Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Bye Bye Bashie on Mashie!
We have had THE best neighbors we could have EVER asked for while here in Colorado. On Saturday, they threw us one of their renowned parties (one last time)! We had SUCH a blast! We will miss everyone here SO much and this will ALWAYS be THE neighborhood to top ALL neighborhoods. We love you guys and will be back to visit before you know it! Wink, wink . . . more bashies on Mashie! 
Friday, August 16, 2013
Why USAID For Us?
So sorry I haven’t posted in a while, things have been a little busy getting ready for the move. So, here’s a warning, this will be a little longer post than usual, to make up for some lost time.
The two main agencies with Foreign Service are the State Department and the USAID (US Agency for International Development). I’m a proud member of the USAID with the functional role (backstop) of Financial Management Officer (a.k.a. the controller/accountant). This is the U.S. federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. USAID provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States and operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. When crisis strikes, rights are repressed; hunger, disease and poverty rob people of opportunity; the agency acts on behalf of the American people to help expand the reach of prosperity and dignity to the world's most vulnerable. Some examples include:
• Investing in agricultural productivity so countries can feed their people
• Combating maternal and child mortality and deadly diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis
• Providing life-saving assistance in the wake of disaster
• Promoting democracy, human rights and good governance around the world
• Fostering private sector development and sustainable economic growth
• Helping communities adapt to a changing environment
• Elevating the role of women and girls throughout all our work
I believe my interest for world humanitarian efforts really began a long time ago, when I had the pleasure of working in Puerto Rico and traveling to many of their Medicaid clinics throughout the island. It was the first time I realized how happy and fulfilled people where, even though they didn’t have much (remember though, Puerto Rico is not even a third world country, but rather a U.S. territory). The mothers would sit all day in these clinics, just for the chance for their children to be seen by the doctors. And they were so polite and appreciative.
A few years later, Rob and I were married in the third world country of Belize, and as we drove through the crumbling poverty stricken villages, again I observed how joyous and simple life can be without “things.” We observed children laughing and enjoying playing ball in the street, with no gloves and a hand carved bat made from what looked like a tree limb. How could they be having so much fun without real baseball gloves and bats? This type of lesson could rarely be learned, other than by exposure to other cultures, in different socioeconomic areas of the world. There is no classroom, not even the Ivy League, where this lesson could be learned, and we knew it was something we would want to share with our kids one day.
We came home from Belize with a desire to go back or help in other third world nations one day. We knew that although Belize was considered third world, it was actually better off than many other developing nations in the world (Rob had traveled to India for work and explained conditions there were probably ten times worse). But, I could barely comprehend it, as it was the worse conditions I had ever seen. I had asked Rob one day when we were in Belize, why all the kids were hanging out in the middle of the streets (they literally had to sometimes clear the way for us to drive through). He asked me, what are they going to do, hang out in their houses and watch TV? And then he pointed to a typical house, which looked much like what many Americans would call a shed (although my guess is sheds these days are actually nicer and larger than what they were living in and sheds most likely don’t have dirt floors). Oh my gosh, if that’s not an eye opener for a typical American, I don’t know what is! How many American kids do you think could survive life these days without TV, without video games, without a floor, without “things”? But again, let’s not forget, these kids were as happy as can be, which is what really intensified our desire to go back and help make sure they (and other kids just like them) had their basic needs met.
Although we had this desire for mission work, it was really put on hold until we had kids, and then we always knew we would go back to it, some way, somehow. In the later part of 2011, Rob started having concerns that his company might have to do some layoffs (the economy was not so good) and we lived in sort of the middle of the dessert (middle of nowhere, but stunningly beautiful) Arizona (sorry Havasu, but how else do I describe it?), with not many jobs in his field (IT/Program Management), so we began once again thinking out of the box, about maybe moving abroad and then somehow Rob (being a U.S. civil servant with the Navy in his past) thought hummm . . .I wonder how you get a job as an Ambassador, which led us to the discovery of the entire foreign service concept. Soon, we were following blogs of FSOs, which led us to discover USAID and we knew right away, that it would be a perfect fit for our passions, to help in these countries, while at the same time teach our kidos these invaluable lessons, that just can’t be taught in a classroom setting. And the rest is history . . . my personal application timeline looked like this . . . .
