. International relations junkies may be particularly drawn to the political track, though it seems fair to say that these officers are less directly engaged in development than those following another employment track at State.

ASSIGNMENTS

All Foreign Service members are eventually assigned to one of 260 posts, or Washington D.C.. These assignments are usually for two to three years, and while no assignment is longer than three years, some are only one. A one-year assignment is usually a war zone, such as Baghdad or Afghanistan. Diplomatic Security agents and Consular Affairs Officers can also be assigned to a few other places in the United States such as New York, Denver and Miami. All other Foreign Service members are posted overseas (majority) at the Department of State in Washington D.C.

For a list of all U.S. Embassies and Consulates, visit: http://www.usembassy.gov/

All assignments are competitive, but weight is strongly given to family needs. For example, if you have a teenager and there is no high school at an assignment, then it would be extremely rare that you would get that posting. Most hardship places are for childless adventure seekers – who want the extra pay or love to rough it! Then again, those hard-to-fill slots offer more than just extra pay. They give you an edge when applying for a follow-on assignment to a highly desired place like Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Rome, London, Marseilles, Bern, Athens, Sydney etc. Basically, anyone coming back from Afghanistan or Iraq can choose just about anywhere they want from what is available at that time. Many people take the risks and endure the family separation for a year, in order to earn double pay, pay off their debts, and then take a 3-year assignment to some nice assignment like Sydney! I volunteered for Islamabad for one year and got my first choice of assignment in Singapore the following year.

If an assignment requires a foreign language, the State Department will include comprehensive language immersion school at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). The school teaches over 60 languages, ranging from 6 to 48 weeks of training depending on the language and your ability. Additionally, each Embassy has a local civilian language tutor who provides going language training in the language of the host country.

In between assignments we all get a chance to attend FSI for any additional training that can help us do our job. Often these are computer or management/leadership courses, but cultural courses are also offered. The goal of the Foreign Service is communication with our host country and anything that can help us do that job is a good thing.

Transitioning Into The Foreign Service

We’ve all been there, and know the stress of starting a strange career! The Foreign Service can be very stressful for both employee and their family – especially the family! Training (including language school) can be a year in Washington D.C., while living out of a hotel or small apartment, and many bring their families with them. With training and classes all day, families are left to worry about their future. Will they be able to learn the languages? Will there be schools? What about housing? What about medical and dental care? Can I work? These are just a fraction of the questions asked by family members when their spouse enters this career.

The State department has an office just for this reason, called the Family Liaison Office (FLO) with smaller counterparts at each Embassy called the Community Liaison Office (CLO). Visit the FLO website at: http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) also has seminars to help families, and new members with transition concerns. Their web page on this topic is http://www.state.gov/m/fsi/tc/74921.htm The bottom line is that you should be aware that there are several organizations to help, from the moment you are selected all the way through your career.

You will spend a lot of time at the Institute, as it is the center for all training in the Foreign Service. There are additional schools for computer systems and security. All language training is conducted at FSI, and you will probably end up at the Institute between every assignment for some kind of training.

PAY

I must state upfront that no one joins the Foreign Service to get rich, these are Federal jobs remember!  You should be doing this to serve your country, vs pursuing wealth.  That said, the salary is decent, and when you add in the benefits you can live very comfortably.  For example, my daughter’s school tuition was $46,000 a year, and my apartment rent was $70,000 a year plus utilities – all paid by the State Department.  Add in the low cost medical insurance, retirement plan, extensive travel benefits and many other incidentals and the total compensation package can be very nice.

Starting salaries are based on the job you are applying for (for specialists) and your experience and education , which acts as a multiplier of sorts.  You will have a higher starting salary with the more education you have.  Early promotions and in-grade step advances are regular, and the first advance in grade is practically automatic.

Most assignments have a salary multiplier that offsets the cost of living, or to compensate for hardship in a country that is quite different from America. For example, when I served in Pakistan my salary was double. Additionally all Foreign Service Specialists and untenured Officers earn overtime pay. Add that into the equation and my salary in Pakistan tripled!

