Moving Forward and Some Good News

First of all, I want to say thank you so very much to everyone who reached out to me after my last blog post in which I talked about some recent EFM frustrations I've been dealing with.  You guys are the best!


Since that last post was already pretty much the length of Gone with the Wind, I had tried not to delve too deeply into picky EFM-job-related details because, quite frankly, I figured it would just be too super duper boring.  But since that post went sort of... a teensy bit viral? ... and since I've had official confirmation from People Who Know These Things of some additional information, I wanted to spread some EFM good news.


(Or at least it's EFM good news for EFMs being posted to China.)


When I wrote in my last post that the specifically-meant-just-for-EFMs-job I've been hoping to try to qualify for when we get to China (it's called a PAS or Professional Adjudication Specialist, and it is basically like being a Consular Officer) - the job that requires me to have a 2/1 in Chinese *AND* to have completed ConGen - seemed to have been replaced by this new position recently announced by State (which is not specifically meant just for EFMs), I premised my information upon FLO's official website, which, at that time, had the following on it:





But since the time I last blogged, I've been told that this specific type of EFM position has NOT been put on hold or done away with.  That this position type (the PAS position) is still alive and well.  That the banner I saw (above) was in error, and after my last blog post it has since been removed from the FLO website entirely.


So that's good news!  And, of course, just to make sure we're all on the same page here, in my last blog post I never mentioned the Consular Assistant/Associate/etc. types of positions for EFMs in the Consular area (remember - those don't have a language proficiency requirement, so they're different from the PAS position).  My whiny blog post was only actually discussing the specific PAS position that I was hoping to try to qualify for when I get to China, and no other type of Consular EFM job.


All that to say - if you're:

1.) An EFM
2.) Going to China (and maybe other countries, too, but you'll have to ask FLO... perhaps Brazil?)
3.) Who has or will have the same language proficiency as Consular officers there (for China it's a 2/1)
4.) Who has some college work
5.) Who could be able to qualify for/get a clearance


Then you might want to look into this Professional Adjudication Specialist (PAS) position as it's basically exactly like this one (but is just for EFMs) and pays more, from what I understand, than other sorts of Consular Assistant/Associate/etc. positions that EFMs often do in the Consular Section.


                                                    ~   ~   ~


In other news, the State Department Weekly Blog Roundup made it into this month's issue of the Foreign Service Journal!


Which is both cool and embarrassing. 


Cool because, of course, WOW!  COOL!


Embarrassing because, um, there's no RoundUp this week. 


Which is so totally my own fault because, hello, the RoundUp Calendar has been in dire need of updating.  I also need to talk about the RoundUp more and and keep it out there.  So, you know...


RoundUp. Webmistress. FAIL.


I'll try to do better!  In the meantime, if anyone wants to host, just let me know!  You, like Ogles & Observations, may find yourself featured in the Foreign Service Journal as a result!*


[ *Okay, probably not.  I mean, the odds are slim.  But, truly now, how often do I get to dangle such a totally fun carrot out there?  NEVER, THAT'S WHEN.  So opportunities like these need to be seized upon!]


      

Comments

[Becky]

Awesome! That makes loads more sense. That FSJ article was great. A good way to help people be more aware of the resources out there.

[Becky]

Sorry brain not working. Just wanted to say that you have done such a great job coordinating everything with the Round Up and the map. You have really worked hard to do all of this. No one is blaming you for a missed Round Up. No way. It's a community effort.

[Melissa V]

PAS is on hold everywhere EXCEPT China and Brazil, where visa demand is highest. If you're still having problems getting into ConGen, email me and we can compare names of People You Should Email for China PAS positions.

Congrats on the roundup mention in FSJ!

[Jan]

That is a great tribute to your hosting abilities in the FS Journal! Congrats! I'm so lucky they picked me as a sidenote. :) Thanks for coordinating the Round Up....no apologies need to be made if you are ever behind a day or too.

[A Daring Adventure]

Hey, Melissa!

Actually, I just got confirmation from Important People Who Know These Things that the PAS Program is still operating in roughly 10 countries. For specific countries, one can ask FLO. But the bottom line is that countries with high Visa demand can be given PAS positions on a case-by-case basis, from what I understand, though I am by NO MEANS an authority on the matter!

And thank you, everyone, for the kind compliments!