Applied January 2012
Oral Assessment September 11, 2012 (yes when the Benghazi attack happened)
Appointment as an FSO August 2013
Our entire family is just so excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to get started! Thank goodness, (to quote a great friend of mine) “our boys take after our adventurous side” and they ask about when we’re moving to D.C. every day! RJ has already asked when he will get the opportunity to learn a new language!
First stop for this new FSO family is D.C. for orientation, then on the job training, followed by (if needed) language training. We will be leaving Colorado next Sunday and it will be very bittersweet (we love, love, love it here). We found a terrific house in the suburb of Annandale, Virginia, not far from the boy’s school. They will feel at home again this year in the Montessori environment. When we go abroad, they will attend American International Schools.
Many folks have asked when we will know what country we’ll be assigned. In a future post, I’ll outline the details of the USAID bidding process, but basically, new hires are expected to be assigned their post sometime in April.
Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
The two main agencies with Foreign Service are the State Department and the USAID (US Agency for International Development). I’m a proud member of the USAID with the functional role (backstop) of Financial Management Officer (a.k.a. the controller/accountant). This is the U.S. federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. USAID provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States and operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. When crisis strikes, rights are repressed; hunger, disease and poverty rob people of opportunity; the agency acts on behalf of the American people to help expand the reach of prosperity and dignity to the world's most vulnerable. Some examples include:
• Investing in agricultural productivity so countries can feed their people
• Combating maternal and child mortality and deadly diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis
• Providing life-saving assistance in the wake of disaster
• Promoting democracy, human rights and good governance around the world
• Fostering private sector development and sustainable economic growth
• Helping communities adapt to a changing environment
• Elevating the role of women and girls throughout all our work
I believe my interest for world humanitarian efforts really began a long time ago, when I had the pleasure of working in Puerto Rico and traveling to many of their Medicaid clinics throughout the island. It was the first time I realized how happy and fulfilled people where, even though they didn’t have much (remember though, Puerto Rico is not even a third world country, but rather a U.S. territory). The mothers would sit all day in these clinics, just for the chance for their children to be seen by the doctors. And they were so polite and appreciative.
A few years later, Rob and I were married in the third world country of Belize, and as we drove through the crumbling poverty stricken villages, again I observed how joyous and simple life can be without “things.” We observed children laughing and enjoying playing ball in the street, with no gloves and a hand carved bat made from what looked like a tree limb. How could they be having so much fun without real baseball gloves and bats? This type of lesson could rarely be learned, other than by exposure to other cultures, in different socioeconomic areas of the world. There is no classroom, not even the Ivy League, where this lesson could be learned, and we knew it was something we would want to share with our kids one day.
We came home from Belize with a desire to go back or help in other third world nations one day. We knew that although Belize was considered third world, it was actually better off than many other developing nations in the world (Rob had traveled to India for work and explained conditions there were probably ten times worse). But, I could barely comprehend it, as it was the worse conditions I had ever seen. I had asked Rob one day when we were in Belize, why all the kids were hanging out in the middle of the streets (they literally had to sometimes clear the way for us to drive through). He asked me, what are they going to do, hang out in their houses and watch TV? And then he pointed to a typical house, which looked much like what many Americans would call a shed (although my guess is sheds these days are actually nicer and larger than what they were living in and sheds most likely don’t have dirt floors). Oh my gosh, if that’s not an eye opener for a typical American, I don’t know what is! How many American kids do you think could survive life these days without TV, without video games, without a floor, without “things”? But again, let’s not forget, these kids were as happy as can be, which is what really intensified our desire to go back and help make sure they (and other kids just like them) had their basic needs met.
Although we had this desire for mission work, it was really put on hold until we had kids, and then we always knew we would go back to it, some way, somehow. In the later part of 2011, Rob started having concerns that his company might have to do some layoffs (the economy was not so good) and we lived in sort of the middle of the dessert (middle of nowhere, but stunningly beautiful) Arizona (sorry Havasu, but how else do I describe it?), with not many jobs in his field (IT/Program Management), so we began once again thinking out of the box, about maybe moving abroad and then somehow Rob (being a U.S. civil servant with the Navy in his past) thought hummm . . .I wonder how you get a job as an Ambassador, which led us to the discovery of the entire foreign service concept. Soon, we were following blogs of FSOs, which led us to discover USAID and we knew right away, that it would be a perfect fit for our passions, to help in these countries, while at the same time teach our kidos these invaluable lessons, that just can’t be taught in a classroom setting. And the rest is history . . . my personal application timeline looked like this . . . .
