Today’s blog post will address a very basic question that has a lot of complexities to it. Why join the Foreign Service? There are many reasons for joining (or not), and on the individual level, you have to ask yourself if it is the right thing for you. In the following, I will try and discuss some of the pros and cons of joining.
Very broadly, if a career in public service appeals to you, as does representing your country in over 270 embassies, consulates, or missions around the world, the Foreign Service may very well be a career for you. Jobs vary from Generalists to Specialists, but at the end of the day, joining the Foreign Service means moving abroad to represent your government in a public service role. That could mean processing visa applications, writing policy memos about dealing with a host country, coordinating visits of elected officials, managing an embassies day to day functions, or treating a sick diplomats spouse with the flu.
As a reward for your service, you get paid pretty decently, get free government housing with utilities paid (while abroad), get a pension plan (which is a rare flower in today’s world), have access to a government matched retirement account similar to a 401k, free education for your children (usually private international school), get various pay differentials depending on where you live and how hard the government views living there (or if it is dangerous), and some locations include a hefty cost of living allowance that is tax free. Even if the dollar for dollar salary isn’t as a high as a private sector job, all the differentials and free housing really add up.
Personally, the thought of getting to take care of our diplomats in often remote locations/countries around the world is a really exciting prospect. I also like the thought of my children growing up in numerous countries, picking up different languages, and making friends with kids from all over the globe. Lastly, making a solid salary with government paid housing, while serving in locations where your dollar might stretch a bit further is very cool.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “this sounds too good to be true”, there are definitely other factors to consider. When a lot of people first start thinking about a career as a diplomat, they likely are imagining themselves in a café in Paris or skiing in Switzerland. The reality is many tours a diplomat takes will often be in “hardship” posts. So that coffee you were imaging in Paris will more likely be in Niger, Honduras, or Myanmar. There is also a possibility that you might have to do a tour in a location such as Iraq or Afghanistan, away from your family for a year. Are you ready to be apart that long? Are you okay being in countries that you don’t find desirable or in some cases might not have heard of?
Another consideration is leaving friends and family behind. Are you okay only seeing these people annually? Sure they might be able to visit you at your post location, but what is the reality your friend with 2 kids or your dad with a bad hip wants to come and visit you in the Republic of Congo? Are you okay with your kids only having a relationship with them that largely exists on facetime? For my wife and I, this is probably the hardest part about joining. We have robust social circles and family nearby, and although the job seems worthwhile, I can’t lie and say leaving our friends and family behind isn’t one of the hardest decisions to make.
A real biggie is if you are married, what will your spouse do? The State Department has a structure in place to help with hiring spouses of diplomats, but there might not be jobs at every posting, or what is available might not be what your spouse is trained in. Sometimes there are also government hiring freezes which means they just can’t work at all for the government, and often local jobs are nearly impossible to get for a variety of reasons. Common advice is to tell diplomats that their spouse will likely be out of work for lengthy periods of time. If you depend on those 2 incomes to make ends meet, again, this could be a deal breaker. I know personally, this was one of the bigger discussions my spouse and I had before I even submitted my application. Ultimately my wife was fine if she couldn’t work for larger stretches of time, but it is still a very big ask of your significant other to put their career on hold or stop it altogether so that you can advance your own career.
As you can see, there are lots of pros and cons to joining the Foreign Service. I think you have to be very flexible (as does your family), not mind moving every 2-3 years, have a strong sense of adventure, and probably more importantly, you have to not mind or even enjoy living in countries that most American’s have never heard of. If you are thinking to yourself, this all sounds great, “sign me up”, well, that’s easier said than done. My next several posts will discuss the application process, both broadly, and specifically for Medical Provider’s, since it is a little unique.
–Nick
