A fancy certificate, aka. Commission

Another milestone in the foreign service career is called commissioning. This a step in the career that is frequently misunderstood and confused with the other process of tenure. For most practical purposes, it really isn't that different. But there are some of the unique aspects to what commissioning means.

What is a commission?
Wikipedia has a pretty good answer for this stating that it is a document used to appoint individuals to a position or for providing rank and status to military officers. It then goes on to say that the process is required also for a wide range of civilian officials such as Supreme court judges, heads of departments, and members of the Foreign Service.

The documents are generally issued and signed in the name of the President or delegated official and include the seal of the United States or by the particular department issuing the appointment.
So for the FS, a commission certificate is a document and it is signed by the President.

Commissioning of Foreign Service Officers is authorized under the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended, and defined as a legal recognition granted by the President, with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, to Foreign Service Officers. Each member commissioned receives an appointment commission certificate signed by the President. Whereas tenure is an internal Agency administrative process, commissioning is both an internal and an external process requiring extensive clearances, Presidential nomination, Senate confirmation, and Presidential attestation.

What are the requirements?
The USAID Agency policy of "ADS 435 Commissions, Titles and Rank" provides the following two requirements for USAID Foreign Service Officers to be eligible for commissioning.  The officer 1) must be tenured and 2) must be at the class of FP-03 or above.

While I'm not so sure about why the requirement for being FP-03 or above, the other requirement to be tenured before beginning the long commission process (almost a year for myself) makes sense for the Agency to ensure the individual is at least tenured which indicates they have the demonstrated potential for a full career with the Agency.

What does the commission do?

1. Diplomatic titles
• When assigned abroad, the State Department has the Foreign Affairs Handbook policy (3 FAH-1 H-2430) which discusses the usage of diplomatic titles and what may or may not be used depending on if the individual is commissioned or not. For example, a title of a "Second Secretary" is considered a diplomatic title in which the individual must be commissioned.
• Technically, the commissioning enables FSOs to take on these diplomatic titles while assigned overseas and assume associated roles reserved for commissioned officers. 
• Do these titles make a difference at the end of the day? Not really so much. As to whether you are commissioned or not, or considered diplomatic or administrative/technical staff, you will still be performing the particular functions of your position for the post and that's mostly it. There are some very specific instances in terms of some privileges in a particular country granted to one type, but not the other, but it is all mostly the same.
2. Ineligibility of Overtime Pay
• Per ADS 472 "Premium Compensation", commissioned officers are no longer eligible for overtime compensation. May not make a big difference as the culture or provision of overtime generally comes down to Mission policy, culture, or supervisor expectations which tend to trend more to managing working hours to make sure everything is accomplished versus counting hours and seeking overtime.
• There are some specific cases, like being posted to Afghanistan, where commissioned officers are currently provided a 20% incentive differential to base salary which is unavailable to non-commissioned officers. Non-commissioned though instead have the ability to request and receive overtime compensation. But doing the math, I mostly calculate it as a near wash in terms of which would compensate higher, and this is an incentive that could go away at any time.

Reappointment Rights

When commissioned, I've heard some say it provides special reappointment rights into the Foreign Service if you leave (not retirement). Per policy however, only being tenured affords this possibility, being commissioned is not required. This is discussed in ADS 414 "Foreign Service Appointments". 

Unless my career takes me to the potential of entering the Senior Foreign Service (which provides another commission certificate), I anticipate being in the rat race of promotion up to the FS-01 for years to come. I look forward to the new adventures, experiences, and challenges along the way.

Looking Forward to the Next Year

One year down in Afghanistan, one more year to go.  However, I'm optimistic the next year will also be good as there will be a different group of people and a different position in the office for me keeping things interesting fresh.

In the next year, I'll be moving from an operational Contracting Officer covering a specific portfolio to a managerial role supervising others and supporting them in the management of their portfolios.  This will be my first experience managing American career officers versus local national or third country national staff and I am sure I'll learn a grow from this position.

There is also a new group of solid people that have arrived to post.  Several I also knew from Indonesia which is a nice headstart for forming a new social network and it'll be fun to get to know new people.  I was with many great people in the last year at Kabul, I'm sure the next year will be the same.

Other news is that I was successful in my last attempt at the annual evaluation process moving up to the next personal grade in the foreign service from FS-4 to FS-3.  This is a great step up that will help me in being competitive for positions and posting in the future.  Promotions are particularly more difficult due to the hiring surge from 2008-2012 with the DLI program where the Agency doubled in size creating numerous people vying to be ranked for promotions.

The last bit of news is the assignment list for priority bidders (those coming out from countries such as Afghanistan) and I can look forward to going to Thailand for my next posting.  Having this as a next a assignment was a major factor in my decision to stay in Afghanistan a second year as this post will allow both my wife and I to be employed, the city of Bangkok has great medical facilities for if we consider children, and will just be an all-around great place to live.

The adventure continues and I look forward to the what the next year will bring.

Recent event with the Ambassador and other agency heads announcing funding of $200M through NATO channeled through USAID's mechanism with the World Bank for infrastructure.

What Makes Afghanistan a Great Post

Afghanistan has a lot of quirks and difficulties.  Challenging and overbearing security environment allowing little movement and next to no engagement, separation from family, and unique political pressures and oversight not found in any other Mission.

However, there are some great aspects to serving here that are difficult to find elsewhere.  In fact, there are people who have been working here for multiple years in the Mission or repeatedly return.  So I felt it due to highlight some of the great aspects I've found to working here in Kabul.

1) Great Camaraderie
Life in the embassy compound will leave little other social opportunities but with your colleagues.  Everyone at post experiences or can relate to similar personal circumstances and work challenges.  This allows for the quick forming close friendships and bonds in an environment that can be compared to being in a small college campus.

