It’s a weird experience closing out my first tour, preparing to arrive in my second tour, but also having to prepare and research for my 3rd tour.

Typically in the Foreign Service, bidding is done in 2 or 3 year cycles, depending on how long your next assignment will be. Each country is assigned a tour length, and in some cases it is possible to extend an additional year if bidding outside of entry level. For example, Mauritania is a 2 year tour, but tenured employees can almost always extend for a 3rd year. Indonesia is a 3 year tour, and employees are often able to extend for a 4th year. London is a 3 year tour, but it is virtually impossible to extend that tour. Extensions are determined by lots of factors, but if your assignment has a hardship differential less than 15%, chances are you won’t be allowed an extension.

Recently, I received a preliminary list of assignments for my next tour that I will choose in the Fall. Because Rangoon is a one year tour, I basically will arrive to post, and in short order have to choose my assignment that I will assume less than a year later. It’s hard to wrap my head around so soon, but it’s important research to undertake.

It’s interesting how much different a mid-level bid list is compared to the entry level lists I received. To be frank, the lists we received at the entry level were the countries that folks in the mid-level didn’t bid on, so the reality is we were handed a list of countries that was sort of the left-overs. Most countries actually had bidders, but because there are usually more countries than bidders, some won’t get picked up, and then they are directed over to entry level. My first list had 7 countries to choose from two regional bureaus, my second list had 19 from 3 regions. In each case, the number of countries was equal to the number of bidders. This time around there are nearly 50 assignments to choose from, and they represent every single region on the planet. So there is a lot to choose from.

Although the list is sure to change as people leave assignments early or retire, or a million other unforeseen things happen, the vast majority of it will be available to choose from so we are able to get a head start in our research and identify some places that interest us. Priorities this time around are a little more specific:

1. A minimum 3 year tour. Ideally over 15% hardship so we can extend to a 4th year if we want. After a year apart, and 3 moves in 3 years, some stability is huge for us.
2. Must have a great school. Our oldest would enter middle school during this assignment, where quality of school starts to matter way more. Places like Nouakchott won’t cut it.
3. Must have a good reputation for spousal employment. Bonus if it is co-located or possible for Angeli to work in the medical field.
4. Must have things to do on the local economy. While Nouakchott has been wonderful, being in a place where we can watch a new release movie or eat at more than 3 decent restaurants is a biggie.
5. Location, location, location. We aren’t super picky, but places where we can either get back home to the U.S. or to the Philippines easily are being weighed more heavily.
6. Embassy/HU reputation. I know more about different HU’s, and some have good and bad reputations. If I am going somewhere for 3-4 years, I want to enjoy my work like I have in NKC.
7. Affordable child care/pre-school. Our youngest will only be 3 when we get to our next post, so will have 2 years before she gets government funded education. I don’t want to be somewhere where it costs half my salary to put her in pre-school.

There are a few other nit picky things that Angeli and I have in our mind, but for the most part, these are the main criteria we have. The good news, although it seems like we are being picky, there are over a dozen countries on the list that check off all of these criteria, so we are bound to land somewhere we really enjoy. Considering I will be coming from a high equity assignment in Rangoon, and we don’t plan to prioritize expensive European vacation spots, my pecking order will remain quite good, and I wouldn’t doubt if we get one of our top 3 choices easily.

It’s a weird feeling planning for a 3rd tour before the 2nd has even started, but I would always rather be overprepared than under-researched. Fingers crossed. -Nick