Applied January 2012
Oral Assessment September 11, 2012 (yes when the Benghazi attack happened)
Appointment as an FSO August 2013
Our entire family is just so excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to get started! Thank goodness, (to quote a great friend of mine) “our boys take after our adventurous side” and they ask about when we’re moving to D.C. every day! RJ has already asked when he will get the opportunity to learn a new language!
First stop for this new FSO family is D.C. for orientation, then on the job training, followed by (if needed) language training. We will be leaving Colorado next Sunday and it will be very bittersweet (we love, love, love it here). We found a terrific house in the suburb of Annandale, Virginia, not far from the boy’s school. They will feel at home again this year in the Montessori environment. When we go abroad, they will attend American International Schools.
Many folks have asked when we will know what country we’ll be assigned. In a future post, I’ll outline the details of the USAID bidding process, but basically, new hires are expected to be assigned their post sometime in April.
Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Friday, August 9, 2013
Foreign Service Hiring Process
USAID uses the Foreign Service classification system. The USAID Foreign Service Officers are not required to take the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT), but after that the process is somewhat similar to the State Department.
For me it all began on the usajobs.gov website, which is filled with all sorts of information about the Foreign Service, the different positions and the current open position. You can apply for an open position, it requires you write multiple answers to questions on experience related to several skills.
If you are selected, somebody will contact you and invite you for an interview in Washington DC (I did this on September 11, 2012 - almost 1 year ago). There are three components of the interview when you get there - a Case Study (this requires you writing a memo in response to a case situation relevant to the position), a Group Exercise (this one can be a little awkward, as you are required to develop a solution to the case study with the candidates you are competing against) and a Structured Interview with a panel made up of a Human Resource person, a Foreign Service Officer, and a Technical expert. After the Oral Assessment Interview I went home and waited for almost a month to receive a response on whether I was accepted. They followed up with references provided and the package of your scoring from the interview, your experience, and your reference responses will be forwarded to a final panel for determination.
Security/Medical Clearance Process
The successful candidates will begin a pre-employment process. You need to obtain a Top Secret Security Clearance and Medical Clearance. Expect the process to take several months.
Final Suitability Review/Position Availability
Once these hurdles are cleared, you will be on the register or list of eligible candidates. Cleared candidates are grouped by their backstop and then often rank-ordered. A panel then reviews the eligible candidates and makes a selection on those to appoint.
Here is a link to a forum where people discuss the USAID Foreign Service:
http://federalsoup.federaldaily.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4834&PN=1&title=usaid-junior-officer
The State Department hiring process is fairly similar. The main exception is the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) as the first step to the process. After passing the OA, the process is the same as USAID.
The process is explained on their Website: http://careers.state.gov/officer/selection-process
State Department's positions are more general. State has 5 main career ladders or "cones". Every cone though will have to do a tour or two doing Consular work which means issuing visas for foreigners or assisting Americans abroad.
FSOT & Language Test While filling in your basic information in the application, you will also have the opportunity to indicate whether you have any language capabilities. After completing the application, you have to select a test date to take the FSOT.
After taking the test, if you indicated you had a language skill, you may be requested to do an over the phone language test as you will receive bonus points to your score in the end if you pass the OA.
Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP) If you pass the FSOT, you will be invited to the QEP stage. There will be questions on experience and you will have to provide a short answer response on that. After providing your response to these questions, your file will be sent to the Board of Examiners and they will categorize you based off your selected cone and review candidate profiles based off their QEP responses, their FSOT score, language proficiency, etc. This will take another month or two.
Oral Assessment (OA) There are three components: the Group Exercise, Case Study, and Structured Interview. After the day of testing is complete, State provides immediate feedback of whether you will move on or not. Candidates will be placed in a room and called out. If you are not successful, you will be greeted by two of the examiners and be given a file with your results for the day and be given the chance to ask any questions.
If you are successful, then you will begin the clearance process and eventually be placed on a register for eligible hires.