The problem is, for most, it’s just a short one-year tour.  Before you know it, you’ll be soon saying goodbye to your newfound circle.

2) Lots of Responsibility and Opportunity to Make a Difference
The work is fast-paced and dynamic with the resources to make a large impact in the lives of the people of Afghanistan.  The challenge is implementing the reconstruction and development projects in a way that is sustainable, necessary, and really yields benefits.  The US’ position as the largest funder of development in Afghanistan also comes with the responsibility to carefully avoid inflating the market or working at cross-purposes with Afghanistan’s own individual growth and capacity.

Taking on a lot of responsibility as a Junior Officer early in the career gives a wide breadth of scenarios and roles to play that wouldn’t be available at other Missions.  Personally, I feel I’ve learned and performed more in half the time I feel I could have done in a traditional post.

3) Less Personal Responsibilities
At post, pretty much everything is provided for you.  Housing, food, laundry facilities, gyms, you name it.  No more grocery shopping or cooking, the office is just a walk next door, and no ability for family responsibilities.  Of course, you can always complain that any of it could be better, but it’s all absolutely free.

As a result, the post has a very lively community of volunteers hosting activities for all tastes.  This includes exercise classes and sports, hobby clubs, board games, and dance parties on a weekly basis.

4) Practical Benefits
From the get go, the post differentials at post will see your income increasing by 70%.  And with few expenses at post (see point 3), you’ll be able to fully invest in savings like the TSP and still have money left over.  If you’re needing to pay off debts, Afghanistan would definitely be a good place to help do that.

5) Travel
Unfortunately, it’s not travel within the country but you’ll get up to 3 trips out of country a year where you can meet up with family and see new places (or home to see each other).  The tickets are paid for (up to a limit) and you just need to pick the destination you’d like to go.  I was able to check off several more countries off the list during my first year in Afghanistan that probably would have been a lot longer to get to unless I were serving here.

Afghanistan is definitely not as bad as I imagined it to be.  There are even some who really enjoy the warzone countries and have worked in them for many years (I’ve met people with 5+ years here).  While not something that I could do, I can understand the appeal.  Working in this type of environment is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and will be a memorable moment in my Foreign Service adventure.

That time of the year again...Annual Evaluations

...Exceeding all work objectives and demonstrating outstanding performance as a development professional operating at a level far above his current grade....

Each year in April, much attention and focus for FSOs goes to the performance evaluation process to document achievements toward objectives and how we all walked on water.  This is the dreaded Annual Evaluation Form of the AEF season.  The process isn't just a simple evaluation and rating from your supervisor. Rather, it's a time-consuming endeavor of drafting self-assessments (or more often than not, drafting your own evaluation), soliciting and incorporating the perfect 360 input, and then multiple reviews by the assessment committee to finally get that perfect write-up of your work for the year.  Be sure to clearly demonstrate all the Foreign Service Matrix Skills and crosswalk that to include the Agency's core values!

And the fun doesn't end there!  After negotiating and crafting the AEF, next comes the Employee/Personal Statement, often referred to as the "suicide box".  This is the opportunity to mention every other accomplishment (avoiding sounding too arrogant) you did, or bring some personality and humility to the evaluation, or tell a good creative story to attach to your evaluation.

This then gets sent to DC where evaluation boards are formed to review and rank-order all the officers and the line is drawn for who gets promoted.

This annual ritual occurs every April and lasts for 2-3 weeks each year as everyone attempts to documents their work in the best light.  In the end, almost everyone will end up sounding like they are completely saving the world and the boards somehow work to parse fact from fiction.  The system is commonly understood to need improvement but when it comes to actually figuring out how to do it better, it's usually a loss for words.  Trying to evaluate the work equally of Officers across the world, with completely different roles and responsibilities is a pretty difficult endeavor.   It's then back to the daily grind and setting objectives for the next year to come.

Hoping for the best and it's all finished with for this year.  Results come out later around September.  Official policy on the evaluation process located at ADS 462.   But for now, taking a break after 2 1/2 months to see family and take a long belated (honeymoon?) to the Maldives.

Wonder how many snow leopards are out there?

From Candidate to Career

So now I can't be fired.  Well, at least I won't automatically be cannned due to the 5 year candidacy rule.

New hires to USAID's Foreign Service have up to 5 years to be tenured.  I'm happy to be tenured so the looming threat of meeting that deadline is no longer there.  Bureaucratically, I'm just now listed as from "Career-Conditional" to "Career".

The requirements to be tenured generally are:

1. 36 months with USAID and at least 18 months of that time in an overseas Mission.
2. Medical and Security Clearances valid.
3. Achievement of a foreign language proficiency (mine was in Indonesian).
4. No other issues.
5. Re-certification of Worldwide availability.

So what are the advantages of being tenured?  From what I know, one is that I can now safely switch backstops (career specialty) without worrying about the tenure deadline (tenure evaluation based of performance in job function).  Though, I'm pretty happy doing what I'm doing right now.  And then supposedly it's more difficult to fire me.  I'm sure there are others but haven't yet figured that out yet.

However, I'm not fully a real "Officer" yet.  That doesn't happen until I can get promoted to the next grade and receive a commission.  But it's a significant milestone in my career and looking forward to working toward the next.

If interested in reading the details of USAID's tenuring process, the information is available at:
Tenure Policy and Process: http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1877/414mad.pdf
Precepts for the USAID's Foreign Service Tenure Board: http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1877/414mac.pdf

Warranted

I'm a real boy now!  There are many milestones in a career as a FSO with USAID.  Milestones include things like tenure, being commissioned, and as a Contracting Officer (CO) with USAID, being warranted.

