So I got some good news today!  My file had been reviewed 5 times so far by various groups within the Department of State, but this final review was the only thing keeping me from becoming a fully-vetted candidate and being placed on the “register,” and it came through today!!  😀  6 Reviews and approvals later and I ALMOST have an official job offer.

But wait….didn’t I post on Facebook that I’d already been through my final review? 

Why yes, yes I did…my bad.  A little mixup lead me to believe I was done with the process, but as it turns out they needed another look at my file.  I don’t know if it was my international travel or my recent obsession with Thai food, but they felt the need to look into my background a little more and make sure I was a good fit for the position.  Luckily after almost 3 months (in a review that typically takes 2 weeks) they gave me the final stamp of approval, saying I was Foreign Service material, and that I was now officially a candidate.

So from here, I have another bit of waiting to do.  Due to all of the budget shenanigans going on in DC, things in the federal government are trying to play catch-up, so they can’t officially sign off when the next training class will be, or how many from my specialty (IT support) they will choose for that class.  They could take all of us, a few of us, or none of us, it totally depends on the needs of the department.  In all likelihood I am PROBABLY going to receive a spot in the training class that begins in January, though it isn’t even remotely set in stone.

My placement on the register is ranked according to the score I received at my interview that took place in July.  (OK yes it was my “oral assessment” but people keep turning that into an innuendo so now I’m just going to call it my interview…you dirty birds.)  You can receive bonus points (and therefore a better placement) if you are a veteran or speak one of the foreign languages they are looking for (Chinese, Arabic, Korean, etc…they don’t care about my limited German…Was ist deine Telefonnummer?).   You can spend up to 18 months on a register awaiting placement, and if you don’t get a position within that time frame, you are dropped as a candidate and have to start the process allllll over.  Now the score I received was pretty solid , but I didn’t receive any bonus points, so I estimate that I am somewhere in the top half of the list…my chances of making it for the next class are pretty good.  I can’t imagine going through this whole ordeal and not getting a placement…ouch.  Let’s just assume it won’t happen, ok?  My poor heart couldn’t handle it.

Once I receive an offer to attend the training class, and I accept the position, I’ll go through the process of moving to DC for training.  I’ll do a follow-up post on how that stuff goes later.  For now I’m going to just keep smiling and being excited about making this far….WOO!