We are paid in U.S. Dollars, which is direct deposited into our stateside bank accounts every two weeks.  Every Embassy has a cashier where we can write checks if wanted.  Many use ATMS for routine purchases, but the Embassy cashier gives a slighter better exchange rate and no service fees.

Embassy Housing in Pakistan

HOUSING

State Department overseas housing is excellent, and most are furnished. If you need to store your furniture, the State department offers free storage in Maryland or Belgium. Furnished homes include all large appliances, including washer, dryer, dish washer, curtains, complete bedroom and living room furniture, book cases, wall units, end tables and more. Some homes have large in-ground swimming pools, and large manicured gardens. They even toss in a vacuum cleaner, garden tools, lawn mower and more. It is expected that you may entertain foreigners and host parties, so housing must be quite presentable. Furniture is in very good, if not new condition, and normal wear and tear is expected, however if your pet damages the furniture you will have to pay to have it repaired or replaced.

The style of house depends on your rank and the post city. In Singapore, detached homes are rare, so most Embassy personnel live in apartments. In Poland, we had a good mix of apartments and homes. In South Africa everyone lived in a house or duplex. One thing you will hear over and over again in the Foreign Service is that it varies from post to post! As an example of an apartment, mine is in downtown

Singapore, about a 20 minute walk from the Embassy, or 3 bus stops away. It’s also within 30 minutes of the largest shopping area in Singapore with about 30 fantastic shopping malls in the area, and located right next to the beautiful Singapore national Botanical Gardens. It has a large swimming pool, jacuzzi, BBQ area, gym, and children’s swimming area. The apartment has 4 bedrooms, and 3 full baths, and a powder room in the foyer. A living room, dinning room, kitchen patio and laundry/storage room round it out along with underground parking. The cost would be $60,000 a year if I had to pay for it myself, plus utilities – all in all a nice job benefit!

In the few places where housing is not available, you are given up to $25,000 a year to lease an apartment or house. Some choose to purchase a home and take the full $25,000 a year as mortgage payments! Oh – and we have our own maintenance personnel to help fix our homes and appliances. They are on call 24/7 for emergencies.

Between every assignment we end up back in Washington DC for a few days, if not longer. During this time we are allowed to visit our stored property and select items for shipment to our next post. Likewise when we depart a post we can add more back into our long-term storage. Additionally, while we are in Washington, we can purchase items and have it shipped to our next destination within certain restrictions. For example I once knew that my next post had no easy access to a gym, so I stopped by Sears and bought a large treadmill and had it picked up by the State Department and shipped to my next post.

Government Transport: After you arrive to your new post, you may get free transport from the motor pool to and from work until your own car arrives or you buy one. While this usually lasts for a month or two, after that period some posts allow you to pay a small fee to use the service. Some places even offer this service freely for the entire tour if other options are not available, or it is too dangerous for you to drive. In Pakistan, where you can bring a car if you want, we could also use the motor pool for free to go to work, or even downtown shopping. In Singapore however, public transportation is safe, reliable, and inexpensive – so in that case you will obviously not use the motorpool.

CARS

You can bring your car with you – if the foreign country will allow it. Some countries will restrict cars based on age and if it’s a left hand drive vs a right hand drive. If you are told that you couldn’t bring your car then the government will put it in storage if you want. Shipping your car overseas is free. Storage is free – and they take really good care of the cars, and even start them up every month. If your spouse is also in the Foreign Service, you can ship 2 cars.

PETS

Many members of the Foreign Service have dogs and/or cats. We can even got reimbursed (up to specific amount) to help with shipping.  I brought my three cats to South Africa and received $1,200 to help offset the shipping costs. My last supervisor had a horse – and she took it from Denmark to Poland and then to Germany.  Now she’s on the way to Texas and bringing her horse with her – although she will be paying around $15,000 out of pocket to do it!