The warrant is part of the US Government's procurement system in which authorized individuals are allowed to obligate government funding to procure goods and services or obligate grants.  At USAID, since development work is mostly implemented through partners (contractors or grantees), this is an important function.  A USG warrant is specific to each Agency and generally will require being certified through the Federal certification system as well as Agency requirements.

At USAID, the requirements for warrants for new COs include obtaining the first level of federal contracting certification, completion of Agency courses related to grants (assistance) and development, plus at least a year's experience at post.  I received my warrant recently and have been transitioning to the role of signing awards and documentation instead of only drafting and preparing documents.  Of course, I'll still maintain current responsibilities for awards outside my threshold but I'll have another level of responsibility in my work and I'm looking forward to the experience.

The next milestone to strive for now is becoming tenured.

Planning, anticipating, bidding

Life is rarely dull in the Foreign Service.  Each year brings about new challenges in plotting one's career, family, and life.  You may be eagerly arriving to a new country, ready to learn a new language, culture, and people, or you may be formulating your strategy to make your plan for the following year to your next assignment.  This is especially true for two year assignments, which first-tour USAID FSOs are assigned to.

The Bidding Cycle
USAID's bidding season has just kicked off.  The way this works is that a list will come out around August which contains all the open positions for the following year.  The only people allowed to place bids on assignments during this first release of positions ("Priority Consideration Bidders List") is reserved for "Priority Consideration Bidders" whom are people finishing a tour in a "Critical Priority Country" (aka. CPC).  These are countries such as Iraq or Afghanistan where there is substantial danger or hardship.

After people leaving CPCs get to bid on the first release of positions, they will receive their assignments and then the "Major Listing" will be released.  This is the updated list with positions that went to CPC bidders removed.  Now everyone else gets to place their bids on positions and be assigned.

There is the exception that for people that want to only go to a CPC, then they can bid on the "Priority Consideration Bidders List" on just the CPC countries and get their assignment earlier.

After the Major Listing, there are sometimes people who place their bids and for one reason or another, do not receive an assignment.  There will then be an updated list which will come out with remaining positions and potentially any newly available positions in which they can then place bids again.

Bidding Process
When bidding for assignments, the list of positions will contain the position name, the position backstop (functional area), the FS grade level, a paragraph description of the position's responsibilities, and a contact person for the position.  Bidders must review the list for positions they are interested in and should then begin doing their research on that position and the Mission.

Research should include things such as how the management is and who other colleagues will be at the Mission, who the Mission Director is, how morale is at the Mission, the type of work, etc.  People with children must also consider things such as quality of schooling and things like that.  Often the best insight can be through contacts one knows at the Mission or people who have worked there before.

After researching, the next step is express interest to the contact person listed for that position.  This includes sending information about yourself such as your resume and references (typically must be USAID references).  This will let the Mission know that you are considering the post and get your name out there.  Additionally, if you contacted others currently working at that Mission, they may be able to do some additional vouching for your capabilities and character.  Following all this, the Mission will often contact your references and may schedule phone interviews with short-listed candidates.

Whew, definitely like applying for a job again!

Toward the time when you must input your bid selections into the USAID internal bidding system, candidates generally will have discussed with the Missions individuals they are most interested in and have an understanding of what rank the bidder will put the Mission and what rank the Mission will put the candidate.  The selections will then all go to Washington where HR, the person's function backstop representative, and the Mission will review the selections and make all the assignments.

It's a nerve-wracking process this first time around and a lot of considerations in trying to plan for the future.  We'll see how it all comes out in the end...

In the meantime, happy Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr from USAID Indonesia!

At our Iftar (breaking fast) Celebration

Catching Up: Work and 2-year Anniversary

Things have been busy these days. Work continues, writing and completing my second annual review (2 years now with USAID!), seeing more and more of Indonesia and Jakarta, and more. 

Working in my office, I've been learning and gaining different experiences that will serve as lessons learned and fundamentals for decisions and judgement calls to be made in the future.  This section of the post will be a bit of a stream of conscious on my impressions with work so far.  Working in the Office of Acquisition and Assistance  has been a very interesting experience and I'm really enjoying it.  There are advantages and disadvantages, of course, when comparing to other different assignments one could have, but I think the former greatly outweigh the latter.

Some particular examples of things I've enjoyed so far:

• Contracting Officers see almost all of the Mission's portfolio of the projects that are being implemented providing a good understanding and knowledge of how everything fits together and what is being accomplished.
• Great involvement in key decisions about how development projects are implemented.  Take any sort of development challenge in any area (health, democracy/human rights, environment, education, etc) and work in a team to determine a method, partner with whom, role of USAID, how to make sustainable, etc.
• Continued involvement throughout the life of the project in its implementation and progress towards results.
• Building a knowledge base and experiences that will be applicable to any project or assignment in the future.  What I mean by this is that many experience/situations and knowledge learned in this position will be applicable in future assignments.  There are an infinite number of "what-if situations" that routinely emerge and these sort of serve as case studies for decision making and problem analysis for others.

Some disadvantages:

• With large portfolios and seeing so many projects, can never have the depth of involvement and understanding that technical officers will have for a particular project.  Technical Officers will focus much of their attention on just a few projects and naturally be much more involved and know a lot more about that particular subject matter.
• Less travel and event attendance.  I wasn't sure whether to categorize this as an advantage or disadvantage because it largely depends on life circumstance and preference.  But Technical Officers spend much more time in the field doing site visits, kick-off events, or accompanying visitors when they want to see projects.  This means much more time spent traveling rather being in the office thus allowing one to see much more of the country on the government's dime, but a lot less time being home.  If you're single, this is most likely a great situation but otherwise, perhaps not as desirable. 
• Less involvement in the strategy of development programming.  In terms of  specifics of a technical area, Contracting Officers may have less to bring forward as we aren't as knowledgeable to the extent on specific areas.  Rather, we involved more in the "how" rather than the "what" in development and international cooperation.

