FSO Career

The question isn’t a new one, it is an important one, and one that continues to be asked: does the State Department have a diversity problem? Whenever there is a discussion of workforce development and the State Department, it appears. At times, the driver to increase diversity is strong, and at other times it is …

Does the State Department have a diversity problem? Read More »

I was looking for a fun first post to kick off 2019 when I stumbled upon the official “Protocol for the Modern Diplomat” handbook, published by the Foreign Service Institute. If this manual will get me one step closer to being suave like Bond, then how could I not read it? …Right? Jokes aside, it …

14 Interesting Protocols a Foreign Service Officer Must Follow Read More »

  Do you know how many Secretaries of State are still living? It may come as a surprise to you. It did for me. My curiosity to determine how many remain arose, as most things do, by accident. I was watching a news reel when a story of the president came on and his meeting …

Secretaries of State Still Living Read More »

The Stories from the Field series continues with Rob, who was recently posted in Brazil. His first assignment! You can keep up with Rob on his website. Rob and I actually met up a couple of times when we both lived in DC in 2017. We connected because of Path to Foreign Service, and I …

Language Training at FSI Read More »

The cultural bridge between the U.S. mission and the host country, the Public Diplomacy Foreign Officer is the gatekeeper and promoter of information concerning the U.S. During your career, you may represent a post as the spokesperson, promote student and professional development exchange via the Fulbright Program, and/or organize discussion groups with the local community …

The Foreign Service Public Diplomacy Officer Read More »

When you think of the Foreign Service, the duties of the Political Officer is the one that comes to mind the most for people. Keeping up with national and international trends that affect the host country, speaking and networking with government officials and subject matter experts on a topic, and writing numerous reports, the role …

The Foreign Service Political Officer Read More »

The ones who keep the embassy or consulate running, the Foreign Service Management Officers are in charge of projects both small and large. Staff leaders, management officers supervise (potentially several) local staff from the beginning, and are trained to be able to manage real estate, human resources, logistics, construction, budgeting, and more. What follows are three …

The Foreign Service Management Officer Read More »

The Foreign Service Economic Officer helps strengthen (or minimize) ties between the U.S. and the host country. By working with many different people in and out of government, the Economic Officer seeks out the information that will benefit U.S. business. This can be as global as putting together a trans ocean agreement or environmental package, to as local as …

The Foreign Service Economic Officer Read More »