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Quick question: should I be worried that none of my references have been contacted when I submitted my QEP on Nov. 19th? Did State contact your references a couple of months after submission?
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Dec 10, 2015 21:43
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They won't contact anyone until after the OA. I'd expect QEP results to be soon though.
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Dec 10, 2015 23:25
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Nutrimentia posted:They won't contact anyone until after the OA. I'd expect QEP results to be soon though. You're talking about background check references. Plenty of people are contacted as QEP verifiers. But it isn't indicative if you pass or not. Nothing to worry about.
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Dec 11, 2015 00:28
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QuackAttackAggie posted:You're talking about background check references. Plenty of people are contacted as QEP verifiers. But it isn't indicative if you pass or not. Nothing to worry about. Oh, okay, thanks.
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Dec 11, 2015 22:46
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Well, looks like I spoke too soon... HR had to pull back my invitation to the January class today because apparently my clearance isn't done yet. I'm still not sure how the heck I managed to pass the final review board, get on the register, AND get an invite, without the clearance being done. The worst thing is in the time since I got the invite (back before Thanksgiving), I had already notified my work, booked an apartment, begun submitting all the on boarding paperwork I had received, etc.. I mean, there are no words. I've dealt with some pretty terrible HR departments in my nearly a decade of working for the federal government, but this is on another level. I don't even know what to do, all she told me is she hopes DS finishes before the invites for the next class in April come down, and now I get to spend an unknown amount of time at a job where everyone knows I'm leaving.... awesome.
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Dec 12, 2015 01:38
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That really, really sucks.
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Dec 13, 2015 03:05
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 As bad as HR can be, I think that is the worst HR story I've heard to date. So sorry that happened to you. I would be livid.
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Dec 13, 2015 04:50
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Oh no. Someone at HR should seriously be disciplined for that. And what about the Final Review Panel? How did they even let your case go forward to begin with? 
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Dec 13, 2015 07:08
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Tyro posted:
Yup
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Dec 13, 2015 12:30
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I would normally say that is absurd and absolutely unbelievable but knowing how horrendous HR intake is I'm not entirely surprised. I would be furious and demand some kind of explanation, as this is seriously negatively impacting your finances/life. I'm not sure what the rules are since you're not "in" yet but maybe you could reach out to AFSA for guidance on what can be done and look into potentially filing a Foreign Service Grievance Board complaint (https://www.fsgb.gov/) now or when you're in.
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Dec 13, 2015 16:06
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Unfortunately I doubt I have any kind of recourse here. The last thing I want to do is piss of the HR rep. At least now they're kind of indebted to me as they were the ones that screwed up, and have promised me that they will contact DS every week to follow up on my application. It was just a really terrible feeling getting that rug pulled out from under me on Friday, hopefully nobody else here has to go through that. The only silver lining here is that my wife is due to go into labor in the middle of March. Now I'll be free to take some paternity leave and spend time with her and the baby, which I would not have been able to do if I was at FSI in training... so there's that 
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Dec 13, 2015 17:31
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Hungry Hippo posted:Well, looks like I spoke too soon... HR intake can be pretty wacky sometimes. I am really really sorry. Hopefully you get into the next class and this will just be a crazy HR story you can keep in your back pocket.
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Dec 13, 2015 23:17
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Hungry Hippo posted:Unfortunately I doubt I have any kind of recourse here. The last thing I want to do is piss of the HR rep. At least now they're kind of indebted to me as they were the ones that screwed up, and have promised me that they will contact DS every week to follow up on my application. So bummed to hear this. Sorry, I know it must be super frustrating. I hope they square it away soon. Once again, be proactive. Follow up and keep your issue near the top of their list. They OWE you and they know it.
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Dec 14, 2015 01:58
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Yeah, jesus. Sorry to hear that. Maybe things at work will normalize eventually?
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Dec 14, 2015 03:51
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QuackAttackAggie posted:You're talking about background check references. Plenty of people are contacted as QEP verifiers. But it isn't indicative if you pass or not. Nothing to worry about. It was a few years ago now but no one was contacted prior to my OA either.
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Dec 14, 2015 11:59
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Nutrimentia posted:It was a few years ago now but no one was contacted prior to my OA either. It seems like a very small percentage have anybody called.
