what is it like to be a diplomat
Ardastra Gardens in Nassau, The Commonwealth of the bahamas.
Once again nosotros render to our Then You Want My Chore series, in which we interview men who are employed in desirable jobs and ask them well-nigh the reality of their piece of work and for advice on how men tin can live their dream.
Compared to other regime agencies like, say, the FBI or CIA, the Foreign Service doesn't get a whole lot of attention. But becoming a Strange Service Officeholder, besides known every bit a diplomat, is a job yous really should consider if you're a homo who enjoys travel and learning nigh other cultures, is looking for adventure, and, as the State Department puts it, "you're passionate virtually public service" and have a want to "promote peace, back up prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.Southward. abroad." Your assignments can take yous to any of the 265 American embassies effectually the globe, where you may be attending a swanky treaty issue in Europe or fighting man trafficking in Africa. To learn more than about this globe-trotting task, today we turn to Shawn Kobb, a diplomat currently working in Kabul, Afghanistan.
1. Tell us a little almost yourself (Where are yous from? How sometime are you lot? Describe your chore and how long you've been at it, etc.).
I was born in 1977 and grew up in a small boondocks in northern Indiana. I went to Manchester University and studied Communications and Theater. In 2006 I joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, more ordinarily referred to every bit a diplomat. The Foreign Service has a wide diversity of duties, only in short we are the face of the U.S. authorities around the world. Nosotros staff embassies and consulates in virtually every country of the earth and provide help to American citizens overseas. I have lived and worked in Ukraine, the Commonwealth of the bahamas, Washington, D.C., and right now I'thou spending a year in Kabul, Transitional islamic state of afghanistan.
2. Why did you want to become a diplomat? When did yous know it was what you wanted to exercise?
I'm non really sure where I commencement heard almost the Foreign Service. I know subsequently 9/xi I started looking more at government jobs. I besides had a passion for travel that was kickoff sparked by a trip I took in higher to Europe. As well, despite being a small school, Manchester University has ever pulled in a lot of international students and I loved talking to them, learning about their civilisation. Finally, in 2004 I took the starting time part of the Foreign Service test. I found out I passed that portion while checking my email at an internet cafe in Bangkok equally my married woman and I were backpacking around the world.
3. What'due south the best way to ready yourself to join the Foreign Service? What should you major in and what kinds of experiences and skills should you seek?
To exist honest, the sort of degree y'all go after doesn't make much difference. In that location is no educational requirement for the Foreign Service. You take to be able to laissez passer the multi-office Foreign Service examination, though, and that requires a wealth of cognition on many dissimilar subjects, especially history, government, economic science, geography, English, and popular culture. The best manner to prepare is to be a well-rounded student and take classes in a variety of subjects.
four. What is the process for applying to the Foreign Service?
In that location are several portions to the exam and each must be passed before y'all can movement forth to the next step. Showtime there is the written test which is much like any standardized test and includes an essay portion. If you pass that yous will submit a resume and a set of personal narratives explaining your groundwork and experiences. If you pass that portion yous are invited to the dreaded oral assessment. This is a mix of interviews, case management exercises, and a group do along with other applicants where you play the role of embassy officers and have to solve a problem together while observed. Your passing score from the oral assessment determines your identify on the register (the list the State Department pulls from)…that is assuming you besides passed the medical and security checks.
v. What is the Foreign Service Officer test like? How should you prepare for information technology?
The written test is best described as a mix of the SATs and the television game testify Jeopardy. Yous can't only be a large book nerd and hope to pass because while i question may be nigh the consign goods of Brazil, the next might be about the 1991 World Series or the comic strip Dilbert.
The oral assessment is easier to ready for, only much more challenging. Fortunately, there are websites, forums, and even in-person practice sessions conducted by the Land Section to help.
6. How competitive is information technology to be selected as a Foreign Service Officer? What characteristics and background are they looking for in making their selections? Do you demand to know a foreign language?
Some have claimed the Foreign Service exam is i of the toughest exams around. I haven't taken that many so I can't really say, but it is challenging. I don't know the exact pass rates, but I would guess effectually xxx-40% laissez passer the written and mayhap 20-30% pass the oral cess. I call back what the State Department is really looking for is the correct combination of cognition and interpersonal skills. The Foreign Service is foreign in that we both work and live with our colleagues overseas. If you lot are in a country like Yemen or Mozambique, information technology may exist difficult to make friends in the local community so your co-workers are all yous have.
Foreign language skills are a bonus and tin can help heave your scores if you pass the exams, but they don't allow you to sneak in without taking the test. The State Department runs its ain mini-university that teaches more than fourscore foreign languages. I have been trained in Russian and will report German for my adjacent assignment.
Me and my married woman Jennifer at the recent Marine Ball in Kabul.
7. If you lot are selected, practise yous get whatever choice in where you lot are assigned to serve? Practice you become a choice in what kind of job you'll be doing?
