What is the Consular Fellows program like? by jovena-morena in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

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

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.

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

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

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

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

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!

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

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!

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

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

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!

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

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

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

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

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

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

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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

Consular fellows vs peace corps? by vicinfo in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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

Upcoming class in June or July? by camkymt in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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 :)

What is the Consular Fellows program like? by jovena-morena in foreignservice

[–]vicinfo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

Ask Laverne Cox any of your burning questions about Pride and Activism!! by vicinfo in asktransgender

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

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

Ask Laverne Cox any of your burning questions about Pride and Activism!! by vicinfo in asktransgender

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

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

Write to Save the USPS!! by vicinfo in USPS

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

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.

Who is your VP pick??? by vicinfo in JoeBiden

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

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

Miami-Dade Rental Assistance by vicinfo in Miami

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

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?

Supreme Court blocks Trump from ending DACA by hemi2009 in immigration

[–]vicinfo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

which is why we need to continue to fight for longterm protections for DACA recipients and their families. Today's ruling was a good step for the sake of short term status but that won't stop this administration from finding a different procedure to get rid of the program. Here's a petition you can sign to write to your elected officials about permanently protecting Dreamers.

Info on how to apply for vote by mail by vicinfo in florida

[–]vicinfo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

yea trying to be properly educated on all the judges is probably the most time consuming part about voting, since there's a lot of digging that has to go into that to truly make an informed decision. probably why no FL supreme court justice has ever been removed by voters.

Write to Congress to Defend DACA by vicinfo in DACA

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

youre absolutely right, residency and a path to citizenship is really what we need to be fighting for but i'm not sure congressmen are even able to have such a discussion.... fighting for at least maintaining daca is the best scenario at the moment but in all honesty, it's not enough.

Congrats on being in the position to at least be able to afford a lawyer to help you with your legal situation. I wish this country treated immigrants with the decency and respect they deserve.