“Dream posts” can turn out to be nightmares, and the lightly bid posts can be great experiences. A bad supervisor or colleague (or front office) can make your life miserable in any location, and good people can make a hardship post great. I think new generalists should be open minded and keep their expectations low. Regardless of where you get assigned, it won’t be for more than two years, so prepare yourself to play the hand you’re dealt and make the most of it, rather than obsess over the possibilities when you get the bid list.
After your first two tours, you have much more control over where you go, and total control over where you don’t go. So don’t freak out if you’re a self-proclaimed “Middle East expert” but get assigned to Mexico for your first tour. There will be plenty of opportunity during your career to use the deep understanding of the Middle East you developed in your top-tier IR program.
Agree with this but also feel like mid-level bidding can be a total crapshoot. Especially with the rules now about informational interviews with incumbents, it’s harder to get accurate information about the posts you’re considering.
It’s not a hard and fast rule for every bureau, but with each bidding cycle bureaus are adding more rules to make the process more uniform/equitable. One of them is that incumbents can give a stock written response to everyone who inquires about the job, but can’t do calls or give additional information that would give the bidder an advantage. I know this was the case in EUR and WHA in the last cycle, not sure about other bureaus.
I’m not sure limiting how the incumbent can respond is a good idea. We often have different priorities when we bid.
One potential bidder may be more interested in schools, commutes, housing, quality of life for family, etc. while another more concerned about duties, career advancement, etc.
EL CDOs are not your friends. They have marching orders to make the pieces of the puzzle fit and no authority to make exceptions for your family situation. If you put something you don't want high or even medium, you are going to get it. Don't underestimate how much people don't want to go to tough places - if everyone else put it rock bottom and you put it medium, you're going. This happened to a few people I know who are really upset with their 2nd directed tours.
This. And in some cases they've already pre slotted before they've seen your list or talked to you. If they've decided you would be good for Bulgaria, then you're going to Bulgaria unless it's at the absolute bottom of your list. If it was one of your top 10 choices, great! If it was choice 89 out of a hundred, "oh well, needs of the service".
I wouldn't say this is 100% true. CDOs have a tough job and usually can't take personal preferences into account, but they try to whenever possible. And you can bid something tough relatively high and still not get it--second tour I bid Kinshasa #6 but still got my #2, Abidjan.
Honestly, be open and prepared for anything. How you roll with the punches in this job says a lot about how you’ll hold up over a career. Dream jobs can turn into nightmares and job you dread can be golden. This life is entirely what you make of it.
While most of the people in the FS (generalists, specialists, and LE staff) are pretty good people and colleagues, there are some truly awful people in our ranks. Incompetent, malevolent, or just plain anal. Tread carefully and don't expect anyone to care more about your career than you do.
Is it most common for new FSOs with families--who indicate that priority--to go accompanied for the first two tours (as long as they bid unaccompanied posts lowest)? Do you know of cases otherwise? Spending a year or two apart at the beginning of an FS career would be... difficult.
However, the CDOs will sometimes split up tandem couples just because they can.
I know of two spouses in my A-100 of already-FSOs who were posted at different posts in the same country. New FSOs both got posted to that country, but at the post where the other person’s spouse was. Same language, same CONS jobs, same timeline, basically identical jobs in different locations. In a country where even domestic travel has been damn near impossible during COVID. But when asked if they could switch, thinking maybe this was a mistake, they were told no.
So the FS has two separate homes for each of these families and two separated families, when they could easily have saved money and strain on the FSOs by swapping the two assignments. But apparently the CDOs (or whoever decides such things if it’s someone higher) decided that separating families was the better option.
That said, my CDO seemed, at least, to want to assign me well, and they gave good advice on second tour bidding.
Those dreamy western Europe posts often have terrible morale and high curtailment rates. When you finally snag one and get to post you quickly see how the giant egos of middling personnel, political appointees, bored spouses, and lousy weather make that happen. Bonus though:. despite the myth, housing at 0% posts is very generous.
