Despite the ongoing hiring freeze across the government, Oral Assessments have been continuing in some capacity, and I still receive frequent questions about the Oral Assessment. One of my very first posts, even before I started working for the department, was to review the Oral Assessment process. Below is that post with a few changes
3 years ago I posted about the salary determination process in the Foreign Service, but it continues to be one of the most frequently asked questions I receive from potential prospects, so figured it would be a good idea to update that post and add a little more clarity now that I have even more
Back in Nouakchott I had a similar post about my day to day life running the Health Unit, so thought it would be a nice time to right down my routine here, and how it compares. The reality is every Embassy is run a little bit differently, and the same is true of each Health
Since I have been assigned to Rangoon, several readers have asked me about the Danger Pay differential, and how one gets it. Danger Pay is a percentage pay differential an employee gets for serving in locations where circumstances on the ground could threaten physical harm against employees. Typical reasons a post would get Danger Pay
I answered this question a couple of years ago, but it still continues to be one of the top questions prospective hires ask me when they are going through the process, so figured it would be a good time for an update. Paid time off is also referred to as annual leave in the Foreign
One of the most common questions I get is how long it took me to go from applying to hiring when I joined the Foreign Service. There is a headline page at the top of this blog where you can find that information, but based on the questions and page view totals, I know not
It’s election season and recently I got a very interesting question that asked if Foreign Service employees can vote. This apparently stemmed from an incorrect news report from a major U.S. news outlet that claimed State Department employees, specifically diplomats, not being allowed to vote. The answer is: yes, diplomats, State Department employees, and federal
I still get frequent questions about the Foreign Service hiring process so thought I would post an update to one of my very first posts over 3 years ago, detailing that process. This has been updated slightly, but otherwise the government moves pretty slowly, so not much has changed. There is a page here that
I’ve chatted throughout my 3+ years blogging about some of the annoying things about working in the Foreign Service, but I think at this point the most annoying aspect of the job is the never ending “will they” “won’t they” back and forth between congress passing a budget. In a perfect world, Congress should pass
The currency in Myanmar is called the Kyat (pronounced “chat”), and it has been on a rollercoaster of inflation over the last year. Initially pegged at about 2000Kyat to the dollar, local banks are now offering an exchange rate of 6000kyat to the dollar, a 300% increase. The highest denomination note seen below is a
