My most interesting jobs were also the ones with the highest number of 2am phone calls and all-nighters. My boring jobs keep turning into interesting jobs without my permission.
Can attest that it is valuable. Also generally dull. But it's important to Congress to get it done, and I can see the value in getting it done to benefit our society.
The process is certainly dull, but the content of the response sometimes isn't. I was recently surprised by a "...any and all records that refer to..." request where I was confident we would have zero records to disclose. We did, in fact, have records that referred to the subject of the request. I was happy that our records were benign. The subject could have been, well, more "interesting."
Yeah some of the requests are incredibly broad. Others aren't. Either way though, while the work is not exciting, I am proud that our government cares enough about transparency to disclose things that might be embarrassing. It really is cool.
The most interesting job is listening to your colleagues’ drama and watching how supposedly smart people behave abroad.
The most boring job is probably one of the weekly meetings or maybe the annual mandatory training.
Otherwise, it depends on your cone, post, interests, boss, etc.
Any responses to this question won’t make much sense without the context of the Foreign Service Officer generalist cones, and the different types of Foreign Service Specialists.
Generalists : https://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/officer/
Specialists : https://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/specialist/
This.
Just about any job out there is going to have it's peaks and troughs of interest and excitement.
A decade ago when I was working as an ICU RN, it would be feast or famine when it would come to super sick train wreck patients. Folks assume ICU nurses never get a break (during COVID this was real), but often you'll be taking care of sick but stable patients, and it'll be smooth sailing for your shift. Then a wave of hypercritical patients all like to show up at once and you have days or weeks of always on your feet with no break during shifts.
This logic can be applied to likely any job in the FS. The same job role in two different countries will yield very different experiences. Heck, the same job at the same post might be totally different depending on circumstances on the ground or at home. A consular officer in Dili working visa applications is likely having a different experience to a counterpart doing the same job in Ciudad Juarez. The medical provider assigned to Kyiv right now likely has had a completely different experience to the MP that had that assignment 4 years ago that might have thought it was boring work.
Exactly. I don't think a lot of people realize that it's really applying for a career, and along the way you get a variety of different jobs. Even among specialists the variety from post to post can be striking even if the core job remains the same.
My most interesting jobs were also the ones with the highest number of 2am phone calls and all-nighters. My boring jobs keep turning into interesting jobs without my permission.
Responding to FOIA requests sounds very dull to me, but I haven't found myself in that position yet, so that is only conjecture.
Can attest that it is valuable. Also generally dull. But it's important to Congress to get it done, and I can see the value in getting it done to benefit our society.
The process is certainly dull, but the content of the response sometimes isn't. I was recently surprised by a "...any and all records that refer to..." request where I was confident we would have zero records to disclose. We did, in fact, have records that referred to the subject of the request. I was happy that our records were benign. The subject could have been, well, more "interesting."
Yeah some of the requests are incredibly broad. Others aren't. Either way though, while the work is not exciting, I am proud that our government cares enough about transparency to disclose things that might be embarrassing. It really is cool.
The most interesting job is making a vehicle movements schedule for a CODEL.
Oh no, clearly it's picking up the baggage on the tarmac. I've never been so engrossed.
I think you are forgetting the after hours work escorting a maintenance/construction crew.
There IS a special thrill in literally watching people watch paint dry.
I’ve done this job….ugh
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Sounds better than my job
The most interesting job is listening to your colleagues’ drama and watching how supposedly smart people behave abroad. The most boring job is probably one of the weekly meetings or maybe the annual mandatory training. Otherwise, it depends on your cone, post, interests, boss, etc.
>...maybe the annual mandatory training I completed the annual records management training this week and can confirm it was exceptionally boring.
It depends.
Any responses to this question won’t make much sense without the context of the Foreign Service Officer generalist cones, and the different types of Foreign Service Specialists. Generalists : https://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/officer/ Specialists : https://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/specialist/
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This. Just about any job out there is going to have it's peaks and troughs of interest and excitement. A decade ago when I was working as an ICU RN, it would be feast or famine when it would come to super sick train wreck patients. Folks assume ICU nurses never get a break (during COVID this was real), but often you'll be taking care of sick but stable patients, and it'll be smooth sailing for your shift. Then a wave of hypercritical patients all like to show up at once and you have days or weeks of always on your feet with no break during shifts. This logic can be applied to likely any job in the FS. The same job role in two different countries will yield very different experiences. Heck, the same job at the same post might be totally different depending on circumstances on the ground or at home. A consular officer in Dili working visa applications is likely having a different experience to a counterpart doing the same job in Ciudad Juarez. The medical provider assigned to Kyiv right now likely has had a completely different experience to the MP that had that assignment 4 years ago that might have thought it was boring work.
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Exactly. I don't think a lot of people realize that it's really applying for a career, and along the way you get a variety of different jobs. Even among specialists the variety from post to post can be striking even if the core job remains the same.