DNC'ing It?

So as a complete surprise, I am now on the Economic Affairs track register. As of this week, I was told by my DOS contact that I'm #32 out of 69 or so people on the list. That means I could get called soon. Real soon. Assuming everyone in front of me is not DNC-ing (DNC= Do Not Call), I could get an offer as soon as June/July for the August A-100. That's a heck of a lot sooner than I thought it would be.

After I passed the OA, I received my very first ever un-prompted email from my in-laws asking about when I might get a real offer. Sadly, not a congratulatory email as much as a how-soon-are-you-going-to-take-our-daughter-and-granddaughters-away-from-us-you-selfish-bastard email. Guesstimating on how things were at the time, I honestly thought it was a safe assumption that December of this year would be the earliest I could get called up. Apparently, the combination of my more boring than expected life with a more-efficient than expected DSS process resulted in my happy placement on the register.

But now, to paraphrase the greatest television show ever*, this is when the FSOWannabes stop being polite, and start getting real. As readers of this blog know, Mrs. FSOWannabe is supportive, but extremely conflicted with giving up her own career in this process, as well as what FS life will entail for her and the kids. She always regretted not spending time abroad, but now that it's literally within reach, it's a bit scary (and to be fair, her idea of living abroad was a year in Europe as a student, not living somewhere with a 30% differential and all the attendant issues that come with that).

And as helpful and supportive as all the FSOs, EFMs, trailing spouses/partners, MOHers have been in describing how life can be for a trailing spouse, it is not something Mrs. FSOWannabe is prepared to be. I fell in love with her ornery, feisty, red-headed drive to be the best, so her reluctance to give up her law gig is understandable and I can't say this is unexpected (and to be fair, she can't say that this situation is unexpected for her, either, since this has been something I've dreamed and thought about since my college days). Not that this is an immovable object/irresistible force situation - we're both lawyers after all, so we negotiate.

For now, the Mrs. and I are signing up for the June FSOT to see if we can be a tandem couple (and for me to open another career track to expand my options/timing). I have every confidence she'll pass. And then we'll see if she can get past the dreaded QEP (which held her up last June). In the interim, I'm seriously contemplating being a DNC until the end of this year in order to (1) see how the tandem thing goes, (2) give the in-laws some more adjustment time and (3) take care of some professional goals of my own. It's a gamble. State's budget could get curtailed. Other cones have been swamped with candidates so by the time December comes by I could be way back on the register. Even worse, Mrs. FSOWannabe could definitively decide that the FS life is not for her.

But I'm an optimist by nature. So let's see what happens.

*Not really. Everyone knows the greatest TV show ever was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Trailing Spouse

One of the potential challenges facing the FSOWannabe family is what to do about Mrs. FSOWannabe's career. She is a senior attorney at a major international law firm and over the years has developed friends, clients and regular work that she cherishes. Giving that up in order to become a trailing spouse, moving every couple of years to wherever State decides to send us, and leaving a career and profession behind that she has worked very hard for, would be a tremendous sacrifice.

Obviously, I'm not springing a FS life on her (she is, and has been, very supportive). But the potential and the reality of FS life are very different things. Given that her firm has offices in DC, as well as offices worldwide, there is a slight hope that she might be able to continue working for her firm either in different offices, if possible, or by telecommuting. The likelihood of that, not to mention the sustainability, is rather low.

The AAFSW website devotes serious attention to the work (or lack of work) issues that my wife may one day face. And a recent post by Diplopundit links to the State Department's Expanded Professional Associates Program, which is designed to provide Eligible Family Members with employment at post by filling unfilled positions (which, from the description, include FSO positions).

In our private discussions, we have talked about her continuing to apply for a FSO position; as well as to think about opportunities to either work with, or possibly start, a NGO. Alternatively, there is always the possibility of finding legal work in most countries, since American trained lawyers are valued (even in non-common law jurisdictions). Granted, these discussions might be worthless if I end up not receiving my clearances, failing final adjudication or dying on the register.

Regardless of our fortunes on the FSO trail, thinking of these issues makes me respect all the trailing spouses out there; particularly the ones that left careers behind. I think State should be providing annual awards to you men and women, too.

So What Happened the Last Six Months?

Now that the easy part of the FSOA process is behind me, I feel like I can blog a bit more regularly now. I'm a bit anal when it comes to preparing for things within my control. And although I never do as much as I would like, I spent the last six months working on PNQ's and gaming the FSOA rather than spending time on the blog. And really, who wants to read a blog about studying? Some of the joy of blogging about this process evaporated when Mrs. FSOWannabe didn't make it past the PNQ stage. The lack of feedback at the PNQ stage, I think, has discouraged her from trying again, although she recently mentioned testing again in June. I hope she does, because it would be fantastic to be a tandem couple.

In addition, 2009 was a tumultuous year for my family, which definitely killed the blog for a bit. Shortly after taking the FSOT, I found out that despite my law firm's strident claims that they never engaged in layoffs, my entire department in NY (including dear friends and colleagues) was let go. Not that I blame the firm, frankly. My field of structured finance, a several trillion dollar industry at its height, ceased to exist almost over night at the end of 2007. I'd managed to escape the bloodletting but my billables were few and far between, and I was no exception in my department. After talking with my managing partner about being seconded to a client in Tokyo (which fell apart when when they offered a transfer...but without my family), there were no really good options. So I cut a deal, got a payout, and am now on funemployment. On top of that, my mother was diagnosed with uterine cancer at the same time that my father fell down a mountain and broke a bunch of ribs while "hiking" (falling?) the Appalachian Trail. My daughter, FSOWannabe Brat Ichi (who suffers from febrile seizures) was hospitalized for a week; and Mrs. FSOWannabe, to show her up, decided to get hospitalized for a week as well. So...a stressful year. Luckily, my family is fine now (mother is A-OK following surgery, Dad's ribs are healed, Mrs. FSOWannabe and FSOWannabe Brats Ichi and Segunda are all healthy).

I had been looking for new work since last January, but unfortunately my skill set is fairly hard to place in the legal industry outside of NYC. At the end of December, I was grateful to receive a job offer for a position starting in August 2010. So my funemployment will continue while I focus on spending time with the Brats and hitting the gym everyday. And, of course, I hope to blog a bit more, too.

FSOT First Contact

From Mrs. FSOwannabe's email:

"Dear FSOT Candidate:

Our records indicate that you have registered to take the Foreign Service Officer Test. The next test will be offered June 6-13, 2009.

An invitation to schedule your test seat will be issued soon by ACT, the contract test administrator, on a staggered schedule according to the career track you chose when you registered. You may not change your career track choice.

E-mail invitations to schedule a seat will be issued first to Management candidates beginning on April 27, then to Economic and Consular candidates on April 29, and finally to Political and Public Diplomacy candidates on May 5. After those dates, any candidate who registers before the deadline and receives an invitation to schedule a test seat may do so immediately.

Once you receive the scheduling invitation, you will be able to log in to your ACT account and review the available dates and times at all testing locations. We encourage you to schedule your seat promptly, as demand has increased greatly in recent months."

I haven't received the email yet, but I registered a bit later than Mrs. FSOwannabe. I'll start to panic if I haven't received it by next Tuesday.

I think this is the first time that the FSOT has been open to registration based on the cone one picks. Obvious from the dates, it looks like the Foreign Service is in need of management cone FSOs first, then consular and economic, with political and public diplomacy in last place for need, which I guess makes sense since the political and public diplomacy cones are typically considered the "sexy" cones.