Looking forward to work to come.  Need another 6 months at the Mission before I can become a "real" Contracting Officer which occurs upon being granted a warrant.   What this essentially means is that I will then be able to award contracts or grants on behalf of the US government at that point versus preparing the documentation and the pre-award work for a warranted officer to sign (though going through this process of preparing everything are essential responsibilities and key skills to have!).

In other news, last week noted my second year anniversary since joining USAID and the Foreign Service.  With this anniversary came my second promotion to class 4.  This now means I enter the regular cycle for annual reviews for the future and will compete among other officers at class 4 competitively for future promotions rather than being evaluated for satisfactory performance to class.

Lastly, was able to take my first field visit to Banda Aceh.  More to come on this!

A boat displayed on a house from the 2004 Tsunami in Banda Aceh

Types of USAID FSO Positions

There really isn't a spot on USAID's website that really explains the different roles or positions (Backstops) that USAID FSO's can take anymore.  So below is what used to be on USAID's website that explains in a general sense the roles each type of officer can play.  Of course, every assignment an officer takes is different and duties and capacities can vary greatly:

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

USAID Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) apply both technical knowledge and a variety of program design, management and evaluation expertise in order to ensure that U.S. government foreign assistance programs meet the needs of partners and beneficiaries in a cost-effective manner and achieve foreign policy objectives. FSOs work directly with the governments and people of the countries in which we serve and also collaborate with other USAID Offices, the Department of State, other U.S. Government (USG) agencies, other development/donor agencies, and non-governmental entities in the not-for-profit and for-profit private sector. Mid- and senior-level officers normally are responsible for large programs and/or lead offices and teams, whereas junior officers serve as team members and are responsible for specific projects or tasks. The following is a brief description of the positions in the USAID Foreign Service.

Population /Health/Nutrition (PHN) Officer
USAID Population/Health/Nutrition (PHN) officers are responsible for developing, overseeing, managing (staff, financial and technical resources), and evaluating PHN programs in any or all of the following areas: population/family planning and reproductive health; child survival (including immunizations, acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases); maternal health; HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections; infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria; nutrition (including micronutrient supplementation and fortification); social marketing of commodities as well as behavior change endeavors; population, health or nutrition policy reform; operations/programmatic research and biomedical/clinical research; commodity/pharmaceutical logistics and supply chain management; health systems strengthening and health economics. An example of the kind of project a PHN officer would design or manage is the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns, which is transforming traditional birthing practices by collaborating with community-based organizations all over the country.

Economist
Economists at USAID provide technical expertise to country, regional, and agency-wide programs, as well as directly to developing country governments. They carry out strategic analysis of current trends and emerging opportunities and challenges as an input to strategic planning. They also apply economic analysis and insight to help guide decisions concerning the allocation of resources among sectors, program design within sectors, and programs affecting cross-cutting issues such as environment or gender. In addition, USAID economists help design and implement programs directed at achieving more rapid, sustained and broad-based growth economic growth. In this capacity, they develop project proposals, prepare technical project specifications and related analyses, and initiate related procurement actions. Programs typically emphasize technical assistance and support for capacity-building among the host country government’s key economic policy agencies (central bank, finance ministry, etc.), as well as among private non-government organizations, business associations, think tanks, and academic institutions.

Agriculture Officer
USAID’s Agriculture Officers analyze constraints to agricultural development and recommend action to overcome them. They design, manage and evaluate a wide variety of interventions (including crop and livestock production and marketing, agribusiness development and trade, farm to market roads, irrigation systems, human and institutional capacity development, innovation systems, and agricultural policy) to enhance food security and increase rural livelihoods. They are proactive and utilize performance monitoring plans and evaluations to improve program and sector performance. For example, Agriculture Officers helped poverty-stricken villagers in Guatemala’s Chirijuyú community improve their quality of life through a program that established an association of agricultural producers, Labradores Mayas or “Mayan Workers.” Incomes increased after the producers became certified in international food regulation practices and started selling to international clients.

Education Officer
Education Officers with USAID provide leadership in the review, evaluation and analysis of education sector data and provide advice on education issues. They analyze constraints to development, both sector-wide and country-specific; develop, coordinate and manage strategies (e.g., basic education, higher education), policies, procedures, and guidelines for establishing programs in the education sector; conduct research and assessments; and initiate courses of action. For example, in Liberia USAID Education Officers developed a program that helps war–affected students complete their elementary school education, by allowing students who missed out on schooling due to the collapse of the system to complete six grades in three years. There are nearly 30,000 students nationwide enrolled in these accelerated classes. As education ambassadors, USAID FSOs meet frequently with high level country officials and advocate for sound education policies, programs, and interventions in the country of assignment.

Environment Officer
Environment Officers at USAID serve as technical leaders in strategic planning exercises and the design and management of programs across a wide range of development issues including climate change, natural resource management (forests, wetlands, wildlife and coastal and marine zones), biodiversity, water, energy, pollution prevention, environmental law, tourism, and urban programs -- that maximize environmental, social and economic benefits. Officers conduct policy and trends analyses and provide technically expert leadership to inform planning exercises at the country, regional, agency, and inter-agency scale. At a country level, officers analyze the status of environmental threats, environmental policy and governance, and their environmental impact. They coordinate and negotiate with host country and US government officials, community organizations, universities, Non-Governmental Organizations, corporations, other donors, and other USAID partners on what needs to be done and how best to accomplish it within the framework of the US foreign assistance program and the context of American foreign policy. For example, USAID partnered with the Government, Non-Governmental Organizations, and local communities in Namibia over a fifteen year period to empower local people to manage, sustain and benefit from their natural resources, particularly wildlife, through community conservancies. This highly successful partnership established 50 conservancies that improve management of over 14.5% of Namibia’s landmass and benefit 220,620 previously disadvantaged Namibians with an increase in their annual income reaching $5.6 million dollars.