Pets are quite common with us. I would say somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 of all Foreign Service members have a dog or a cat.  When we are researching a new assignment, the website I use discusses what the Vet care is like and whether or not decent pet food is available in the country, or suggests if we should ship it from the USA. If we get posted to an assignment where the local stuff is really poor quality or scarce, we are allowed a “consignment” shipment. This means we go to a Sam’s Club or whatever, and buy a years worth of stuff – and the government comes, crates it up, and freights it to our new assignment for free. I have seen people ship about 500 pounds of fine quality cat liter (along with dry cat food and lots of canned goods for the people in their family).

If you volunteer for a remote posting in a war zone, then you may or may not take pets. It all depends on the assignment and current conditions. Currently, members going to Islamabad, Pakistan can take pets with them.

SCHOOLS (for your children)

In a nutshell – simply the best you will find anywhere. Most assignments have excellent private American schools (K-12). These have smaller student to teacher ratios than both American public schools and Department of Defense schools, and almost all high-schools are college prep and offer IB (http://www.ibo.org/) courses. By the time my son completed High School at the American International School in Vienna, he had almost completed his freshmen year of college.

You are also entitled to free tuition for private tutors if their teacher states it would help. We had tutors in our house 3 days a week.

If you take an assignment to a location that does not allow children, or one that has no equivalent American style school, then you are entitled to send them to a private boarding school – up to $56,000 a year. You can also choose to send them to a family member if you wish. But even in that case the State Department will pay to fly them to visit you once a year, to your R&R location, or anywhere in the USA. This applies even if there is a good school, but your child needs some special education.

Our daughter needed some extra structure to help her in High School, so the State Department paid to send her to a private boarding school of our choosing. My daughter loved to snow-board so together her and I researched, and with a suggestion from the Family Liaison Office (FLO) back in Washington, she choose the Leysin American School (see photo) in Switzerland. (www.las.ch).

She loved it, did well in school, and was accepted into several colleges. It was a private American college prep school with an American curriculum and cost $46,000 a year. The school was very high standard, with a lot of structure that helped my daughter. The tuition also paid for all meals, annual skiing passes, professional lessons and distant field trips (Italy one year, Istanbul the next). Plus they even paid her airfare to visit us every school break.

While not many children go to private boarding schools, its good to know that the option is there if you decide you need it. I’ve never seen a family forced to send any children away, and in all those cases where I have seen the Foreign Service officer choose the separation, all the children where in high-school and adapted very quickly to the separation. Indeed, if you ask my daughter she will admit that she enjoyed it after the initial home-sickness. At age 16 she quickly enjoyed the freedom (supervised) and two years later found it easy to go off to college alone – far from her family. Foreign Service children become very good at navigating international airports alone – something that terrifies many adult Americans.

Educational Allowances: The State Department pays several educational allowances to help families with special needs. If needed, the State Department will pay to send a child and parent back to the United States for any special testing or treatment. They even give additional funding if you have a gifted child and wish to enroll in on-line courses or buy additional books and supplies. School transport is paid for, even if the only thing available is a taxi. In Warsaw, Poland several parents hired private taxies for our kids – all paid for, even when a bus was available (they did this because their kids played after-school sports, long after the last bus run). If you wish to home-school, you will be offered a grant to pay for home school supplies, tutors, enrollment fees, and more. I had a co-worker who had a child with Downs Syndrome. The State Department allowed their private occupational therapist to be included on the member’s travel orders, and allowed her to stay in Government housing. They even made sure the family received an extra large home suitable for the live-in specialist. The amount of expense that the State Department offers for your children’s education is probably the best of any corporation in the United States.

FAMILY LIAISON OFFICE (FLO): The State Department’s Family Liaison Office (http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/) is a wealth of helpful information and offers a host of family support services, from education to helping family members find work. They also help separated family members when you are on an unaccompanied assignment.