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Dec 14, 2015 23:33
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Hungry Hippo posted:Unfortunately I doubt I have any kind of recourse here. The last thing I want to do is piss of the HR rep. At least now they're kind of indebted to me as they were the ones that screwed up, and have promised me that they will contact DS every week to follow up on my application. by the by, most FSI teachers are cool with small amounts of paternity leave if it's urgent. maybe not during the initial A-100 period (there's some you can't and don't want to miss) but for the IMS area people were generally flexible. Your CDO may tell you that you can't miss a loving day (to include childbirth), but they're just doing their job.  It Depends, really.
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Dec 15, 2015 12:30
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Thanks for this thread and all the information. I have been following it for a few months now and decided to go ahead and register to take the test. Hardest part was deciding which track to choose from, so I just went for Political. Time to start listening to NPR again to help prep for the test!
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Dec 17, 2015 17:21
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Anyone have any direct experience or secondhand knowledge about working in INR?
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Dec 22, 2015 11:02
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Nutrimentia posted:Anyone have any direct experience or secondhand knowledge about working in INR? Any specific questions? I don't work in INR but have had a lot of interactions with it. If you can get a job in INR I would absolutely take it. One of the best regarded analytic sections within the intelligence community, and people tend to stay within INR a long time which is probably a good indicator of workplace morale. The main benefit of INR is that it is a really short path from the analyst to the principal. INR has far fewer layers of bureaucracy than the other major agencies, so the distance between you and an Assistant Secretary or Under Secretary is minimal.
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Dec 26, 2015 02:36
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Happydayz posted:Any specific questions? I don't work in INR but have had a lot of interactions with it. Concur with all of the above. There are few vacancies in the regional offices, and because it's one of the most desired IC slots there's exceptionally slow promotions up the GS scale. Based on experience of friends who've applied, it seems that it's almost impossible to get in the door without veterans preference...
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Dec 26, 2015 17:12
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I may have to give up this life eventually, but I'm sure I'll miss it. I love this job, my housing, weekend travel, all of it. But I do miss home.
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Jan 2, 2016 02:04
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QuackAttackAggie posted:I may have to give up this life eventually, but I'm sure I'll miss it. I love this job, my housing, weekend travel, all of it. But I do miss home. I've actually thought about staying on the Civil Service side of State and abandoning my Foreign Service candidacy for this very reason. I love my bureau, and I love my DASdom within my bureau. And I love the stability of knowing I will be in Washington instead of wondering if I'll be sent off to Turkmenistan in two years. What was the tipping point for you?
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Jan 2, 2016 13:22
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QuackAttackAggie posted:I may have to give up this life eventually, but I'm sure I'll miss it. I love this job, my housing, weekend travel, all of it. But I do miss home. 7 years in 30 something countries seen... I love this and I could easily do a career, my wife on the other hand...
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Jan 3, 2016 01:59
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zzonkmiles posted:I've actually thought about staying on the Civil Service side of State and abandoning my Foreign Service candidacy for this very reason. I love my bureau, and I love my DASdom within my bureau. And I love the stability of knowing I will be in Washington instead of wondering if I'll be sent off to Turkmenistan in two years. Yeah, this and my girlfriend are the biggest reasons why I'm considering Civil Service. But now she came back from a semester abroad in Vienna and says she loves it there. It's good for her field too. And so now I'm not quite sure what to do. I don't suppose you goons have any advice?
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Jan 3, 2016 08:29
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Artificer posted:Yeah, this and my girlfriend are the biggest reasons why I'm considering Civil Service. Will working in AF or Central Asia be okay for her career? What I'm getting at, is it's difficult to do an entire FS career in Western EUR.
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Jan 3, 2016 11:44
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TCD posted:Will working in AF or Central Asia be okay for her career? What I'm getting at, is it's difficult to do an entire FS career in Western EUR. Africa? Probably not. I suppose I should consider alternatives. Civil Service, again, appeals to me. Not sure where else I could go with my interests that would be good. FS and Civil Service seem right up my alley, hard as they are to find a position in. I hear politics related careers in EUR are also hard to get if you don't speak a word of German or French. 
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Jan 3, 2016 12:05
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zzonkmiles posted:I've actually thought about staying on the Civil Service side of State and abandoning my Foreign Service candidacy for this very reason. I love my bureau, and I love my DASdom within my bureau. And I love the stability of knowing I will be in Washington instead of wondering if I'll be sent off to Turkmenistan in two years. No tipping point yet. We're really happy now.
