Meeting diplomats-in-residence

The State Department has a problem. Unlike the military, which has enjoyed huge support from the public since the GWOT started, the State Department has little to no domestic constituency. Unless you've lost your passport and gotten help from and embassy/consulate, you probably haven't ever even had contact with a U.S. diplomat.

To fix that, they've stationed "diplomats in residence" in the different regions of the U.S. These diplomats essentially perform public relations work in their areas -- they give presentations for those interested in the Foreign Service test, and explain available State Department programs. [State's DIR page]

On October 19th, State hosted an online webinar for those who've been selected to take the Foreign Service Oral Assessment this winter. And then on the 30th the Hawaii/Nevada/Southern California diplomat in residence scheduled "Coffee with a Diplomat" appointments for those interested in State Department programs. I participated in both events.

In both cases, the events were less helpful than I'd hoped for. The webinar rehashed the Oral Assessment timeline of events, but didn't offer any more information than what can be gleaned from the [FSO Selection Process page]. I understand why -- there's a wall between the diplomats-in-residence and the test assessors -- but at this stage I'm less interested in process than I am what's "good" and "bad."

Similarly, the range of topics you can cover in "Coffee with a Diplomat" is limited. I was interested in the diplomat's test experience, but they demurred, saying that was 16 years ago and would not be helpful. Since I already have overseas assignment experience with the U.S. government, and I'm not interested in other programs, there wasn't much else I wanted to talk about.

So while I understand the purpose and benefits of these programs, I realized I'm not really the target market for either. If anything, the one thing I've learned is that I should know which of the 13 dimensions get tested in which of the three oral assessment events. It may sound purely academic, but there were many others who already knew.