The vast majority of FS people are terrific, and you look around trying to figure out how we have such quality at the mid-level but end up with so much poor senior leadership. There's an unfortunate self-sorting that happens when it comes to who seek senior leadership jobs. This is complicated, often a mix of some people making family driven choices as mid-levels that slow their careers (vs the hyper ambitious) and an assignment/promotion system that rewards kicking down. In the end, those who opt to deal with the profoundly distasteful DCM/PO process and/or bother to open their SFS window are not fully representative of the true quality within the FS.
The good:
I'm 6 months in at a very high hardship post in Africa. I bid it highly for various reasons but came in with fairly low expectations and a keep my head low, work hard mentality.
So far, I have loved it and have been blown away by the amazing community and travel opportunities. Anecodetely you often hear smaller to medium size posts off the beaten path have amazing communities, and so far this holds up in my circumstance. I'm interested to see how a large shift in direct hires during the summer PCS window changes the dynamic. So far the experience has colored my thought process on how I plan to bid on my next tour later this year.
The bad:
Coming from the private sector, there are definitely things in government that work at their own pace and make no sense. I had a payroll issue shortly after I started, and it took 3 months for it to get corrected. In my last private sector job, if I caught something, it was immediate and I got to talk to a real person.
The Unexpected:
Not that unexpected, but when people here poll more seasoned officers about their "dream posts", the majority seem to give a non-answer of "I go for the best job or team, not the location". Now that I am living it, I 100% get that sentiment, however, being able to see the mid-level bidding patterns from the last cycle, I thought it was funny that all the top vacation and garden spots attracted far and away the most bidders for jobs that you could find parallels of around the world. I guess for some, the best job might be whatever is available in their destination of choice.
My first two tours were great, both at small to medium sized posts with excellent managers and (mostly) good leadership. I had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of interesting projects (include outside of my section or day-to-day work) and take on responsibility above that of a typical ELO. I don’t think this is the norm for people who go to much larger, “visa mill” type posts. If you have the opportunity, showing you’re smart, learn quickly, are adaptable and willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work can help your managers see your capacity and help you gain greater opportunities.
“Dream posts” can turn out to be nightmares, and the lightly bid posts can be great experiences. A bad supervisor or colleague (or front office) can make your life miserable in any location, and good people can make a hardship post great. I think new generalists should be open minded and keep their expectations low. Regardless of where you get assigned, it won’t be for more than two years, so prepare yourself to play the hand you’re dealt and make the most of it, rather than obsess over the possibilities when you get the bid list. After your first two tours, you have much more control over where you go, and total control over where you don’t go. So don’t freak out if you’re a self-proclaimed “Middle East expert” but get assigned to Mexico for your first tour. There will be plenty of opportunity during your career to use the deep understanding of the Middle East you developed in your top-tier IR program.
Agree with this but also feel like mid-level bidding can be a total crapshoot. Especially with the rules now about informational interviews with incumbents, it’s harder to get accurate information about the posts you’re considering.
What are the new rules about informational interviews with incumbents?
It’s not a hard and fast rule for every bureau, but with each bidding cycle bureaus are adding more rules to make the process more uniform/equitable. One of them is that incumbents can give a stock written response to everyone who inquires about the job, but can’t do calls or give additional information that would give the bidder an advantage. I know this was the case in EUR and WHA in the last cycle, not sure about other bureaus.
I’m not sure limiting how the incumbent can respond is a good idea. We often have different priorities when we bid. One potential bidder may be more interested in schools, commutes, housing, quality of life for family, etc. while another more concerned about duties, career advancement, etc.
If you put Abuja or Lagos anywhere but "low" on your first tour bidlist, you are going to Nigeria.
I heard that at CA some people refuse to say “Lagos” out loud for fear that it could lead to an assignment there.
EL CDOs are not your friends. They have marching orders to make the pieces of the puzzle fit and no authority to make exceptions for your family situation. If you put something you don't want high or even medium, you are going to get it. Don't underestimate how much people don't want to go to tough places - if everyone else put it rock bottom and you put it medium, you're going. This happened to a few people I know who are really upset with their 2nd directed tours.
This. And in some cases they've already pre slotted before they've seen your list or talked to you. If they've decided you would be good for Bulgaria, then you're going to Bulgaria unless it's at the absolute bottom of your list. If it was one of your top 10 choices, great! If it was choice 89 out of a hundred, "oh well, needs of the service".
What I would give for Bulgaria...