DUTY HOURS AND LEAVE (Vacation)

We normally work Mon-Fri 0800 to 5PM. We occasionally work late or attend formal dinner parties a few times a year. In war-zones we work longer, but specialists and untenured officers get overtime! We receive three kinds of leave (vacation).

• Annual Leave. This is accrued and you can use it at any time for any reason. This is just like Military leave.
• Home Leave – Paid leave given between assignments to visit the USA. We are required by law to spend 10-20 days within the USA between assignments.
• Sick Leave – this is also accrued and is used just for illness, or when a family member is ill. It allows you take time off work when you or a family member is sick and not burn up valuable vacation leave!

There are other types of authorized and paid absences, such as to help care for an elderly or sick parent back in the USA.

HEALTH CARE

While the State Department does not have a full medical system, there is a clinic at each Embassy that takes care of routine acute stuff in-house. If needed, all aero-medical evacuation is paid for by the State Department, to the nearest capable hospital or back to the USA if needed. All members of the Foreign Service must have some form of health insurance that covers overseas care. Retired military members can even use their Tricare healthcare system. Most Foreign Service members use the Foreign Service Benefits Plan – a U.S. Government sponsored health plan that would make any anti-healthcare reform advocate uncomfortable. The Foreign Service Benefit Plan (FSBP) is very comprehensive, covers care worldwide including the USA, and runs about $115 a month for singles, and $300 a month for a family. The big benefit of the FSBP is that there are no pre-existing condition clauses, no one is denied, and it can’t be terminated when you develop a chronic medical condition. This is the same service used by members of Congress and the Senate.

You may visit the Embassy clinic, and if needed you will be referred to a local specialist, or you will be medically evacuated to the nearest country with comparable healthcare quality to what you would find in the USA. The Embassy doctor ensures that any hospital you go to meets specific U.S. standards, and he/she will visit you to be sure everything is o.K.. They also provide translators if necessary. The Embassy health unit also provides routine immunizations and health education, and they act as our Public Health office by making sure our drinking water and Embassy dinning facilities are tested and safe.

If you are admitted to a hospital overseas, the State Department will pay for any costs above what your insurance will not cover.

MOVING (called PCS – Permanent Change of Station)

Like the military, all official travel is paid for, for both members and family. If we travel over 14 hours we are entitled to an overnight rest stop in any city along the way. For example, I had to fly from Washington to Pakistan, which could have been done with just two flights and a 4-hour layover in Dubai. But since the total travel time was over 14 hours, I choose to fly through London and spend the night there – free. We are reimbursed for lodging, meals and other official costs. This includes excess baggage fees, and a per-mile allotment when driving our own car. When we PCS overseas we also receive either $500 (single) or $1000 (family) to help with miscellaneous out-of-pocket expenses – no receipts needed. However, if we wish, we can itemize receipts that show a much higher cost, and get reimbursed to a higher amount. This includes pet shipments – which can cost well over a $1,000.

ASSIGNMENTS

We are given a “dreamlist” of available assignments from which we select 15 assignments that we would like. Then we rank order them by preference, and write a narrative as to why we choose one over the other, for example why one assignment would benefit our family or why others would hurt. The State Department places a lot of care in keeping your family happy.

For your very first two (2) assignments, the State Department selects your posts after reading over your narratives and doing an interview. The Embassies have no say in it. After those first two “directed” assignments, the selection becomes very competitive. You are still given a list of openings, which can number well over 20. Some require you to attend language school in DC, some may require additional training in other skills. Some are to dangerous or hardship posts where you’ll earn extra pay. Some offer free vacation trips (R&R). You review each possible assignment, research the living conditions and then contact the top 3 or 4 embassies that you wish to move to. You send a resume, just like in the civilian world, and your new boss chooses you. This is where networking makes all the difference in the world.

