FSO Wannabe

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Geek Interlude

My last geek interlude wasn't that great. But this one is definitely going to be awesome - it's got James Franco! Freida Pinto! Gollum!!!

I love the A-100 yahoo boards for all the great info. And boy do I hate the A-100 yahoo boards, too. Especially for the gunner posts. I thought I left gunners behind in law school, but the posts by people worrying about getting a call when all they have is a 6.2 score is a bit ridiculous.

Anyhow, given the current economic situation of the US government, maybe the gunner-monkeys should worry. The Senate hasn't passed a budget in over 2 years (gotta love that partisanship). We've been running on CRs for, what, a year now? I can't imagine the House is going to improve any increase in the US debt limit without some budget cuts. And we all know what politicians like to cut first and deepest - those areas where constituents are not likely to be be affected. In other words, any funding that has the words "foreign" attached to it.

For those of us wanting to join the FS, continuing resolutions would at least keep hiring stable at current levels. That might not be the best thing for the country, but there you go. Once a single party has control of Congress and the presidency, or when the adults start running things, then we might get a new budget. Basic math will tell you that everyone should be expecting deep, deep budget cuts in the future once that happens.

I know a lot of FSO's are concerned by the HR1 bill that would cut locality pay for FSOs serving overseas. I agree, it's pretty ridiculous that junior FSOs are essentially the only part of the US government that don't seem to get this. But, I'd also be worried about future layoffs of untenured FSOs and closings of smaller embassies and consulates and a general shrinking of the Foreign Service overall as the politicians look to cut whatever they can that will have the least ramifications for their re-election. And let's not forget long-term pay freezes.

I'm going to have to go re-read this so I can remember why I'm trying to do this.

Monday, May 30, 2011

What Ever Happened to FSOWannabe?

For those of you who might still see my blog from time to time and wonder if I'm still alive...I am.

So what the heck? It's been about ten months since my last real post - quite slacker like. Well...there's good news and bad news. the good news is that EVERY single person in my FSOA study group received an offer to join the FS.

The bad news is that I'm the only one that said no.

As some who used to read this blog may know, or at the very least not be surprised by, the Mrs. FSOWannabe had some deep reservations about the career change. And when the chance to join the Foreign Service became real...things got pretty bad. And the career was (and isn't) worth my family, so dream denied.

And if that were the end of it, this blog would still be languishing.

Since last August, I started a new career as a law professor. It's...okay. I really, truly enjoy teaching, and I enjoy working with law students. That being said, I generally feel a lot of guilt being a law professor teaching law students that have a very small chance of being employed right out the gate. FULL DISCLOSURE: I have no idea what the graduate career statistics are for my school and I have no interaction whatsoever with our career services office. That being said, I know where my school is ranked (low) and I know how the economy for lawyers is (terrible). It's also difficult because my law career was completely different from my law students - I was big law working for Fortune 50 companies. Most of our law students hang their own shingle or become public defenders/DA's. Very different worlds.

And don't get me started on faculty politics. Rarely have I seen so much pride for so little accomplishment.

And I think the Mrs. has also noted my mixed feelings about being a law professor. In the interim, she also made a career change and went in-house for one of the last of the big banks. Going in-house was one accomplishment she needed. Although I think she would be the first to admit she'd be happy to stay there, I think she also realizes that no matter how far she might advance, there are other things to live for. Earlier this year, she had a chance to travel to SE Asia to spend time with a friend who works for the CDC. While out there, she had some experiences that opened her back up to the idea of the FS life.

And now we're back.

I have one more offer available and only a couple months left on the register. Not sure I have much of a chance with my current OA score (5.5), but I'm taking a language test in a couple of weeks for the .17 bump (wish me luck). So it's pretty much resting on a July offer for the September A-100. And I'm registering for the June FSOT for just in case the July offer doesn't come my way.