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Today's my last day of home leave, and I start at the mother ship (well SA-1 really) on Monday. Anyone DC-based and down for a drink in the coming weeks? I just got my UAB so you know it's real...
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Jul 26, 2024 19:54
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Does Kaplan or another test prep company give classes for the FSO exam? Or do I have to buy a study guide and study my myself?
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Aug 17, 2024 00:03
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the_chavi posted:Today's my last day of home leave, and I start at the mother ship (well SA-1 really) on Monday. Anyone DC-based and down for a drink in the coming weeks? I hear there are cheap oysters in DC
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Aug 17, 2024 06:01
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The X-man cometh posted:Does Kaplan or another test prep company give classes for the FSO exam? Or do I have to buy a study guide and study my myself? It's been like a decade since I last took the FSOT, but the knowledge you need is pretty general and then you have to write a 5 paragraph essay. I think there are practice tests you can download and do, but that's about it. There are also some online communities you can join that should have more info/prep groups you could join.
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Aug 17, 2024 19:40
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Pour one out for Vilerat. I left flags at the C Street memorial yesterday.
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Sep 12, 2024 12:08
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Is anyone else bidding this cycle? Holy poo poo, what a disaster.
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Sep 30, 2024 08:35
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zzonkmiles posted:Is anyone else bidding this cycle? Holy poo poo, what a disaster. No, thankfully, but I had to interview a lot of candidates. Not looking forward to bidding next year.
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Sep 30, 2024 11:16
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Think I'll try just showing up at the post I want next year and seeing how that goes instead
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Sep 30, 2024 11:32
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I'm doing bidding this year, and trying to coordinate bidding with my sister (who is a financial budget specialist type), and it is absolutely awful and I hate it. Have yet to hear back from most of the places I've interviewed with about if I'm on a shortlist or not. This is agony. If I have to go to round 2 of bidding I want to bid on places that have zero bids just to make it easier on myself. Maybe I'll go back to Moscow, if they let me back in after previously declaring me persona non grata.
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Sep 30, 2024 20:30
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No, but I'm hiring this year for three DC jobs that are pretty good, and I had a total of six bidders. It seems like it's just brutal out there. I'll be interested to see how EUR's massive panel of doom for 03 bidders works out... looks like a shitshow to me, but what do I know.
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Oct 19, 2024 20:03
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Hi everyone. This isn't a question specifically about the US Foreign Service, but more one that I'm asking since many of you are a lot more familiar with the country's diplomatic relations than I am. A hobby of mine has been to write to foreign leaders and ask them for their autographs. I've received quite a few so far, and it's a lot of fun to open up my mailbox and see a new envelope from another country. Most of what I've gotten so far are NATO leaders, as well as some other EU. What are some countries that I should emphatically not request autographs from? Obviously, I wouldn't try North Korea or Afghanistan, but there are some other cases that I'm not so sure about, like Venezuela. Should I assume that if the US has an embassy in the country, that it's OK for me to try it? I just don't want to raise any eyebrows. For the record, also, none of the autograph requests are endorsements of these leaders, it's just a "collect them all" kind of thing for me, so that in fifty years I can have an album of all these long-dead leaders and say hey, look, a photograph with their signature. Also, finally, I know that sometimes people will send a message to a foreign country's embassy in the US and get a free flag or whatever from them. What happens if an American citizen contacts an American embassy in another country? Do I get free stuff or does the postcard go into the shredder?
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Nov 9, 2024 01:28
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two fish posted:Hi everyone. This isn't a question specifically about the US Foreign Service, but more one that I'm asking since many of you are a lot more familiar with the country's diplomatic relations than I am. Try Russia. Given what's happened in Syria, you can get a twofer.
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Dec 9, 2024 20:52
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Dunno about signatures. But I recently had somebody request a cancelled envelope from our Diplomatic Post Office. We did it and sent along a little flag pin as a bonus. Can't guarantee what anyone else would do, but I think we're just glad when somebody remembers we're here.
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Dec 9, 2024 21:13
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gently caress this bid season.
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Dec 13, 2024 16:28
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AKA Pseudonym posted:gently caress this bid season. This tracks.
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Jan 7, 2025 20:49
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For the goons in the system: not counting the bidding cycle which has been well documented, to the most of your comfort in discussing it, what're the vibes with all that's going on?
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Feb 5, 2025 13:39
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Dameius posted:For the goons in the system: not counting the bidding cycle which has been well documented, to the most of your comfort in discussing it, what're the vibes with all that's going on?
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Feb 7, 2025 18:17
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Dameius posted:For the goons in the system: not counting the bidding cycle which has been well documented, to the most of your comfort in discussing it, what're the vibes with all that's going on? Grim. The Sword of Damocles metaphor is in regular rotation in many offices.
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Feb 22, 2025 17:29
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Hi nerds. If you haven't voted yet, I'm running for an AFSA seat as a State rep. Would appreciate your nerd votes and any interest you may have at whipping other votes... I'm running on a slate with a USAID rep and two specialists, in addition to others in our group. Our goal is to give us all a voice, not just the SFS that AFSA has seemed to focus on publicly in prior years. Drop me a line on Teams or in DMs here if you want to chat. Byeeeeee
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Apr 6, 2025 21:04
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So uh, which one of you was it in Brussels?
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Apr 9, 2025 18:30
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I voted for you. It wasn't anyone in this thread...
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Apr 11, 2025 16:07
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Bruxism posted:It wasn't anyone in this thread... Yeah I know the dude and I'd eat my hat if he was a goon.