They may contact your current supervisor, and interview you on the phone. If selected, you stand a good chance of getting that assignment. However, the State Department also reviews your file to see if there is some reason you can’t go there. Also, there may be a chance that someone departing a very dangerous post (like Iraq or Afghanistan) is given that assignment as a reward. Other that that, you should be able to get the assignment. If your #1 choice falls through, the selection process moves to your second choice and so on. We’ve been able to get every one of our #1 choices which were Vienna, Austria; Warsaw, Poland, Pretoria, South Africa, Suva Fiji, and Islamabad, Pakistan. I was given my next #1 choice of Quito Ecuador (see list on right), but well before I left for that assignment the incumbent extended her tour there and I had to either wait 6 months, or take another assignment. I decided to take a different one, and got that first choice too – Singapore!

Can you end up with an assignment you didn’t want? Yes. This happens more often when your performance or people skills are poor, or you didn’t network. If you get one of those assignments you can take the assignment, leave the Foreign Service, or with special circumstances you may get offered another option. If you decide to back out of an assignment you may have to reimburse the Government if you have accrued a debt. An example is you agree to take 6 months of training to go to a specific country and then decide to not take the assignment. Or you wait until you arrive at a post, in which the Government has spent thousands of dollars moving your household effects. In those cases you can still get out, but you will owe money to Uncle Sam.

Assignments are from 1 to 3 years in length. Not longer. The one-year assignments are for dangerous places like Baghdad and Afghanistan. The two-year ones are for entry-level employees (those not yet tenured), or to places with a great deal of hardship. Everyone else gets a three-year assignment. However, you can also request to leave an assignment early (curtailment) for just cause. This can be personal reasons (for just cause), medical (almost always granted) or to suite the State Department.

While the military has a few posts on every continent, the State Department has over 260 located in almost every capitol city and more. Examples include Wellington New Zealand, Paris France, Geneva Switzerland, Montréal Canada, Buenos Ares, Argentina, Suva Fiji and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Many countries have more than one post. South Africa has 4 (Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban). The choices we find on the assignment list cover the world, and getting the list is usually an exciting event!

EMBASSY FUNCTIONS AND DIPLOMATIC LIFE

The Foreign Service loves to socialize. We have parties and social gatherings often. We represent America, and therefore it is expected that we will entertain foreign guests in our homes or at other venues. We are often invited to the Ambassador or Deputy Chief of Mission’s home when he/she has cocktails, dinners or other receptions. It’s a great way to mingle with celebrities and/or political figures.

We are encouraged to visit schools and events within the host country and represent America. These are sometimes paid TDYs and they offer the chance to see more of the country, while being treated like royalty. My wife was given the red carpet treatment in a small Polish village by its Mayor when she gave a short speech to a Polish high school. She showcased how to get scholarships to attend American universities, and what the Embassy can do to held.

In South Africa, I was invited to spend the night at the largest astronomical observatory in the Southern Hemisphere, alongside professional astronomers exploring the universe. This was not a tour offered to the general public, and as an amateur astronomer I was thrilled! Together, my wife and I have helped charities, orphanages, and schools, such as this pre-school in South Africa:

Much of the world is thrilled to have an American Diplomat showing an interest in their work, schools and communities – and it does not matter what your line of work is. Regardless of what your actual job is, this gives you a chance to do real diplomacy. It’s a lot of fun.

The Foreign Service is a fantastic, satisfying career. The ability to once again travel the world again, get excellent housing, wonderful schools for the kids, experience new foods and cultures, and have the job security of a Federal Job makes the perfect second career for any military member!

If you have  questions about the Foreign Service  please join the FORUMS.  We will do our best to answer them as soon as possible.

(Disclaimer:  this website is for personal use only, and is in no way connected to, or approved by the U.S Government or the Department of State.  The information presented below is based on my own experiences and in no way represents the views or opinions of the U.S. Foreign Service.  The material presented here can change without notice and is not intended to be the most accurate or current details of the U.S. Foreign Service, or the U.S. Department of State.)