|
Yorkshire Pudding posted:FSOT is tomorrow. Any last minute advice? humility is death e: Page 300 Intruder On the Compound The Mantis fucked around with this message at 13:35 on Oct 7, 2016 |
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 10:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 16:57 |
|
|
The Mantis posted:humility is death Won't be a problem. I'm like Alexander the Great if he had no pedigree or accomplishments.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 11:07
|
|
|
Yorkshire Pudding posted:Won't be a problem. I'm like Alexander the Great if he had no pedigree or accomplishments. You'll fit right in.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 12:25
|
|
|
Yorkshire Pudding posted:Won't be a problem. I'm like Alexander the Great if he had no pedigree or accomplishments. It bleeds over to EER seasons as well, where every officer is the second coming of Richard Holbrooke.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2016 23:18
|
|
|
I took the FSOT again today. Now I'm officially on the carousel twice. My OA score is probably good enough from my previous candidacy to get me all the way through, but it doesn't hurt to take it again. Nothing like seeing a test question, narrowing it down to two possible answers, choosing one, coming home and googling it, and finding that you chose the wrong answer. Oh well.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 00:03
|
|
|
zzonkmiles posted:I attended my first Flag Day for FSS yesterday. That was pretty incredible. I loved watching the reactions of the FSSs when their names were called and they went up to claim their flag and take a picture. You could clearly see who was happy with their assignment, who was forcing a smile, and who was miffed that their plum choice was assigned to someone else. Heh. I was one of the ones that got a flag  Wish I had known you were there and we could have introduced ourselves
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 00:11
|
|
|
sociablegoldfinch posted:I was one of the ones that got a flag Awwww too bad! I was sitting in the front row between a family whose OMS daughter was sent to India and a woman whose IMS husband was sent to Russia.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 00:41
|
|
|
So PearsonVUE forgot to tell my consulate I was taking this test, so they don't have it ready and I can't take it. I'm also only in this city until Sunday and spent about $700 on travel and accommodations because I live pretty far away from here. Dreams really do come true in the foreign service.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 05:28
|
|
|
Hope the consulate's in a cool city where you can have fun at least
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 06:04
|
|
|
Yorkshire Pudding posted:So PearsonVUE forgot to tell my consulate I was taking this test, so they don't have it ready and I can't take it. I'm also only in this city until Sunday and spent about $700 on travel and accommodations because I live pretty far away from here. That's loving bullshit. Sorry dude. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 06:05
|
|
|
Bloodnose posted:Hope the consulate's in a cool city where you can have fun at least It is, but there is a tiny chance I can take the test tomorrow if they can get all the authorizations for the test. So as much as I'd love to go out drinking tonight I'd kick myself if I got the call tomorrow morning and was hungover as gently caress.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 06:16
|
|
|
sociablegoldfinch posted:I was one of the ones that got a flag Aaaaand? Where?
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 09:45
|
|
|
Good luck if we have any goons in the generalist class with flag day today!
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 10:31
|
|
|
Update: PearsonVUE got my test rescheduled for tomorrow morning!...in a different consulate in a city 400 miles away.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 15:29
|
|
|
Yorkshire Pudding posted:Update: PearsonVUE got my test rescheduled for tomorrow morning!...in a different consulate in a city 400 miles away. ....how very helpful of them.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 15:36
|
|
|
Sometimes things work better than this in the Department, I promise. Sometimes.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 16:20
|
|
|
Hours on the phone has resolved the issue. I have now learned that neither PearsonVUE or the embassy is at fault and I will not be getting my money back.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2016 17:24
|
|
|
Yorkshire Pudding posted:Hours on the phone has resolved the issue. I have now learned that neither PearsonVUE or the embassy is at fault and I will not be getting my money back. I would recommend sending an email about your experience to FSOTquestions at state dot gov. Surely an accommodation can be made to allow you to sit for the February test without penalty. And in other news, I called DS for my monthly security clearance update. No progress. And it turns out that my score would have been good enough to get a January A-100 invite after all since they've given invites to candidates whose scores were lower than mine. It's like I'm this starving guy and I see a nice juicy turkey in front of me. I can smell it, but I can't taste it because it's behind a glass panel or something. Oh well. Looks like I'll just have to hope for March or July.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 02:07
|
|
|
zzonkmiles posted:I would recommend sending an email about your experience to FSOTquestions at state dot gov. Surely an accommodation can be made to allow you to sit for the February test without penalty. my computer died during the Feb round and i got to sit for the June no problem. Just need to document.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 07:12
|
|
|
zzonkmiles posted:I would recommend sending an email about your experience to FSOTquestions at state dot gov. Surely an accommodation can be made to allow you to sit for the February test without penalty. Both the State Department and PearsonVUE offered to "accommodate" me by scheduling me for the next round of tests, something I'm more than capable of doing myself, though whether or not the government or testing companies can hold up their end is now in doubt. The issue is that I spent about $700 on flights/travel/hotels to get here and now I have nothing to show for it. I didn't even want my money back, I just wanted a fair crack at this job same as everyone else who signed up and spent months studying. I've talked to just about everybody on both sides, and of course everyone is trying to shift the blame to the other side. It's pretty obvious I'm not going to get refunded, or even an apology. Best I got from the embassy was "we'll try and figure out what happened so it doesn't happen to someone else". Which is funny because that's like saying "we'll work to make sure someone else has a shot at the job we hosed you on".
