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Business of Ferrets posted:Reason # 3,422 that I will never serve in AF Bureau. . . . Never say never, you are have to be open to be sent anywhere in this career because they will.
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Jul 8, 2011 22:29
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Bizob posted:I'm probably going to decline (MY WIFE and infant daughter aren't really into the foreign service) but now I have objective proof that I am better than almost everyone. Sorry to hear that! The foreign service has so many amazing spouses and families. If you don't mind me asking, is it the living abroad she isn't fond of? If she hasn't already, I suggest her reading blogs like Email from an Embassy (wife of an FSO and mother of 4) they are on their 4 or 5 post now. It is great incite how life is and how excited and welcoming the entire community is. Blogs of FSO's and spouse orientation day is what really helped me get excited about our new life.
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Dec 10, 2011 05:20
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TCD posted:As one of the incentives for serving in a hardship post, I thought there was a program to have the Dept cover a certain amount for repayment. There is.
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Dec 10, 2011 22:52
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what my husband forgot to mention about this week was that also our house alarm went off Thursday night because of a disarmed smoke detector that took about an hour or so to get it off. A water pipe in the city broke so now we have water deliveries almost every day to the house and our water distiller broke leaving a lot of our kitchen floor in a pool of water to come home to. What a week! Thank god the past two nights we have been getting rain though, Ethiopia needs it!
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Mar 31, 2012 16:51
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I highly advise not going month to month. As someone who worked in the property management before moving overseas for the FS, I highly advise taking the diplomatic clause route and not month to month option. I believe FSI can provide a sample writing of what this clause looks like, very similar to standard military clause. Any decent apartment community will add this clause for you. As well as, most communities actually add a premium for a month to month lease. So especially those who are not receiving per-diem this is not ideal at all. If anyone needs recommendations for complexes I used to work for a company in the DC area and know comunities through out, the Maryland border, DC, Pentagon/Crystal City, Roslyn, Alexandria, and other areas. Please feel to PM if you need assistance or have questions.
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May 11, 2012 17:25
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That is very sweet of you to be concerned about your roommate, however, what happens if you don't find someone to take over your portion of the lease? Plus that person is going to have to pass the application screening process as well. What I would do is get the Clause ASAP! and then have a nice sit down chat with your roommate. Explain your new job/lifestyle. That you have the clause now in their contract and you promise to do whatever you can in the short amount of time notice you will probably have to find someone else for the apartment. Honestly when my then fiance (now husband) and I did it. Though he is the diplomat and I am not, we were both let out of the lease.
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May 12, 2012 09:53
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Yeah Christchurch, NZ is a consular office and they are the ones that give the visas for Antartica, and is the jump off point. Someone in my DH's Trade Craft course got that post.
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Jun 17, 2012 20:01
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I would also like to add, don't have a spouse who is an rear end or high maintenance. Whether they work as an EFM or are staying, how they treat others who work at/for the Embassy (such as Facilities and Housing) will get around and it won't be appreciated  . Be realistic and discuss if your family will be able to live in a 3rd world country, where there is no standard of code on building, where there are limited supplies, where social life could be restricted etc. In our first post I have seen many families not ready for the reality of living in a 3rd world country. It is not only hard on yourself as the directed spouse but on those at the embassy that also have to work with them. Also be grateful that your housing is free and understand that housing boards do the best they can to place you, it all just depends on timing of your arrival and what is available. That is just my two cents as an EFM.
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Aug 14, 2012 12:18
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the_chavi posted:Very good points! I've seen too many people join because this is their Dream Job without actually considering the family/spouse ramifications. Sounds like you're married to a GSO or someone in FM. ;-) I just happen to work in an EFM position in FM and I work closely with Housing in GSO. Skandiaavity posted:
I can definitely do that. If your spouse is interested in working, try to get the CLOs information at your post and ask them about forwarding you EFM positions that get sent out. Also ask them to forward the embassy news letter if they don't automatically do so. This will help you learn about post, available staff for hire, etc. Have your spouse take advantage of any CLO events As for EFM and children adjustment. During orientation Oakwood Falls Church is great for families and there is always many many children around in every age level. It is not a glamorous place but I know people loved the community feeling and amenities. I believe the shuttles are very good at being on schedule. Definitely take use of the metro! There is so much free stuff for your family to enjoy in DC, take advantage! As for going to post, definitely keep your spouse informed about what is going on, take them to the career developers officer meeting to discuss your priorities and wish list for bidding. Be realistic and pray that you have a CDO that listens. Get your families medical clearance taken care of as soon as possible. One the best things for me, when going into the foreign service was spousal orientation day and going to the post information library to read about the posts on our bid list. This really helped me get a clear idea about places I dreamt about and others I never fathomed haha. I think most people and their families going into the foreign service have some form of Travel lust, but remember that if your wife or husband is set on Paris (any other glorified 1st world country you desire), they might have to through Abuja, a separated middle eastern tour, and who knows what else before that comes on the radar. Please remember that your preference sheet for housing that you will be given from post, is exactly that, your preferences. The housing board does its best to meet these depending on your timing and what is available in the pool. We are all lucky to be give FREE housing. To sum it all up, this job/lifestyle and each Post is like anything what you make it. You can have a great post or you can have a terrible post. It all depends on attitude.
