The Foreign Service Journal - March 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2018 37 T here are many resources for family members seeking employment or education, but it can be hard to locate them. Here are some of the more useful sites. • FLO Family Member Employment webpage. This page includes the latest updates on the status of the hir- ing freeze as well as links to FLO information on employ- ment overseas and in the United States, including the Foreign Service Reserve Corps , the Global Employ- ment Initiative , the Expanded Professional Associates Program , and the Professional Development Fellowship program. This should be the first stop for EFMs looking to work or start their own businesses. • FLO Training, Workshops & Distance Learning webpage. FLO lists options for government-sponsore d career and personal training available to certain family members. It includes the Career Development Resource Center , located in Washington, D.C., which offers semi- nars on employment and career strengthening. It also includes a link to the Transition Center at the Foreign Service Institute training course list, which includes three FSI-based courses available to family members and four webinars on portable careers. Check out the Family Member Training Options section, which includes a link to the Foreign Service Institute and a comprehensive Fam- ily Member Training Flowchart. This page also includes information on distance learning opportunities at FSI, lan- guage training at post, and functional training for EFMs. • Portable Careers Webinar Series: Employment Options (MQ707, MQ708, MQ709, MQ710) webpage . In addition to describing each of the webinars on portable careers available to EFMs for free, this page includes links to 28 different internet resources covering topics from “12 Tips for Naming Your Startup” to “Six Tax Tips All Indepen- dent Contractors Must Know,” as well as job search plat- forms and telework sites. It is also a great place to find all the links to the regulations in the Foreign Affairs Manual that outline the rules and restrictions on employment and outside activities. • FLO Employment Publications and Resources webpage. Many of the links on this page are also loca ted on other FLO pages, but this page efficiently collects all of the links to publications FLO has produced on overseas employment (both inside and outside the mission) and employment when returning to the United States. It also includes links to publications that cover employment options during an evacuation. • FLO Global Employment Initiative webpage. This page fully explains the GEI program and what they can and cannot do. Currently, 16 Global Employment advis- ers (GEAs) cover more than 200 posts. Family members overseas should contact their post’s CLO for contact information for their region’s GEA. GEAs run their own Facebook groups and organize webinars and local career development workshops. • FLO Global Employment Initiative LinkedIn Group (685 members). • Associates of the American Foreign Service World- wide (AAFSW) EFM Employment Resources. This page lists job boards and social media groups that are useful to both U.S.-based and overseas EFMs. • FSHub.org. AAFSW’s FSHub is billed as a “compre- hensive gateway to all Foreign Service community sup- port resources.” It contains links to resources on a gamut of topics, from FS-oriented social media and life at post to finances and legal resources. The Employment for Spouses, Partners and Retirees page includes links to career development resources, social media and network- ing groups, and volunteer opportunities. • Serving Talent. This is an employment agency created by and designed for military and Foreign Service spouses. They bill themselves as “the first boutique recruiting agency for professional U.S. military and Foreign Service spouses.”Their website is also a great place to find further career development resources, including links to “25 Sites for Finding the Best Remote Jobs” and a link to a FLO-produced document (not found on the FLO web- site) for the GEI program that lists resources for work- ing remotely. The website’s press section includes short videos and podcasts with career tips. —D.B. Resources for the Out-of-Work EFM