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Jan 3, 2016 16:49
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QuackAttackAggie posted:I may have to give up this life eventually, but I'm sure I'll miss it. I love this job, my housing, weekend travel, all of it. But I do miss home. The Hubs and I have established that, barring major illnesses or conditions that would prevent us from moving abroad with our hypothetical children, we'll stick with State until we're unhappy. I think it's time commitment for me at work and a lack of job opportunities above the clerical scale that would do it for us.
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Jan 3, 2016 23:19
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the_chavi posted:Concur with all of the above. There are few vacancies in the regional offices, and because it's one of the most desired IC slots there's exceptionally slow promotions up the GS scale. Based on experience of friends who've applied, it seems that it's almost impossible to get in the door without veterans preference... I expect to hear by the end of the week. I really do not want to do DC now simply to give my daughter more overseas life experience, but I'll take this if offered. Right now the only other option I'm looking at is Kuwait, and that just popped up this morning.
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Jan 4, 2016 05:34
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the_chavi posted:The Hubs and I have established that, barring major illnesses or conditions that would prevent us from moving abroad with our hypothetical children, we'll stick with State until we're unhappy. I think it's time commitment for me at work and a lack of job opportunities above the clerical scale that would do it for us. My wife and I are both military brats so moving around is in our blood. Also, we love State and the benefits are amazing (especially now that we have a brat of our own.) It's going to take something seriously traumatic or seriously awesome to make us leave. I definitely understand the life not working for people though; I feel very fortunate that I ended up in a relationship with someone that is cool with it all.
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Jan 4, 2016 05:44
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Bruxism posted:My wife and I are both military brats so moving around is in our blood. Also, we love State and the benefits are amazing (especially now that we have a brat of our own.) It's going to take something seriously traumatic or seriously awesome to make us leave. I definitely understand the life not working for people though; I feel very fortunate that I ended up in a relationship with someone that is cool with it all. Congrats on Bruxism jr!
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Jan 4, 2016 20:33
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TCD posted:Congrats on Bruxism jr! You should see the little thing. Clearances already pending with five IC agencies, plus FCS (inexplicably).
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Jan 5, 2016 00:28
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TCD posted:Congrats on Bruxism jr! Thanks! Months old and already applying for his dip book. Ha ha!
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Jan 5, 2016 02:25
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Accepted a handshake for DC today. Even though would have preferred to be overseas, this is my ideal DC gig and am mostly excited about it, save for the logistics of finding a place to live.
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Jan 7, 2016 11:35
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Congrats! I think you're really going to like it!
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Jan 8, 2016 12:14
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Looks like I didn't make it past QEP again. Thanks to everyone that helped me out in this thread, especially qwertyman. I guess I just have to try again in March (I took the FSOT in October) and hope for the best. I looked at my past posts in this thread, and it looks like I steadily get a 169 on the multiple choice, I think that it was me making GBS threads the bed on the essay that really sunk me this year. Gonna see if I can take an accelerated Arabic course to see if that will bump up my score and actually study for the FSOT for the next go around I think.
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Jan 8, 2016 15:44
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Shageletic posted:Looks like I didn't make it past QEP again. Thanks to everyone that helped me out in this thread, especially qwertyman. I guess I just have to try again in March (I took the FSOT in October) and hope for the best. Sorry to hear about the QEP blocking the way. If it's any consolation at all, hiring right now is apparently below attrition and the Consular Affairs section just let us all know that we will be understaffed in the entry level officer ranks indefinitely. I wish you had gotten through, because we could use folks like you! It gets difficult when you start seeing the same bad visa applicants for the third and even fourth time. Sometimes I wish we could just tell them not to try again for a while.
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Jan 8, 2016 17:26
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qwertyman posted:Sorry to hear about the QEP blocking the way. If it's any consolation at all, hiring right now is apparently below attrition and the Consular Affairs section just let us all know that we will be understaffed in the entry level officer ranks indefinitely. I wish you had gotten through, because we could use folks like you! Thanks I really appreciate it. I think I would be a good fit as well, just have to buckle down and ace this thing.
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Jan 8, 2016 18:18
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2011: Passed FSOT. Failed QEP. 2012: Passed FSOT. Failed QEP. 2013: Passed FSOT. Passed QEP. Failed OA. 2014: Passed FSOT. Passed QEP. Failed OA. 2015: Passed FSOT. Passed QEP. OA: ??? I'm very fortunate to get a third shot at the OA. I really need to be careful this time.
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Jan 8, 2016 22:00
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