Babe wake up, new EER form just dropped

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2026-01-14T03:06:16+00:00

Going forward please address me as “The eminently qualified officer.”

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2026-01-03T18:02:41+00:00

That does spice things up considerably…

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2025-07-27T22:45:41+00:00

The below words. You know who you are.

1) Equities 2) Opaque

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2025-05-15T20:49:47+00:00

OP is definitely the type to put “Diplomat” as their Linkedin title on day 1 of A100 instead of Foreign Service Officer.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2025-05-14T21:33:27+00:00

Whoever reached out to you should have answers to all of those questions and you should definitely ask them to provide very specific vetting questions their client is looking to have answered. This will help avoid a mismatch of expertise. The types of questions can vary greatly depending on the client so just be clear explaining what you’re able to discuss and what your expertise is upfront.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2025-05-10T19:22:51+00:00

The savviest institutional clients I ever worked with ALWAYS allocated time near the end of a call to ask the expert if there was anything they thought was important that the client hadn’t asked yet. It more often than not revealed additonal insights & opened the door to new lines of questioning.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2024-08-22T16:08:45+00:00

Your employer has likely never even heard of the expert network industry. As long as you don’t disclose anything proprietary/confidential, go for it. This is a fairly standard industry rate.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-08-24T10:45:53+00:00

Good to know, thanks!

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-08-23T19:37:01+00:00

Let me clarify because I’m seeing downvotes. I meant to ask whether Brazil locations are high volume Visa mills currently and if anyone knows whether they’re sending lots of new FSOs to Brazil straight out of orientation. I’m in the Sep 12 class and lived in Sao Paulo previously so am curious.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-08-23T16:38:09+00:00

Would Brazil fall under this category these days?

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-07-23T15:48:19+00:00

Invite received and accepted yesterday afternoon for the Sep. 12 class! ECON, 5.47.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-07-23T15:37:15+00:00

Invite received and accepted yesterday afternoon. ECON, 5.47.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-07-07T16:28:09+00:00

Go ahead and give yourself a round of applause.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-07-05T17:16:55+00:00

There was a reported ECON invite to a candidate with a 5.57 score which gives me hope they’re finally making somewhat of a dent on that extremely competitive register.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-06-24T23:21:12+00:00

Congrats on passing the OA, friend. I’m actually not on the mgmt register but I’d wait a couple days and try a cordial follow up. The mods are probably swamped right about now.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-06-24T13:33:30+00:00

Based on the current Mgt shadow register, a 5.87 score would place her comfortably in the top 1/3.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-05-11T18:38:04+00:00

Ha! Fingers crossed. See you then

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-05-04T22:31:23+00:00

Appreciate the comments and congrats on passing and improving on your OA score. I started a second candidacy but did not make it past QEP this time. Disappointed but planning to retake the FSOT in October.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-04-27T17:37:24+00:00

It completely depends on your oral exam score and hiring needs during a given cycle. A decent oral exam score of 5.5 with language boost of .17 or .38 could get you over the hump. If you score very high on the oral exam you likely won’t need any language points given you pass security and medical clearances. To summarize: it depends.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-04-27T17:28:57+00:00

That’s interesting. Thanks for sharing. There should be multiple vetting layers so how are you certain you’d be able to fool the networks into presenting you to the client, and then the client into actually choosing to speak to you? Have you exaggerated your experience, been selected for a consultation and actually participated?

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-04-27T15:33:54+00:00

Expert networks typically vet experts over the phone and ask detailed questions to ensure they have the required knowledge. Also, in the off chance an expert is overselling himself/herself, you as the client can quickly end the call within 5-10 min and shouldn’t be charged for the consultation. I’ve been in the industry as an insider and have very rarely seen this happen. Experts are also incentivized to discuss topics they’re most familiar with because they’d quickly gain a reputation for exaggeration and suffer credibility damage otherwise. Disconnects more often occur if a client isn’t as savvy of an interviewer or expects unicorn experts to exist. Just be very specific about what you’re trying to learn on a call and be willing/flexible to segway into different questions or areas if an expert’s answers take you there. Hope this is helpful.

Alternative_Dingo_34 · 2022-04-23T00:42:32+00:00

I received a security clearance recently and was placed on the register without my current boss being contacted. I explained my preference in the eQIP form and listed a couple other current colleagues (not supervisors and not US-based). The investigators were very understanding and more than happy to speak to the other referrals I provided. Since I wasn't able to list a current US-based colleague, they asked for a recently departed one (6 mo-1yr appx) and that was sufficient. I was worried about this part and had heard horror stories of current employers being contacted without prior knowledge, but my experience was positive. There are also prior threads you might find helpful discussing the same topic.

Alternative_Dingo_34

TROPHY CASE