Allison J.
About me
| Allison J. | |
| Politics | |
| Comparative Politics | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Halifax | |
| 2008 | |
| United States |
My employment
| Foreign Service Officer | |
| U.S. Department of State | |
| United States | |
| Government and civil service | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 2010 |
More about Allison
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A day in the life of a Foreign Service Officer in the United States
My career history
I joined the U.S. State Department in May 2010, after progressing through an application process that begins with a written test, then requires essays, then a day of group and individual interviews in Washington D.C. After receiving an initial assignment to China, I spent a year studying Mandarin in Washington before leaving for my post as a consular officer at one of the U.S. consulates in mainland China. After returning to the U.S. for German training, I was posted to Germany, and I will soon be transferring to my next post in Pakistan.
Courses taken since graduation
Various courses pertaining to consular tradecraft, covering topics that range from the fundamentals of visa regulations and U.S. immigration law to fraud detection. I have also been fortunate to receive full-time, long-term language training in both Mandarin and German, and will be studying Urdu next.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I'll be heading to a different post in about a year and a half; I hope to expand upon the experience I'm gaining here in China and eventually rise through the ranks in the Consular field. I'd love to do a tour as a Fraud Prevention Officer at some point.
My advice to students considering work
I think sometimes opportunities come up in places that aren't necessarily the obvious places to look. Prior to this job, I was working at Amtrak, which was never something I thought I would do, but my work there gave me a lot of things to discuss in my interviews for the Foreign Service in terms of independent decision making, levels of responsibility, composure in emergency situations and so on. Sometimes it's not evident at first what kind of mileage you'll get from a job, even if it's not necessarily the type of job you would have expected to be doing.
My advice about working in my industry
If you want to be a Foreign Service Officer and don't make it through the application process the first time, don't give up. Of the people in my training intake for the Foreign Service, probably sixty or seventy percent had gone through the application process multiple times. It's a lengthy, difficult process that makes it easy to become disheartened, but this is a time when persistence can really pay off. Also consider any post-graduation work or activities that will increase your international experience- things like Peace Corps, teaching English overseas or a State Department internship can be very helpful, both in deciding if this is the right career for you and in enhancing your application.
Contacting me
I'm always happy to answer questions about the Foreign Service and the application process, as well as my general experiences studying at York as someone who came out of the U.S. educational system.
What I do
I represent U.S. interests abroad as a member of the diplomatic corps of the United States. I'm a Consular Officer, which means that I deal primarily with foreign nationals who are applying for visas to enter the U.S. (either as visitors or as immigrants), adoptions and providing services to Americans abroad, either routine services like replacement passports or more intensive services in times of crisis.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Experience with other cultures and languages, particularly living abroad, is usually valued pretty highly by the evaluation panel, as is the ability to write well.
Degree skills:
Given the kind of work I do, obviously a knowledge of political systems and an interest in politics in general is extremely helpful. Less obviously, I've also encountered a number of visa applicants who have studied in the U.K., so having an understanding of the British tertiary educational system has come in handy more than once.
Extracurricular skills:
Multicultural interest in general and linguistic ability have been particularly useful. I studied languages in high school and as an undergraduate in the U.S. and lived in Japan for two years before going to York.
What I like most
This career in general allows me to travel a lot and learn new languages and cultures. My current position in particular has allowed me to meet thousands of average people from all over China, a lot of whom have really interesting stories and all of whom want to visit the U.S. for one reason or another. It's not usually a boring job.
What I like least
That unfortunately, not everyone is qualified for a visa, so sometimes we have to tell perfectly nice people "no." That's never especially enjoyable. And when you represent the United States, as I do in this job, you can find yourself on the receiving end of very strong feelings about the U.S., our role in the international community and our foreign and domestic policies.
What would I change? I wouldn't change a thing thus far.
Next steps...
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