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Apr 11, 2025 17:54
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Leif. posted:So uh, which one of you was it in Brussels? Lol at first I was like, hey, I left USEU in summer 2024, then I realized this was about the news. What an rear end in a top hat.
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Apr 16, 2025 11:56
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Bruxism posted:I voted for you. Thanks boo!! Results aren't formally out, but I was elected - GOONS IN AFSA, WATCH OUT!! Gonna ask the new president if he has stairs in his house.
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Apr 16, 2025 11:57
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the_chavi posted:Thanks boo!! Results aren't formally out, but I was elected - GOONS IN AFSA, WATCH OUT!! Gonna ask the new president if he has stairs in his house. Congratulations! And we are living in the dumbest timeline possible. These two sentences are not related.
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May 4, 2025 08:52
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With the current political climate, is this still a career? You don't get to pick which country to go into? Can you choose a continent, or area?
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May 31, 2025 04:27
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Fozzy The Bear posted:With the current political climate, is this still a career? You don't get to pick which country to go into? Can you choose a continent, or area? In theory we always have input into where we'd prefer to go, but at the end of the day we're supposed to be world-wide available and can be directed to anywhere the Department sees fit. That's not new. What feels different now is so many people's billets in DC being eliminated and Y tours being banned (at least for now), so there are more bidders seeking positions off cycle, fewer options domestically, and the usual pressure release valves of Y tours not available. So is there still a career? That's a call for you. I'm 17+ years in and haven't bailed, but everyone else's assessments are up to them.
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May 31, 2025 23:49
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the_chavi posted:In theory we always have input into where we'd prefer to go, but at the end of the day we're supposed to be world-wide available and can be directed to anywhere the Department sees fit. That's not new. What feels different now is so many people's billets in DC being eliminated and Y tours being banned (at least for now), so there are more bidders seeking positions off cycle, fewer options domestically, and the usual pressure release valves of Y tours not available. I'm in my 40's with an ok career in banking. I make a living, but not making 6 figures or anything. My wife was born in an African country, and we own property in that country. My goal is to move to that country, the Foreign Service probably not a good fit?
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Jun 1, 2025 15:18
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Fozzy The Bear posted:I'm in my 40's with an ok career in banking. I make a living, but not making 6 figures or anything. My wife was born in an African country, and we own property in that country. My goal is to move to that country, the Foreign Service probably not a good fit? No guarantee you ever go to any specific country, and having family from a certain country can preclude you from serving there. Ultimately we're supposed to be worldwide available. If you can't foresee this being a career if you are never able to serve in your wife's country of origin, then yeah, probably not a good fit.
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Jun 6, 2025 11:15
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Thinking of everybody. Hope we all survived.
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Jul 12, 2025 04:59
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Not an FSO, but I got laid off from my civil service job. Wasn't in one of the offices that was targeted for elimination, but they knocked out like 80% of the positions. I had been killing myself to try to get us into position to deal with the end of the fiscal year despite all of the change since January, so I'm going to take a beat to rest. I'm mostly feeling pretty sad right now. I had 14 years in at State and had planned to stay until I retired.
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Jul 12, 2025 10:49
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I survived. Some real survivors guilt vibes in my office rn.
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Jul 12, 2025 16:05
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Giodo! posted:Not an FSO, but I got laid off from my civil service job. Wasn't in one of the offices that was targeted for elimination, but they knocked out like 80% of the positions. I'm so sorry. One of the people from my new hire class was RIFed only 8 months from reaching 20 years. Just stupid and cruel.
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Jul 13, 2025 16:30
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Giodo! posted:Not an FSO, but I got laid off from my civil service job. Wasn't in one of the offices that was targeted for elimination, but they knocked out like 80% of the positions. God drat it. I'm so sorry. The number of people laid off who thought they were safe is... sus af. Hope you're in talks with AFGE and have good options. I'm furious on your behalf.
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Jul 18, 2025 01:35
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AKA Pseudonym posted:I'm so sorry. One of the people from my new hire class was RIFed only 8 months from reaching 20 years. Just stupid and cruel. That sounds like my acting reviewer who was RIF'd. My rater was re-assigned. Not sure how the grim reaper skipped me as I PCSd. Sorry Giodo. TCD fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Aug 26, 2025 |
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Aug 26, 2025 04:58
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Giodo! posted:Not an FSO, but I got laid off from my civil service job. Wasn't in one of the offices that was targeted for elimination, but they knocked out like 80% of the positions. I'm so sorry to hear this, Giodo. This is not right. At all.
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Sep 13, 2025 17:13
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Got emailed to make sure to apply by Oct 16quote:The revamped FSOT will be administered for the first time October 18-25, 2025. It features a new logic and reasoning section; the situational judgement section is discontinued; and job knowledge and English expression questions are more closely aligned with job requirements. Additionally, we removed the requirement for personal narrative essays, streamlining the application process. These updates better align the FSOT with the skills and expertise needed to successfully represent the interests of the American people.
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Sep 13, 2025 22:48
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My sister's been trying to get out of being a Fed and into State so I should let her know that they're testing again if she hasn't heard already.
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Sep 13, 2025 23:00
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Well Goons, who's excepted and who's not? And if not, anyone interested in some friendly DC day drinking on Friday?
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Oct 1, 2025 18:14
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the_chavi posted:Well Goons, who's excepted and who's not? And if not, anyone interested in some friendly DC day drinking on Friday? I would be down if I were in DC. I seem to remember you being at my Flag Day and I didn't even know.
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Oct 2, 2025 20:02
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