Private Enterprise Officer
Private Enterprise Officers with USAID work across sectors and institutions in the public and private sectors to stimulate economic growth and create an environment in which private enterprise can flourish. Officers serve as a technical resource in their missions, assessing data and providing assistance and advice on economic growth issues. They assist in developing and managing strategies, policies, plans, procedures and guidelines for a wide array of private enterprise programs in the economic growth sector (e.g., enterprise development; commercial law and institutional reform; business association development; financial sector reform; trade and investment; fiscal reform; and economic policy and institutions). Private Enterprise Officers work closely with the USAID Global Development Alliance Office to promote and generate partnerships between USAID and the private sector to support development objectives. In Vietnam, USAID officers worked with the private sector, including Qualcomm and Microsoft, to create or upgrade technology learning centers and bring broadband and voice access to rural areas. The project enables youth to compete for better paying jobs and expands Vietnam’s potential for job creation.

Crisis, Stabilization and Governance Officer
USAID’s Crisis, Stabilization and Governance (CSG) Officers research, plan, negotiate, implement, and evaluate emergency, crisis, transition, humanitarian assistance, food assistance and democracy and governance(which include rule of law, electoral and political processes, civil society and media, and good governance) programs. These programs also include conflict management and mitigation, transitional governance, security sector reform, and demobilization, disarmament and reintegration. CSG officers manage U.S. government financial and human resources, implementation teams, contractors and grantees to achieve specific program objectives and results. CSG officers develop requirements and subsequently manage financial instruments (contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants) with Agency partners. In addition, CSG officers develop strategies, assessments, concept papers, project authorizations, and project amendments in line with regulations and guidance. For example, in the Philippines, CSG officers working in USAID’s Democracy and Governance Office carried out a program that strengthened the capacity of the Human Rights Commission to investigate and prosecute human rights abuses. The program contributed to a significant drop in extra-judicial killings of political activists and journalists. In Ethiopia, CSG officers working for USAID’s Food for Peace office arranged to move U.S. donated food to feed chronically malnourished children, while officers working for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance directed the USG’s response to the tsunami in Indonesia.

Engineering Officer
Engineering Officers with USAID provide technical expertise in design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure facilities and other construction projects including water and sanitation infrastructure, roads and transportation, energy, hospitals, clinics, schools and other public facilities and housing). Officers research and analyze data, and provide construction management advice and services (design and bid documents for performance-based and incentives contracts, design-build and design-bid-build contracts, construction oversight and management services, etc.) using advanced engineering techniques that support lesser cost, decreased construction time, or better product. Officers are experts concerning the requirements for constructing and designing any project under host country standards and laws and are responsible for reviewing, modifying, accepting, or rejecting claims which builders may present for additional compensation and/or extension of time, considering the legal and engineering constraints of the contract. In Egypt, USAID engineers have advised on projects from renovated classrooms in the country’s most remote regions to Cairo’s main power stations and water treatment facilities.

Executive Officer
Executive Officers are key to the functioning of our overseas Missions and serve as primary advisors to the country Director on administrative matters. Executive Officers provide overall direction for general service operations, facilities management, information technology and security, occupational safety and health programs, and construction management. Officers possess strong knowledge of federal rules, regulations and guidelines concerning management issues and develop/monitor internal systems and procedures ensuring efficient and proper use of government resources within the mission. Executive Officers collaborate with all other Mission units on staffing and workforce planning issues; plan and direct the personnel management operations; coordinate training and staff development activities; and provide counseling to employees and their families on a wide range of subjects(e.g. allowances, education, medical evacuations). They sign administrative procurements and personnel contracts. Executive Officers represent USAID on numerous inter-agency committees such as the Housing Board, the Interagency Administrative Council, and the Post Employment Committee. The Executive Officer interacts regularly with the Embassy Management Officer, Budget and Finance Officer and General Services Officer and collaborates with the Regional Security Office and USAID’s Office of Security to ensure compliance with and implementation of all security programs. In addition, officers are responsible for the administrative budget for the Mission in coordination with the Controller. The Executive Officer provides regular advice to USAID implementing partners on administrative issues.

Contracting Officer
Foreign Service Contracting Officers with USAID serve as one of the key business advisors in our overseas Missions. Unlike many other agencies, USAID Contracting Officer responsibilities include the negotiation, award and administration of both acquisition and assistance and as such, officers must possess detailed knowledge of federal and agency acquisition and assistance laws regulations and policies. USAID Contracting Officers use their expertise to support key programs in support of US foreign policy interests including disaster assistance, HIV/AIDs, and environmental programs. Contracting Officers train and support technical staff in the implementation and monitoring of sound development programs while ensuring compliance with award terms and conditions.

Program/Project Development Officer
Program/Project Development Officers play a critical role in planning and managing USAID programs worldwide. They are responsible for country strategy development, policy formulation, performance reporting, programming/budgeting of resources, coordinating with other donors and USG agencies, and public communications and outreach. Program/Project Officers also ensure sound planning, design and implementation of a wide variety of international development programs, by providing policy guidance, advice and support to technical program teams in the overseas field missions. They make sure cross-cutting issues such as gender, climate change, food security, youth, and other issues are included in projects as appropriate, and that programs comply with federal law and agency policy. They prepare and negotiate program agreements with host country governments. Duties also include building alliances with clients and partners, supporting senior management decision-making, defining strategic development objectives, monitoring and evaluating performance, and managing the budget cycle.

