In Brief: Medical Provider Hiring Process
Updated: April 2024 This is a quick post to go over the hiring process for the U.S. Foreign Service, with some time references for each step in the process. There is a page here that goes over my personal timeline in the hiring process and everything thereafter. For the most part, specialists and generalists have
AMA: What do you do for fun in Rangoon?
Myanmar can be a dangerous place. It has been fighting a civil war off and on since the country was founded in the 1940’s, and reports in the news don’t necessarily paint a positive picture of the current circumstances on the ground, which leads people to frequently ask me what I do with my free
What Promotion Means in the Foreign Service—and Why It’s Different in MED
A few folks have asked me over the years what promotion’s actually mean in the Foreign Service, and specifically what impact they have for MED professionals. I have mentioned it a few times when discussing EERs and tenure, but haven’t really explained it well in practical terms, particularly for a MED professional working for the
EER Season, Part 4
Spring brings about a favorite time of every employee in the Foreign Service, their annual evaluation reports. The Employee Evaluation Report (EER) carries a lot of weight. Not just because it matters for promotions and assignments, but because of what it has traditionally required: time, careful phrasing, and more than a little second-guessing. Drafting accomplishment
Malaysian Adventure
Every April, Myanmar rings in the New Year with Thingyan, a week-long celebration defined by water fights, music, dancing, and a full reset of the pace of daily life. If you’ve experienced Songkran in Thailand, it’s a familiar scene, with similar traditions echoed across Cambodia and Laos. Having gone through it last year, a few
Four Years of Service
Four years in the Foreign Service, and somehow it still feels like I just walked into A-100. These years have moved fast, full of new places, challenges, and moments that stretched me well beyond anything I expected when I first signed on. It hasn’t always been easy. This career asks a lot, both professionally and
Myeik Adventure
After months in Yangon, a three-day weekend in Myanmar’s southern port town of Myeik felt like stepping into a slower, salt-air world. The pace softened, the horizon opened, and life seemed to follow the tides rather than traffic. Getting there was its own Myanmar quirk: flights within the country often cost more than hopping between
AMA: What is Tenure in the Foreign Service?
A few posts back, I mentioned that I had been officially tenured by the Department of State. A reader was kind enough to send a congratulatory email and also asked if I could elaborate a bit more on what tenure actually means and how the process works. It’s a great question, and one that can
Gotta Catch ‘Em All
It’s time to take a trip down nerd alley and discuss Pokémon cards. Many of you that have followed along for a while know that I am big into collecting and playing Warhammer, but I have an even deeper, darker, secret in that I have been collecting Pokémon cards on and off since the late
Mekong Magic: A Beautiful Getaway to Laos
Last month I was able to take a short but rewarding trip to Laos, splitting the time between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. It ended up being one of those trips that feels both busy and restorative, part work, part exploration, and part appreciation for a country that seems on the cusp of real change. For
Tenured!
Last month brought some news I’d been waiting a long time to receive: I was tenured by the Foreign Service Specialist Selection Board. If you’re wondering what exactly tenure is, you’re not alone. When I first joined the Foreign Service, I mostly associated the word with ancient college professors, people who could say something completely