For your beginning ii tours you lot are considered an entry level officer and have your consignment directed. Still, you have a lot of say in where y'all get and it is rare that people are sent somewhere they are completely opposed to. Afterwards that you are tenured and commissioned by the President and bid on assignments. Information technology is somewhat like applying for a new task every 2 or three years. You report the listing of vacancies and then start lobbying to get the embassy to select yous. The list of jobs includes not only the location, just also the type of position information technology is.
viii. Speaking of which, what kinds of jobs are available?
I am a Foreign Service Generalist which means that they blazon of assignments I receive can vary from bout to tour. At the same time, we also have a focus. Mine is in management. I tend to do jobs that involve running the diplomatic mission from HR to logistics to finance. An embassy overseas is essentially a small-scale to medium-sized business. In my current consignment in Afghanistan, I supervise more than forty employees and take responsibleness for more than $100 million in assets. In addition to management, we have people who piece of work in political, economic, consular, and public diplomacy career tracks. There are also Foreign Service Specialists who accept a item skill set and they stick with them. They are generally in IT, medical, security, engineering science, and other fields. The hiring mechanism for them is slightly dissimilar.
9. What are some of the unique challenges of being a diplomat?
One of the biggest challenges is also one of the greatest perks and that is living overseas. We move to a new country every few years so while that is exciting, it is too draining. I spend a lot of my life with my possessions in boxes, learning the quirks of a new country, and meeting all new co-workers. It is tough to maintain friendships, peculiarly with those outside of the Foreign Service. We are also very poorly understood by the American public and do not receive much recognition for our efforts.
For every "cush" spot effectually the world, nosotros probably have v that can be quite difficult to live in. All of our posts accept a hardship rating assigned to them ranging from 0% up to 35%. This percent as well comes with a boost in pay. We accept the aforementioned affair for danger. For instance, London would be 0% hardship and danger considering the standard of living is loftier and it isn't especially dangerous (autonomously from typical big city danger). I'thou currently in Kabul and we are 35% hardship, 35% danger — the top of the chart. This is because living here is difficult due to isolation, terrible air quality, piffling infrastructure, lack of medical support, and other solar day-to-day living factors. We're at the top for danger because, well, at that place are a lot of people who would like to kill me if they caught me walking downward the street. I have ii sets of body armor and I had to have courses in earnest sensation, surveillance detection, weapons familiarization, gainsay first aid, and counter-assault driving simply to come up here. When I was assigned to Kyiv, Ukraine we had additional hardship pay because of the danger of fallout radiation from Chernobyl. In the Bahamas…no hardship pay there.
x. What are some of the unique benefits of being a diplomat?
As I said, if you love to travel then the chore is not bad. You tin can also be paid to acquire a foreign language. Before heading off to my next assignment in Vienna, I will be in Washington, D.C. for 7 months studying German full-time and being paid for it. Nosotros also receive free housing overseas and that is a great fiscal perk. Job security is also great and I've had a risk to feel a lot of fabulous events that most Americans can simply dream of and have rubbed elbows with presidents, celebrities, and musicians.
xi. What is the work/family/life balance like for you? Do diplomats' families go to come live where they are assigned?
This is always a tricky question. In full general, I recall work/family balance is very good. Family members can travel along with you to most of our assignments around the globe. A few of the more dangerous locations have restrictions and are considered unaccompanied tours. The State Department also pays for schooling of children, but some international schools are better than others and this must be taken into consideration when bidding for your assignments. It tin be very hard for your spouse to have a solid career due to the constant amount of moving.
12. What is the biggest misconception people have about your job?
The biggest, most frustrating misconception is the fact that most Americans don't even know nosotros exist. Don't ask how many times people have thought I'm in the French Foreign Legion. Also, the Strange Service isn't an intelligence agency and many people seem to think we're spies for some reason. Those that do know we exist recall we spend our time going to cocktail receptions and signing treaties. At that place is certainly a footling flake of that, but most Foreign Service Officers are not assigned to Paris or Geneva. We're in some of the roughest places of the earth: Iraq, Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, Republic of yemen, Sudan, Libya, Papua New Guinea, East Timor. Although we are not engaged in combat, nosotros often serve alongside our military colleagues and we almost always stay backside afterwards they exit. The armed services has pulled out of Iraq, but there are still many Strange Service Officers there working on evolution, women'south rights, business organization, infrastructure projects, etc. A colleague of mine here in Afghanistan was killed very recently by a suicide bomber as she attempted to deliver books to school children. The dangers we confront are very real and I think all any of us want is a fiddling recognition of that, particularly past some members of Congress who regularly disparage our piece of work.
13. Whatever other communication, tips, commentary or anecdotes you'd similar to share?
The U.South. Foreign Service is really more than than just a chore, it is a lifestyle. You can see the world and will have some of the best stories to share. I had the opportunity to mind to Magic Johnson tell stories well-nigh his rivalry with Larry Bird. I scoured the markets of Kyiv, Ukraine in one case for caffeine-gratuitous Diet Pepsi for a Secretary of State. I listened to a Haitian homo seeking a U.S. visa explicate to me that his fingerprints had fallen off during the convulsion and that must be why my computer said he had a criminal record.
I could go along and on with crazy and touching stories. If you are at all interested, I recommend taking the exam. Even if it is on a whim. The test is gratis and if nothing else tin give you great bragging rights if you laissez passer.
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