Financial Management Officer
Financial Management Officers with USAID work as members of the USAID Controller’s team. The Controller is a member of the Mission’s senior management team charged with the responsibility of accounting and budgeting for Mission operations and conducting a broad range of financial analyses on Agency programs and local implementing partners, including host country financial systems. The officer will assist the Controller to provide advice and assistance to all components of the Mission regarding financial practices and procedures applicable to program implementation. Financial reporting responsibilities include providing Mission management with the information necessary to make operating decisions, as well as providing USAID/Washington with uniform information for central reporting and monitoring. The officer can be expected to liaise with the Inspector General (investigations and audits) staff, and local CPA firms approved by the IG, to review and comment on audit report findings, and work with the Mission to address and close findings. At the request of the Ambassador or the USAID Director, the officer could assist the Controller to perform self-audits or analyses of various USAID field activities or internal administrative operations.

First impressions of Indonesia

Made it to post and I'm now in Indonesia and finally got internet.  Jakarta is very much a very busy, crowded city.  I can't help but make comparisons to the only other SE Asia city I know, Bangkok, but am working to stop that and understand the city for itself.

It's very crowded, traffic lives up to its reputation, and the pollution is rough.  I've lived in Beijing before as well as spent time in Bangkok, but Jakarta really beats them out in these two categories.  I think what really is a game changer in the traffic and pollution categories is public transportation infrastructure.  Beijing has it's subway system and Bangkok has the sky-train: these really make a significant difference.

Housing in Jakarta is pretty nice.  I'm in government owned housing temporarily which is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment but the living room and dining room are spacious and it's walkable within 5-10 minutes to work.  Later, I'll be moved to one of the many sky-rise apartments in this city.  In both cases, the housing is nice and a significant step up from where I was at in DC for the past year (renting a room in a basement).

The embassy community in Jakarta is very large.  Spent the first couple days getting acclimated and doing various tasks related to in-processing: HR related forms and tasks, begging IT in DC to close my account so the Jakarta Mission could open one for me, security and health briefings, and courtesy meetings with senior management within AID and the embassy.

One perspective that has changed for me is my attitude toward doing rotations.  For Junior Officers with AID, our first tour is actually classified as a training position.  Depending on the post/Mission, there are varying ways this is implemented.  Some have first tour officers work directly in their functional area throughout their entire tour to improve their skills and knowledge in that field.  Others will do a mix of work in their functional areas combined with rotations throughout the Mission in other offices.   The ADS Chapter on USAID's Foreign Service Career Officers has more in-depth information.

At first, I was inclined to want to stay in my functional area to really develop and show off my capabilities in that work.  However, after speaking with several senior leaders in the Mission, I was often advised to consider really taking advantage of this opportunity to work in the other functional areas and gain breadth of knowledge of how USAID Missions operate.  This would allow me to better understand development and provide insight to make me a better leader in the future.  So now, I'm planning my rotations but keeping in close contact with my home office.  While rotating to various offices, I'll continue to perform minor assistance/acquisition actions.  I think with the experiences I've had in DC and BKK so far coupled with the new rotations throughout the Mission, I'll be well-equipped as I progress through my career.  We'll see.


And now, just a few pics from some places I've passed by in the brief time I've been here.

Interesting bar name.

The statues in front of the luxury malls Grand Indonesia and Plaza Indonesia.

Fashion show within the mall.

I like to call these "snake-fruit" due to their appearance and texture.

Nice presentation for displaying bananas.

Junior Officer Training

With my DC based assignment coming soon to a close, I'd like to reflect back and explain the training for new FSOs while in Washington.

New FSOs coming in can typically expect a timeline such as:

1. Orientation (5 weeks)
• USAID brings in new Officers in classes.  Classes are composed of a mixture of Officers of various functions (backstops) that the Agency is needing at that point in time.   
• During these 5 weeks, new employees complete administrative paperwork for in-processing and benefits; obtain mandatory briefing on various USAID policies; are introduced to USAID programs, operations, and structure; are briefed on career development and leadership; and are given the opportunity to network and bond with classmates.
• At the end of these 5 weeks, a ceremony is held to "graduate" from orientation.  This is a family and friend event and typically features the Administrator as the keynote speaker.  Before, they used to present overseas assignments at this time, but due to a backlog in the assignment process, that is no longer done.
2. Move to functional office (1 week)
• After the 5 week orientation, Officers spend a week in their home Office of their backstop.  During the time in DC, each new FSO will have a supervisor whom they will report to and work under to obtain on-the-job training (OJT) and familiarity with operations of DC.
3. Consolidated Training (1 week)
• A week away in their home office, the class is brought back together again to receive additional mandatory training.  This includes working across cultures, training on the Automated Directives System (ADS - internal policy and regulations of USAID), and others.
4. Functional Training (~10-16 weeks)

