Application Status

I got an email yesterday from USAJOBS with an application status.  The status reads, “Application Referred for Additional Consideration”.  I don’t know what other statuses there are but it sounds positive so I’ll take it.  I wasn’t expecting to hear anything for 1-4 months and I’ll continue to operate with that timeframe in mind.

Many of my treasured possessions found new homes this weekend.  I’ve been a little sensitive but I think I’m doing a decent job of keeping my composure.   Painting is going well and I’m getting my other repairs lined up and tallied. 

To keep busy during phase 2 (waiting with fingers crossed for an interview) I’ve gotten myself a weekend job at an outdoors concert venue.  I will be standing for long periods of time but I’ll get exposed to a variety of music and will have something different to do this summer.  I hope this was a good idea and not a procrastinator’s attempt to delay the necessary purging in the house.

That’s all I’ve got to report for now.

The Wait Begins

Joining the Foreign Service is a game of hurry up and wait.  I began to gather the required information for the application several weeks ago and was on the right track when the position became open.  I edited and re-edited my essays and resume numerous times and had several eyes on them with a bright red pen in hand.  To my surprise I had to hurry up and make last minute edits so that all of the information I’d prepared could fit in the character limited fields.  5,000 words and 5,000 characters are very different things!!!  T

hey use 2 portals, and at least one of them times out when the page hasn’t been refreshed after a while, kicking you out without saving changes made to that page.  It was frustrating but I got through it and had everything to my liking by the time the position closed at midnight on Tuesday. 

Now I wait approximately 1-4 months to get an invitation to the Oral Assessment (interviews) or not.  The orals are in DC, take about 5 hours, and are an out of pocket expense.  Applicants have to wait a year before they can reapply for the position so fingers crossed I hit a home run on the first try.

I am using my time wisely and will work on purging all my unnecessary belongings, fix up my house and hopefully have it on the market or sold by August.  I know how crazy it seems to do things in this order but that’s just how determined I am to do this.  I found my dream job and after 35 years, I finally know what I want to do with the rest of my life.  Let’s wait to see what happen!