The process is explained on their Website: http://careers.state.gov/officer/selection-process
State Department's positions are more general. State has 5 main career ladders or "cones". Every cone though will have to do a tour or two doing Consular work which means issuing visas for foreigners or assisting Americans abroad.
FSOT & Language Test While filling in your basic information in the application, you will also have the opportunity to indicate whether you have any language capabilities. After completing the application, you have to select a test date to take the FSOT.
After taking the test, if you indicated you had a language skill, you may be requested to do an over the phone language test as you will receive bonus points to your score in the end if you pass the OA.
Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP) If you pass the FSOT, you will be invited to the QEP stage. There will be questions on experience and you will have to provide a short answer response on that. After providing your response to these questions, your file will be sent to the Board of Examiners and they will categorize you based off your selected cone and review candidate profiles based off their QEP responses, their FSOT score, language proficiency, etc. This will take another month or two.
Oral Assessment (OA) There are three components: the Group Exercise, Case Study, and Structured Interview. After the day of testing is complete, State provides immediate feedback of whether you will move on or not. Candidates will be placed in a room and called out. If you are not successful, you will be greeted by two of the examiners and be given a file with your results for the day and be given the chance to ask any questions.
If you are successful, then you will begin the clearance process and eventually be placed on a register for eligible hires.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Foreign Service, What the Heck is That?
According to Wikipedia, A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. As Diplomats, Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic missions, though some receive assignments to combatant command, Congress, and educational institutions such as the various U.S. War Colleges.
FSOs of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Broadcasting Board of Governors are selected through processes specific to the hiring agency, and follow career tracks separate from those of State Department FSOs. For example, within USAID, there are multiple technical "backstops" including:
Agriculture
Contracting
Crisis Stabilization and Governance
Economic Growth
Engineering
Environment
Executive
Financial Management
Legal
Population, Health and Nutrition
Private Enterprise
Program/Project Development
Most leadership roles at U.S. embassies are filled from the ranks of career FSOs. Normally, about two-thirds of U.S. Ambassadors are career Foreign Service Officers primarily drawn from the Department of State, although all five foreign affairs agencies have produced Ambassadors from time to time. Almost all of the remaining third are political appointees, though a handful of State Department Senior Executive Service personnel have received Ambassadorships. FSOs also fill critical management and foreign policy positions at the headquarters of foreign affairs agencies in Washington, D.C.
FSOs of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Broadcasting Board of Governors are selected through processes specific to the hiring agency, and follow career tracks separate from those of State Department FSOs. For example, within USAID, there are multiple technical "backstops" including:
Agriculture
Contracting
Crisis Stabilization and Governance
Economic Growth
Engineering
Environment
Executive
Financial Management
Legal
Population, Health and Nutrition
Private Enterprise
Program/Project Development
Most leadership roles at U.S. embassies are filled from the ranks of career FSOs. Normally, about two-thirds of U.S. Ambassadors are career Foreign Service Officers primarily drawn from the Department of State, although all five foreign affairs agencies have produced Ambassadors from time to time. Almost all of the remaining third are political appointees, though a handful of State Department Senior Executive Service personnel have received Ambassadorships. FSOs also fill critical management and foreign policy positions at the headquarters of foreign affairs agencies in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Why the new blog?
Yippeee! Yesterday our family accepted an appointment to join the U.S. Foreign Service and the worldwide diplomatic community. I’m becoming a career diplomat, Foreign Service Officer and our family will 1st move to the D.C. area for training (for about a year or more) and then to different posts (embassies) throughout the world. We love, love, love the Denver area and have lived a lot of great places (yes we’re already gypsies!) and have met so many amazing friends and family (a.k.a. the neighbors of Mashie Circle and the Life Group of Calvary Baptist), so it will be difficult to leave the comforts of our suburban home and lifestyle for an “Address Unknown.” Follow the blog (subscribe to the posts by entering your e-mail on the right), strap on your seat belts, sit back and enjoy an adventure around the world with us. It’s bound to have lots of ups and downs, interesting times, trying times, scary times, happy times, dangerous times, and other times we can’t even fathom; but you’ll see, it’s all for a terrific cause of service to man and country. It’ll be a physical as well as spiritual journey and we can’t wait to get started with you! After all, let’s not forget, the quote by Roman author Pliny the Elder “Home is where your heart is!”
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