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Sep 7, 2012 15:43
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Unfortunately from a news article I read which they talked to youtube about pulling the video. They said it was their policy not to respond to a specific video and that they would not pull down a video that complies with site rules, even if it is flagged. Said rules are they allow videos with violence, as long as it it is not calling people to be violent. I have not seen the video but I guessing Youtube is stating that they feel though this video is not nice, it isn't calling for people to attack Islam physically. I am not positive on that.
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Sep 12, 2012 11:19
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TCD posted:Spousal employment is a pretty significant challenge for working professionals. There's a lot of spouses with advance degrees that aren't working or are in clerical jobs. We've been really fortunate having my wife land jobs in the Environment field (both in and out of the Embassy). However, both times took around 5 months to land the job with a fair amount of leg work trying to get one. Maybe I can help as an EFM. At our post there are many EFM positions and there are still more spouses wanting jobs than available. However, I have heard of posts where they have very few jobs (such as our next positing( for EFMs, or they have jobs but not many spouses applying. So it does really depend. However, a masters might get her a slightly higher pay scale among other EFMs but he/she must consider that A. you most likely will not be working in your field. It is very possible that you will work in HR, Housing, someones Admin assistant, or a security escort. B. Expect the pay to be much much lower than what he/she might get in DC working in the private sector. Think like a third to a half of what most likely be making. I myself am lucky, I got a job before I arrived to post, and luckily it was one that I have a background in, but I am currently making $15,000 less than I did in DC. This is something I am trying to work on with HR, and my boss supports it. So definitely don't be afraid to ask for higher paid grade as an EFM, though know that it is not guaranteed and it really depends on several factors, past work experience is factored very little, in my experience, and others I have spoken to. I also suggest contacting the CLO at your future embassy to get available EFM positions emailed to you. I hope this helps. Anyone is welcome to PM me regarding EFM questions. vulturesrow posted:I'm curious if any of you know of any FSO with a large number of dependents? Does this affect postings at all? I have a large family (5 kiddos) and I have to get a waiver to PCS to overseas locations due to the extra costs involved. Its usually not a big deal (they offered to send me to Japan) but at least draws notice. The whole issue is really the big hurdle for me in terms of whether it something I want to do or not. On the one hand I think it would be a great opportunity for them to live in other places but I'm not sure if it would be a little too much given the size of the family. Any insight you guys have would be most appreciated. Do not worry about family size. I work with Facilities at our post, and help coordinate make readies for all housing. I also help do inspections of new housing coming to our housing pool. We have currently about 3 families with 5 children, another family of 5 coming in March that we recently found several housing options for. We have one family with 5 children and two great danes. They luckily got a house across the street from the school. They will find housing to fit your family size. Please do keep in mind, with many posts you might be in temporary housing, such as hotel up to two months, especially if it is a new house to the housing pool. Please be patient with the housing department as negotiating leases and getting houses up to American standard of living takes time and effort on both the landlords and embassies side. Many posts do not own majority of the housing, it is leased locally. Please also factor as best you can your timing you arrive at post (this is important for all officers, not just families). Summer cycle is the biggest turn over, generally the sooner you arrive at the beginning of the summer cycle, the easier it is to supply housing for your family upon arrival, meaning moving right in, rather than waiting for a house to become available (which happens at our post starting in late september). It also allows you to get your kids enrolled sooner at the school. Please be nice to your housing and facilities teams Diplomaticus posted:Ironically DHL just sent me a package intended to go to a person with a massively different name, in N'Djamena. Because, screwing things up is not limited to the pouch! I finally received a package two and half months late after the pouch sent my packaged correctly addressed for Addis to Taipei. Luckily it was not urgent.
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Jan 18, 2013 21:43
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