Interview results
Well, my OA was yesterday, and my score was high enough to pass, but not high enough to get an ICO. So they didn't take my SF-86, but will put me on the LEH. I'll translate that out of gov-speak
My oral assessment was yesterday at 10:00. I had to sign an NDA on the content of it, but http://careers.state.gov/specialist/join/index.html#4 describes the overall structure:
Following the written exercise, two examiners conduct an interview lasting about an hour covering the remaining eleven dimensions. One examiner is a Foreign Service Officer and the other is a Foreign Service Specialist in the field of the candidate's chosen specialty. There are two parts to the structured interview. In the first part, candidates are asked about their motivation for joining the Foreign Service and about their previous experiences that might be relevant to work as a Foreign Service Specialist. In the second part of the interview, the Foreign Service Specialist asks technical questions in the candidate's chosen field and provide hypothetical workplace problems for resolution.
I did a lot better on the technical part than the "twelve dimensions" part. After the assessment was done, they told me my score was a passing score, but not sufficient to get an Immediate Conditional Offer. With an ICO, I would have turned in the security clearance paperwork, and the State Dept would have started processing it and my medical clearance. Upon successful completion of both of those (that's the conditional part of ICO), my name would have gone on the Register, which is rank-ordered according to the oral assessment score. As IMS classes are budgeted and filled, names are pulled off the top of this list, and my name could have persisted on it for 18 months before falling off. However, *without* the ICO, my name goes onto the List of Eligible Hires, also in rank order according to score. This is a slush pot of people that they will dip into if some burp in the hiring/funding/budgeting process (like, say, Congress decides that the State Dept needs to upgrade its technical infrastructure and so unexpectedly releases a bunch of funding for that) means that they get to the bottom of the Register. This could happen, but it's very very unlikely.
This candidacy will sit on the LEH for two years before expiring, but if the position opens up again, I can start another candidacy from the beginning, which will be treated as a totally separate applicant. Taking the Foreign Service Written Exam (FSWE) to become a Foreign Service Generalist is also a totally separate thing, and I plan to register for it as soon as registration opens in January.
The upshot of it all is, if I asked you if I could put your name down on the clearance paperwork and warned you federal agents might come to talk to you, it's moot for right now. If Men in Black start nosing around you, it has nothing to do with me.
Coincidentally, my uncle Mark was interred at Arlington on Monday. Since my dad and his sister couldn't make it to the ceremony, I figured I'd take a picture of his grave if I had extra time on Tuesday. I had plenty of extra time, but apparently the day after burial is the worst time to visit a grave; the astroturf from the day before was gone, and new sod hadn't been placed yet, so there was a row of temporary markers that looked like the things they use to label plants in a botanical garden sitting on bare dirt that was marked with front-loader tread tracks. I took a picture, but I hope I can go back after the marker is placed and take another one.
My oral assessment was yesterday at 10:00. I had to sign an NDA on the content of it, but http://careers.state.gov/specialist/join/index.html#4 describes the overall structure:
Following the written exercise, two examiners conduct an interview lasting about an hour covering the remaining eleven dimensions. One examiner is a Foreign Service Officer and the other is a Foreign Service Specialist in the field of the candidate's chosen specialty. There are two parts to the structured interview. In the first part, candidates are asked about their motivation for joining the Foreign Service and about their previous experiences that might be relevant to work as a Foreign Service Specialist. In the second part of the interview, the Foreign Service Specialist asks technical questions in the candidate's chosen field and provide hypothetical workplace problems for resolution.
I did a lot better on the technical part than the "twelve dimensions" part. After the assessment was done, they told me my score was a passing score, but not sufficient to get an Immediate Conditional Offer. With an ICO, I would have turned in the security clearance paperwork, and the State Dept would have started processing it and my medical clearance. Upon successful completion of both of those (that's the conditional part of ICO), my name would have gone on the Register, which is rank-ordered according to the oral assessment score. As IMS classes are budgeted and filled, names are pulled off the top of this list, and my name could have persisted on it for 18 months before falling off. However, *without* the ICO, my name goes onto the List of Eligible Hires, also in rank order according to score. This is a slush pot of people that they will dip into if some burp in the hiring/funding/budgeting process (like, say, Congress decides that the State Dept needs to upgrade its technical infrastructure and so unexpectedly releases a bunch of funding for that) means that they get to the bottom of the Register. This could happen, but it's very very unlikely.
This candidacy will sit on the LEH for two years before expiring, but if the position opens up again, I can start another candidacy from the beginning, which will be treated as a totally separate applicant. Taking the Foreign Service Written Exam (FSWE) to become a Foreign Service Generalist is also a totally separate thing, and I plan to register for it as soon as registration opens in January.
The upshot of it all is, if I asked you if I could put your name down on the clearance paperwork and warned you federal agents might come to talk to you, it's moot for right now. If Men in Black start nosing around you, it has nothing to do with me.
Coincidentally, my uncle Mark was interred at Arlington on Monday. Since my dad and his sister couldn't make it to the ceremony, I figured I'd take a picture of his grave if I had extra time on Tuesday. I had plenty of extra time, but apparently the day after burial is the worst time to visit a grave; the astroturf from the day before was gone, and new sod hadn't been placed yet, so there was a row of temporary markers that looked like the things they use to label plants in a botanical garden sitting on bare dirt that was marked with front-loader tread tracks. I took a picture, but I hope I can go back after the marker is placed and take another one.