Last fall, I wrote a blog about my first job as a family member in the State Department. I described some of my duties as ESTH Assistant and a bit about our work. I also described my official role of Roving Administrative Assistant and how this role involves being plugged into different openings around the embassy as needed. I held the ESTH position while someone waited for a security clearance, so once that clearance came through I was freed up for another role. Cue my second assignment: Office Management Specialist (OMS).
While on R&R in Texas, I received the news that a position had opened up that would require me to start immediately upon arrival back in Tel Aviv. I was a little hesitant at first because I didn’t receive much training in ESTH. Although I enjoyed some of the work, there were times I felt overwhelmed in the first few months because I was thrust into the role without any real direction and forced to learn on the job. With the return flight scheduled to land on a Wednesday night, the only real day for training as a temporary OMS would be Friday. Once again, it appeared I’d be getting baptized in fire.
As I reported for work that first day, it didn’t take me long to realize that this position would be a perfect fit. Officers in the Economic and Political sections of the embassy, such as Misha, have a job that is a little too abstract for my taste. One day maybe I’ll convince Misha to write a more detailed description of her role, but in short, they work a bit like journalists. They seek out and maintain relationships with contacts, try to find stories that fall into their purview (tourism and civil aviation for Misha), and then write reports back to the big wigs in D.C. This wasn’t exactly what my previous role was in ESTH, but my schedule was similarly unstructured: lots of phone calls and Webex meetings with people I’d never met in person and a “choose your destiny” mentality of picking topics to research.
Based on this fit, I’ve decided to apply for an OMS role full time. As it turns out, the role of OMS is a State Department career option with a similar application, training, and bidding process to the Foreign Service, minus the language aspect. The hiring process can take a year or more, but I’ve been told many times now that there is a shortage of quality workers in the role and a plethora of vacancies. Because of this, the list of potential posts for OMS roles is not only filled with exciting assignments, but also presents a lot of opportunities for Misha and I to be assigned to those exciting assignments together (assuming I end up being hired). If you have experience working in and/or managing an office and like to travel, you may want to consider a career with the State Department. They don’t hire consistently for this role, so it’s possible that the window to apply won’t reopen for another year or more. It’s currently open through the end of September, and more information can be found here.
Beer and Diplomacy 