Another year begins, and this one marks my 3rd year of employment with the Department of State. 3 years ago this month I received my invitation to join the Foreign Service, and in April I will celebrate my 3rd year of employment.

This is a big year for multiple reasons from a career standpoint. For one, I will be getting my first look at tenure, which if obtained, will transition me from a conditional career appointment, to a full time career member of the Foreign Service. It is pretty rare for medical specialists to not be granted tenure. It might not always happen on your first evaluation, but I am still hopeful I get some good news later this fall when the tenure list goes out. I have really enjoyed this job, think I do it well, and tenure will be nice validation that I get to stick around.

The next big perk of celebrating 3 years of employment is my accrued leave will increase from 4 hours earned every two weeks, to 6 hours earned every two weeks. What that boils down to is an extra week and change off every year. While it hasn’t been hard to earn and take leave since joining, I am all about earning more of it.

The final thing that could happen this year is promotion. It is VERY rare to get it in your 3rd year of employment, and on average happens closer to year 5, but I will be eligible and compete for promotion against my peers for the first time, so it will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Definitely something I won’t be expecting. For medical providers, promotion doesn’t really mean much other than more money. For other jobs categories, promotions are tied to specific jobs available to you, but for us MED folks, our jobs don’t work that way. Still, extra money is always nice.

I will cover these things in more detail as they come up, but this year is shaping up to be an interesting one. Happy New Year! -Nick