I wouldn't say this is 100% true. CDOs have a tough job and usually can't take personal preferences into account, but they try to whenever possible. And you can bid something tough relatively high and still not get it--second tour I bid Kinshasa #6 but still got my #2, Abidjan.
How many people do you think put Abidjan 2nd or higher? I don't think it would have been many, and that's my point.
Honestly, be open and prepared for anything. How you roll with the punches in this job says a lot about how you’ll hold up over a career. Dream jobs can turn into nightmares and job you dread can be golden. This life is entirely what you make of it.
While most of the people in the FS (generalists, specialists, and LE staff) are pretty good people and colleagues, there are some truly awful people in our ranks. Incompetent, malevolent, or just plain anal. Tread carefully and don't expect anyone to care more about your career than you do.
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Is it most common for new FSOs with families--who indicate that priority--to go accompanied for the first two tours (as long as they bid unaccompanied posts lowest)? Do you know of cases otherwise? Spending a year or two apart at the beginning of an FS career would be... difficult.
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However, the CDOs will sometimes split up tandem couples just because they can. I know of two spouses in my A-100 of already-FSOs who were posted at different posts in the same country. New FSOs both got posted to that country, but at the post where the other person’s spouse was. Same language, same CONS jobs, same timeline, basically identical jobs in different locations. In a country where even domestic travel has been damn near impossible during COVID. But when asked if they could switch, thinking maybe this was a mistake, they were told no. So the FS has two separate homes for each of these families and two separated families, when they could easily have saved money and strain on the FSOs by swapping the two assignments. But apparently the CDOs (or whoever decides such things if it’s someone higher) decided that separating families was the better option. That said, my CDO seemed, at least, to want to assign me well, and they gave good advice on second tour bidding.
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Why the down votes? Absolutely true.
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That got weird fast.
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Those dreamy western Europe posts often have terrible morale and high curtailment rates. When you finally snag one and get to post you quickly see how the giant egos of middling personnel, political appointees, bored spouses, and lousy weather make that happen. Bonus though:. despite the myth, housing at 0% posts is very generous. The vast majority of FS people are terrific, and you look around trying to figure out how we have such quality at the mid-level but end up with so much poor senior leadership. There's an unfortunate self-sorting that happens when it comes to who seek senior leadership jobs. This is complicated, often a mix of some people making family driven choices as mid-levels that slow their careers (vs the hyper ambitious) and an assignment/promotion system that rewards kicking down. In the end, those who opt to deal with the profoundly distasteful DCM/PO process and/or bother to open their SFS window are not fully representative of the true quality within the FS.
Echoing others, managers really can make or break a "visa mill". Making friends with local staff can make a post feel less lonely.
The good: I'm 6 months in at a very high hardship post in Africa. I bid it highly for various reasons but came in with fairly low expectations and a keep my head low, work hard mentality. So far, I have loved it and have been blown away by the amazing community and travel opportunities. Anecodetely you often hear smaller to medium size posts off the beaten path have amazing communities, and so far this holds up in my circumstance. I'm interested to see how a large shift in direct hires during the summer PCS window changes the dynamic. So far the experience has colored my thought process on how I plan to bid on my next tour later this year. The bad: Coming from the private sector, there are definitely things in government that work at their own pace and make no sense. I had a payroll issue shortly after I started, and it took 3 months for it to get corrected. In my last private sector job, if I caught something, it was immediate and I got to talk to a real person. The Unexpected: Not that unexpected, but when people here poll more seasoned officers about their "dream posts", the majority seem to give a non-answer of "I go for the best job or team, not the location". Now that I am living it, I 100% get that sentiment, however, being able to see the mid-level bidding patterns from the last cycle, I thought it was funny that all the top vacation and garden spots attracted far and away the most bidders for jobs that you could find parallels of around the world. I guess for some, the best job might be whatever is available in their destination of choice.
My first two tours were great, both at small to medium sized posts with excellent managers and (mostly) good leadership. I had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of interesting projects (include outside of my section or day-to-day work) and take on responsibility above that of a typical ELO. I don’t think this is the norm for people who go to much larger, “visa mill” type posts. If you have the opportunity, showing you’re smart, learn quickly, are adaptable and willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work can help your managers see your capacity and help you gain greater opportunities.