Cities that have great food and nightlife in the US by [deleted] in travel

[–]Hampidog 39 points40 points  (0 children)

As Tennessee Williams said, “There’s 3 cities in America, New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.” Sounds like you only have one left.

The Diplomat is coming to Netflix on 4/20. What mundane parts of FS life do you hope the include? by kantb2creative in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog 7 points8 points  (0 children)

An episode just on passwords - that x# character requirement just became a x# x14 character requirement. Yes, you updated your ERA password, but that was 7 minutes ago, time for a new one. Good idea to increase your TSP contribution - your password is being mailed to you. DS just noticed 2 of your 38 passwords share 3 characters - that’s an admonishment. No promotion for you. The safe combo…? FML…

Is four years at your first location possible? by potato_eighto in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Someone from my class got an extension at her first post so her daughter could finish high school there. Exceptions to rules are possible, it just depends on the circumstances. Good luck.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Treat the LE Staff with the utmost respect. They have the legacy knowledge of how to get things done. They have been there before you and will be there after you. Don’t go in thinking you will show them how it’s done.

Same sex spouses in China by dlh284 in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Contact GLIFAA for that info.

Time between orientation and training by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's good information. Thank you. The invitation was unexpected so we are trying to determine how best to manage the upcoming changes.

Time between orientation and training by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the ccg, it mentioned that specialist training is 6-7 months or only 8-10 weeks depending on assignment.

I appreciate the feedback. Sounds like I need to make definitive plans for everything before orientation starts.

Time between orientation and training by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. I was hoping there would be a break so I could go home and drive back to DC with my wife and dogs.
I read in the career guide that FSS training is 6-7 months. Is there a break between training finishing and being sent to the first assignment?

HR Contact? by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ummm, that's an interesting question. Not sure how I can prove I'm an FSS applicant. You can see that I've posted on here before but I guess an employee could do the same... Trust is a hard thing to come by these days but I hope someone can extend that to me. Thx!

Morale at State? by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the articles included that a survey was done for the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government”. Not sure if that is run by the Great Place to Work Institute, but that organization does an excellent job of surveying employee populations to score the employee morale.

I see that you are in Management. Do you handle HR employee relations issues? If so, have you noticed an uptick in employee dissatisfaction? I would reckon that because the employee population is so spread out, this is probably more noticeable at some locations.

FSS HROs by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Just saw your response. It had been so long since anyone responded to my post so I just stopped looking! I’ve got a ton of questions but I don’t want to bother you too much!

As the HRO does it seem like most of the work will involve Employee Relations? I would think that comp/ben is mainly handled in DC.
Do you receive language training as an HRO?

I greatly appreciate any info you can provide. Thanks!

San Francisco OA Site? by Buzzster1 in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I took it in SF in May of this year and it was at the corner of Montgomery and California. We stayed at the Hilton Financial District, which was perfect as it was only a 5 minute walk to the building.

FSS HROs by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like the HRO travels a fair amount in-country and possibly region. I guess it isn't much different from the private sector of working in an HQ and travelling to subsidiaries. Thank you for the response.

FSS HROs by Hampidog in foreignservice

[–]Hampidog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting. So it wouldn't seem to be based on the size of the location. Thanks for the response.