Help Wanted

The Department of State finally received a little extra funding that can be used toward hiring. A State cable (or telegram…yes…we still use telegrams) came out recently announcing how the Department will use some of the funds it received from the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008. The good news, especially if you’re looking to join the Foreign Service, is that some of that money will be used to hire 140 new Officers above attrition rates.

This increase in hiring represents the first increase over attrition in FSO generalists since 2004. In an age where even the Secretary of Defense says we need to hire more diplomats, this comes as welcome news and hopefully is a sign of more money in the future. In addition to hiring more FSOs, some of the money will be used to hire over 100 Eligible Family Members (the spouses and adults children of diplomats overseas) into new positions. Finally, a portion of the funding will be used for the State Department’s Active and Standby Civilian Response Corps. My understanding is that this new Corps is being created to address the problems that arose in Iraq and Afghanistan when State and DoD were left staring at each other wondering who was going to pony up experts in agriculture, engineering, hydraulics, veterinary science, and other fields that we don’t typically specialize in.