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 08:51
|
|
|
File small claims and just sue, there's nothing more for you to lose
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 08:54
|
|
|
caberham posted:File small claims and just sue, there's nothing more for you to lose How would I go about doing that from Japan? Contact a US lawyer and try to sue PearsonVUE?
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 09:01
|
|
|
That's a crappy situation but there's no way that the test proctor or the venue is going to refund monies paid to the travel industry. That's a non-starter. Hopefully the next go-around is smoother for you. Small claims court isn't the answer here.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 16:38
|
|
|
Nutrimentia posted:That's a crappy situation but there's no way that the test proctor or the venue is going to refund monies paid to the travel industry. That's a non-starter. Hopefully the next go-around is smoother for you. Small claims court isn't the answer here. Concur on all points - you'll lose more money in the lawyers' fees than you might possibly recoup. Plus, right or not, suing the government isn't going to be a positive in your eventual suitability review/security clearance adjudication.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2016 17:15
|
|
|
Yeah I'm not trying to sue the government or get in any legal poo poo while I'm overseas. Looks like I just gotta charge this one to the game.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2016 00:37
|
|
|
So enjoy this trip to a cool city!
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2016 01:38
|
|
|
If you paid by credit card you can dispute the charge since you didn't get what you paid for.
|
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2016 18:51
|
|
|
You really can't. If you paid for plane tickets and a hotel and the plane took you to a place and the hotel let you stay there then you got what you paid for. The only thing you could dispute is the charge for the exam which is $0, right?
|
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2016 19:01
|
|
|
1of7 posted:If you paid by credit card you can dispute the charge since you didn't get what you paid for. Yeah, that would be fraud for the plane and lodging... While there is a possible charge for a no show ( according to the internet) that could be the only possible thing to dispute, but given the circumstances I'm not sure it would be charged in the first place. TCD fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Oct 11, 2016 |
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2016 20:55
|
|
|
My bad. I misread and thought there was a fee for the exam (and didn't know better since I've not taken it).
|
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2016 21:24
|
|
|
Do people normally get their salary offer via email or snail mail?
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2016 20:15
|
|
|
VASooner posted:Do people normally get their salary offer via email or snail mail? Email. Sometimes you get two: one meant for somebody else in your class and one meant for you!
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2016 19:01
|
|
|
And sometimes you get one with the wrong salary showing you fully stepped out, then when you sign it and send it in, they say "oops this is your real offer!" and send you a second one with a salary like $10k less. Womp womp.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2016 19:09
|
|
|
QuackAttackAggie posted:Email. Sometimes you get two: one meant for somebody else in your class and one meant for you! I got one that had my classmate's name on it and had to write but "uh I'm not Mr. X" and they were like "oh sorry here's yours." Then me an Mr. X became good friends and I was like "I know we make about the same amount of money. That's cool."
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2016 20:39
|
|
|
Leif. posted:Aaaaand? Where? zzonkmiles posted:Awwww too bad! I was sitting in the front row between a family whose OMS daughter was sent to India and a woman whose IMS husband was sent to Russia. Zzonkmiles, you were probably sitting next to my wife, small world! I am one of the two IMS headed to Moscow!
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2016 22:43
|
|
|
sociablegoldfinch posted:Zzonkmiles, you were probably sitting next to my wife, small world! No way! Was she wearing red? Does she speak an Asian language? If so, she has my DOS business card, so you guys can keep in touch! Good luck!
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2016 15:12
|
|
|
Can anyone explain the Step system to me? I just received my employment offer and let's just say it's much lower than anticipated at FP-5, Step 10 as an IMS candidate. I'm also a local hire, so no per diem while in orientation. Not sure we could take this big of a pay cut for 4 months even if we wanted to...
|
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2016 19:10
|
|
|
Yeah I was a local hire also. It was a bit hard to swallow when my co-workers were getting massive per diem I wasn't, but at least I didn't have to move my family. Why were you expecting to come in higher? Did they discount some of your work experience as not relevant or something? If so you might be able to resubmit that to clarify how it is related to the position. Or are you asking more how and when you would receive step and grade increases if you accept? And make sure you are including dc locality pay when figuring out if the budget works.
|
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2016 19:20
|
|
|
Tyro posted:Yeah I was a local hire also. It was a bit hard to swallow when my co-workers were getting massive per diem I wasn't, but at least I didn't have to move my family. Completely forgot about locality pay... Thank God. It looks like they didn't take into account 4 work years which should put me at either FP-4 Step 5 or FP-5 Step 12. Either would still suck for a few months, but that's much more manageable. Thanks... Wife was freaking out.
|
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2016 20:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 16:57 |
|
|
VASooner posted:Completely forgot about locality pay... Thank God. It looks like they didn't take into account 4 work years which should put me at either FP-4 Step 5 or FP-5 Step 12. Either would still suck for a few months, but that's much more manageable. Look at the offer or ad you applied for.. When I came in people were only coming in at the 5 level, and you are admin'd to 4 after 18 or whatever months.
|
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2016 20:43
|
|