• Each backstop has a plethora courses and training that are specific to them.  Plus, there are additional mandatory trainings on things like Programming Foreign Affairs, Environmental Compliance, etc. that all Officers must take.
5. Language Training (~24 weeks)
• Depending on if you have language ability that can be tested at the required level at the Foreign Service Institute to make tenure and if you are going to language designated position for your assignment, then most Officers spend some time here.  
• I found language training to be a pretty enjoyable experience.  It's great meeting people from all different Agencies and language learning, if one is so inclined, can be fun.
6. OJT/Rotations (It depends but perhaps about 2-4 months)
• Between functional training and before/after language training, then new Officers work in their home offices practicing their trade.  Some people have a mixed experience here depending on their supervisor and the work going on at the time.  It's difficult for the supervisors because if an Officer schedules training so they are gone every other week, then they really can't provide substantial responsibility to be completed and then some DC based personnel view incoming FSOs as too transient to give responsibility.
• Generally, I think it was important plan out trainings to be well spaced apart to give adequate time to integrate to the team and demonstrate capability.  Additionally, this is also the opportunity for Officers to rotate to whichever Bureaus they feel would be beneficial to their experience.  So one could work as an assistant to the desk officer of your assignment country, spend a month learning how to award contracts or grants, or work with one of the bureaus on new program design.
7. Temporary Duty Assignments (TDY)
• In additional to all this, there are also various opportunities for new Officers to take details to different Missions for assignments.  These range from assisting Missions in developing their new long-term strategies, evaluating cooperating countries' financial systems, or reviewing portfolios and compliance of Missions.  Mainly, these assignments must be unique opportunities that could not be obtained in Washington or your onward assignment.  That and budget, of course.  But these opportunities tend to arise more often than one thinks.

The average time most people spend in Washington is probably about a year if they need language training.  But there are some cases where individuals move to their overseas assignment almost immediately.  For me, it will be about a year and a half, but the last few months are mainly just working in Washington until I can replace the person in my onward position.

I feel fortunate that I had a pretty good team to work with in Washington and anticipate being fairly capable when I move on, though I still tend to learn something new every day!  There are also many different people to meet around the home office and you never know when that network could help in the future.

Protocol and U.S. Representation Abroad

Spent my Saturday attending a course at the Foreign Service Institute on the basics of protocol and representation.  It was an interesting class with near 40 people giving up their Saturday.  The majority of the class was made up of representatives from State but there were also a handful of other agencies represented.  I was the only officer there from USAID, as it is a recommended but not mandatory class.

The "protocol" portion is defined as the "set of rules prescribing good manners and customs internationally recognized by diplomats".  Diplomatic protocol, it seems, came about during the Congress of Vienna in 1815 where diplomatic titles were agreed upon as well as general guidelines of protocol (ex. addressing others, introductions, hierarchy, formal entertaining/representational events).  This included fun exercises such as a coffee reception exercise where each person had the objective of making contact with a designated person they did not know; practice introducing another person; and arranging seating for a formal dinner. 

Diplomatic Titles Established by the Congress of Vienna in Use Today

Diplomatic Ranks	Consular Ranks
Ambassador	Consul General
Minister	Consul
Minister-Counselor	Vice Consul
Counselor
Attache (military and civilian)
First Secretary
Second Secretary
Third Secretary

The U.S. Representation portion basically meant the emphasis of good etiquette and the importance of appearance for U.S. officials abroad.  This included basics such as dining etiquette (very much mirroring business dining etiquette) and entertaining others.  I felt some great refreshers were with business card etiquette, RSVPing (always within 48 hours!), working representational events, and the importance of appearance (dress appropriately, be confident).

I felt the class was a pretty good use of time.  It was a good reminder of good etiquette at the very least and I think would be a useful class for anyone, going abroad or not.

As a sidenote, USAID just put up their new website which looks pretty sharp.

Civil Service (GS) to Foreign Service (FS) to Military Officers (O) Comparison

Inter-agency coordination is very important in foreign affairs.  There are actually around seven different agencies that have foreign operations.  When working with others, especially in the Embassy/Mission, understanding the chain of command will help.  Below is a chart of how the various grade levels approximately compare.

Most junior officers tend to enter the Foreign Service at the FS-06 level, particularly low on the totem pole compared to our counterparts.  However, Foreign Service Officers are administratively promoted each year to FS-04 where they will then enter competitive status among other FSOs for future promotions. 

Civil Service (GS) to Foreign Service (FS) to Military Officers (O)

***UPDATE 9/28/2014: In my experience thus far with the Foreign Service, this comparison chart has pretty much no validity or function in reality.  The Civil/Foreign Service comparison to military counterparts are not used for anything and would be laughable, and/or embarrassing, if used.  And for Civil/Foreign Service comparisons, the most it might be used for are comparisons for salaries in the event of a Civil Service to Foreign service conversion.

State Foreign Service Hiring Process

I went through the State Dept. hiring process before as well.  The stages are fairly similar with the exception of the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) being the first step to the process.  I was eliminated at the Oral Assessment (OA) phase.  But if you pass the OA, then it's pretty much the same as USAID in regards to obtaining clearances.


Everything with State begins at their website.  Actually, the whole process is outlined very clearly there!
http://careers.state.gov/officer/selection-process

Instead of picking a specific position or backstop, State's positions are a bit more general.  State has 5 main career ladders or "cones".  Every cone though will have to do a tour or two doing Consular work which means working Visas for people wanting to come to the US or assisting Americans abroad even if they are not in the "Consular" cone.

FSOT & Language Test
While filling in your basic information in the application, you will also have the opportunity to indicate whether you have any language capabilities.  After completing the application, you have to select a test date to take the FSOT.  The test reminds me of the ACT or GMAT in that you'll take it in one of the various testing centers where they hold those tests.  Even more similar is that like those other standardized tests, they even offer an official test preparation guide! http://www.act.org/fsot/.

After taking the test, if you indicated you had a language skill, you may be requested to do an over the phone language test as you will receive bonus points to your score in the very end if you pass the OA.  I believe this is only done if you indicate a language ability for one of their critical priority languages (ie. Chinese Mandarin, Arabic).  The test will involve you, the tester, and a listener.  You will then basically have a conversation with the tester and based off of how you can communicate they will indicate a rating and add that to your candidate file (http://www.govtilr.org/).

Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP)
If you successfully pass the FSOT, you will be invited to the QEP stage.  Basically, it's like the original application with USAID.  There will be various questions on your experience and you will be prompted to provide a short answer response on that.  After providing your response to these questions, then your file is sent to the  Board of Examiners (BEX) and they will categorize you based off your selected cone and review candidate profiles based off their QEP responses, their FSOT score, language proficiency, etc.  Basically, like reviewing an application but they have a lot more information to use in their determination.  This will take another month or two until results from this are released.

Oral Assessment (OA)
The structure of this in-person interview is similar to USAID.  There are three components being the Group Exercise, Case Study, and Structured Interview.  One marked difference is that candidates from all different cones are assessed together in State rather than USAID which evaluates candidates of a similar position together.  After the day of testing is complete, State provides immediate feedback of whether you will move on or not.  Candidates will be placed in a room and called out.  If you are not successful, you will be greeted by two of the examiners and be given a file with your results for the day and be given the chance to ask any questions.  I was at least pleased that in the file they gave me, they noted I passed the over the phone language test for Mandarin.

If you are successful, then you will begin the clearance process and eventually be placed on a register for eligible hires.  A good group that discusses the OA can be found at this address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fsoa/

Candidacy Timeline:
August 2009
Submitted application to take FSOT.

October 2009
Took the FSOT.

November 2009
Received confirmation of passing the FSOT and invitation to submit narratives for QEP.
Scheduled and took phone language test for Mandarin.

January 2010
Received confirmation of passing QEP.

February 2010
Registered to take the FSOA.

April 2010
Took the FSOA in DC.


*Disclaimer: If any of this violates the Non-disclosure Agreement, please let me know and I will remove.  To the best of my knowledge, the posting contains general information readily available at the State Department website or is generic in nature for disclosure*

USAID Foreign Service Hiring Process

USAID is one of 4 agencies that use the Foreign Service classification system.  Their process is similar in some ways to the State Dept. with the main difference of not requiring what is called the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT).

It all begins with their website http://www.usaid.gov/careers/.

At the website, you can get all sorts of information about what the Foreign Service is, what the different positions are (called "Backstops" in USAID lingo), and what vacancies they have.  After that, it's as simple as applying like any other job.  The initial application is a bit more intense than some other jobs in that you'll need to write several short answer responses to questions on your experience as it relates to various key skills of the position you are applying to.  Just note, pretty much all positions have a requirement for a graduate degree.

Afterward, if you are selected, you'll be contacted for an interview in Washington DC for their Oral Assessment.

USAID Oral Assessment
The interview or "Oral Assessment" is similar to that of the State Department.  There will be 3 components for your interview which will include a Case Study (write a memo or response to a situation relevant to the position for which you applied), a Group Exercise (discuss and develop a solution to a case study with the other candidates), and then Structured Interview (same as typical interview) with a panel consisting of a HR type, a FSO, and a Technical expert in your position.  After the day is complete, you will be finished and you can expect to receive a response on whether you will be accepted from 2 weeks to a month.  They will follow up with references that you provide and your package of your scoring from the interview, your experience, and your reference responses will be forwarded to a final panel for determination (Keep in mind this is partially made from assumptions combined with my experience.  Actual internal process may differ).

Security/Medical Clearance Process
If you are successful, you will begin the Pre-employment process.  This consists of obtaining a Security Clearance and Medical Clearance.  Lots of information will be provided on the specifics of this process but expect it to take several months at least to obtain these.  Security Clearance should be ok so long as you have good credit, have a fairly clean background, and have kept a good record of places you have lived/worked and can have different references vouch/confirm.

Medical has many conditions but you'll probably be able to obtain clearance if you could probably live in a isolated country with limited to no medical facilities available.  USAID positions are often deemed as very "Technical" positions so a chance for a limited medical clearance may be possible if your position is in a "critical" or priority backstop.


Final Suitability Review/Position Availability
Once these hurdles are cleared, you will be on their register or list of eligible candidates.  Cleared candidates are grouped by their backstop and then often rank-ordered.  A panel will then review the eligible candidates and make their selection on those to appoint.  For the past two years, every other month or so would be an orientation class where they hire new batches of candidates.  In a conversation with the DLI hiring coordinator, he mentioned they are trying to keep a good queue of a couple hundred people to select and hire from.

General advice through this process is to be prepared with all the information that is expected of you in regards to the Security Clearance and Medical Clearance.  For Security, have lists of different references for all the places you lived/worked and a supplemental list of people they can contact and meet with.  For Medical, if you have any conditions, be sure to get a written opinion from your physicians and send that all with your packet.  Finally, patience is important because as this is a federal government position, the whims of politicians, budgets, and other circumstances can all affect hiring.  Keep in touch with your HR contacts and you'll hopefully make it through.  Also, a forum where many people discuss the USAID Foreign Service is found here: http://federalsoup.federaldaily.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4834&PN=1&title=usaid-junior-officer

My Candidacy Timeline:

January 2010

Submitted Application online

April 2010

Referral List Issued – Referred to Selecting Official

June 2010

Invitation to Interview

June 2010

Interview at USAID.

July 2010

Request to submit updated references

August 2010

All references submitted, application sent to USAID HR.

Pre-Employment Selection.

Security Clearance (EQIP) request submitted.

September 2010

Temporary Security Clearance Granted

Medical clearance form submitted.

October 2010

Personal interview for Security Clearance.

November 2010

Medical clearance received.

Received Salary Offer.

December 2010

Full TS Clearance Granted

Appointment received to DLI 16 beginning January 2011.  Requested Deferral - Granted.

January 2011

Appointment received to DLI 17 beginning in March 2011.

*Disclaimer: If any of this violates the Non-disclosure Agreement, please let me know and I will remove.  To the best of my knowledge, the posting contains general information readily available at the USAID website or is generic in nature for disclosure*