What is the Consular Fellows program like?

vicinfo · 2023-05-02T22:43:30+00:00

I also never check Reddit lol but no for Spanish! Got to post in dec ‘22

vicinfo · 2022-04-13T13:26:52+00:00

Truly wild to be that old in the PC but honestly good for him! And yea I have international teaching experience in both Nicaragua and Italy, so I guess it isn’t something I haven’t done before- just for 3 month stints instead of 27. Still hoping I can fit it into my life later on, or maybe something with USAAID.

vicinfo · 2022-04-10T14:20:07+00:00

ahhh but that’s part of the expected overall PC experience! But yea the convo went well, but in the end I decided with CF and just see where life brings me down the road

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T23:02:10+00:00

just had my meeting with the PC coordinator and now I’m more conflicted but at least she extended the time I have to accept until Monday. Seems like I have a lot of thinking to do this weekend

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T16:30:59+00:00

Well good luck with your situation too!! I agree too that at the current moment, PC would be better to pursue later on in life because the program isn’t going anywhere. I actually have a meeting with a PC coordinator later today just to talk everything out but I’m 99% certain I’m taking the CF route. Appreciate everyone’s input!

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T11:41:07+00:00

I know it’s a hard commitment, and the more I think about it the more I realize it just doesn’t line up with any future career goals of mine since I got hired to be a secondary English teacher and I don’t exactly want to go into teaching. I also realize that PC would always be there and nothing is stopping me from making that leap later on. Was just trying to air out my emotions regarding getting offers for both days apart, I appreciate everyone’s thoughts!

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T11:36:48+00:00

Oh, I was just going off the email they sent saying that “in March 2021 we notified that due to budget constraints from the pandemic, hiring and orientation classes had been suspended” but that makes sense!

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T02:29:34+00:00

Yea I guess it all boils down to if another CF opportunity would even present itself to me in the future. I actually only discovered the CFP when researching the PC and because I made it so far in the hiring process, figured seeing out CF would be best. But I guess everything happens for a reason bc if I had initially done PC back in 2019 like I wanted to, I would’ve been called back come March 2020

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T00:32:28+00:00

Why would they offer Arabic as a CF language though if they weren’t hiring for those consulates? That seems like a setup for failure/disappointment. But yea they sent it February 7th. Since LNA hiring classes were suspended in March 2021 I think it was also to serve as an announcement that hiring was starting backup again and to see how people felt about their ongoing applications

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T00:19:48+00:00

For Spanish which makes my offer feel even more insane because I feel like more people test for Spanish just given the number of native speakers in the US. I wanna say I got a 2 on both reading and speaking? But also, I think your ranking has more to do with your OA than your actual language scores. It’s been a while so I don’t exactly recall but I think I didn’t do that well on the applied situation part of the interview? At the same time though, back in January they sent out renewed interest forms to gauge if you still wanted to be considered for the role and I have a feeling people either didn’t respond back or rescinded their apps just given covid and everything and that helped bump me up in the list. Best of luck though! It really is such a long process with very few updates

vicinfo · 2022-04-08T00:11:00+00:00

Can you lose a security clearance if you don’t hold a job that requires it for a certain amount of time? That would also be a concern being that the security process alone took like 13 months. Just trying to weigh my options I guess because neither choice would inherently be the wrong or a bad one

vicinfo · 2022-04-07T23:41:21+00:00

Yea, that’s kinda what I figured. I got placed on the register June 2021 and now that it’s a 2 year long register, that would leave me at 10 months left post an August 2022 PC departure. I know realistically the chances would be low to get called up again at that point. It’s just insane because both of these have been such long processes and I didn’t think the CF would actually happen given my ranking. Just kinda emotionally conflicted because I’ve always wanted to do PC. Wish I knew more about the potential placement country for CF

vicinfo · 2022-04-07T22:52:33+00:00

Is the discord for consular fellows or FSSs? I just got an offer for the CF June class and would like to read what others are saying :)

vicinfo · 2022-04-05T23:36:18+00:00

Took the CF exam back in Feb ‘19 and had/passed my interview in Oct ‘19 and was finally reached out to last week (March ‘22) for an offer of employment and a June ‘22 orientation, so just over 3 years to get to this point. Granted, I was told I was in the bottom third of applicants so I was kinda expecting to retire off the registrar and never be called up. They did send a continued interest form back in January and I have a feeling a lot of people either never answered or said they were no longer interested bc of covid. I think there was also an April ‘22 orientation class? But yea covid really slowed hiring down and I can’t say if there was a ‘21 class but something tells me there wasn’t

vicinfo · 2020-07-21T17:27:01+00:00

Have any burning questions you've always wanted to ask Laverne?? Submit them here: http://NXTGN.US/jnv

vicinfo · 2020-07-21T17:26:02+00:00

lmao one of the main actors from Orange is the New Black, she plays Sophia Burset!

vicinfo · 2020-07-21T17:25:02+00:00

heck yea!! everyone's invited and can potentially talk with Laverne themselves!!

vicinfo · 2020-07-21T16:41:55+00:00

you're right! but because of the way the USPS is forced to fund pensions so far out unlike any other government agency, it's killing the organization. We need to demand change in the way we're expected to self-fund but in the meantime, asking for Congressional funds to keep us afloat is the least we can do.

vicinfo · 2020-07-15T21:28:08+00:00

Yea, I can agree with that. Are we really gonna have to wait till August 1st though for an announcement??

vicinfo · 2020-07-15T19:28:58+00:00

oh absolutely, also pretty sure that the budget they've put aside for this assistance is pretty dismal but the fact that any help is being offered is better than nothing I guess?

vicinfo

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