The Foreign Service Journal, April 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2019 21 Lots of bidders hurt their chances because they refuse to commit to one bid as their top choice. Brevity matters. And while we’re on the subject of the introductory email: be brief. Overly long, detailed emails are a turnoff and take too long to read. Tell me about yourself, lay out your com- parative advantage and what you bring to my team, and do it all in 300 words or less. Don’t press me for an interview in our first communication. On heav- ily bid jobs, there’s no time to speak to everyone, and pressuring deciders for an immediate interview makes you look presumptuous and overly pushy (remember, it’s all about interpersonal skills). References matter. Assuming your introduction didn’t misspell my name or get the position wrong, I’ve now moved on to your 360s and resumé. What matters most for me is that you have good interpersonal skills, relevant experience and strong recommenda- tions from people I know and trust. References that I solicit myself count more than the plain-as-oatmeal online 360s. I also rely on the advice of the incumbents, working with them to sort through applications. Together, we look for comparative advantages. Those who have them make the short list. Experience matters. Regional and bureau experience is important. In the Foreign Service, we’re expected to be able to parachute into any job, in any region, and succeed. But if you’ve spent your whole career in WHA or EUR, don’t expect your bid on a job in India to get the same attention as the person with prior South Asia experience. You don’t know French? FSI will teach you. But your bid on that job in Paris probably won’t get the same consideration as the one coming from the person who already has a 4/4. (Unless the fluent French speaker has lousy interper- sonal skills, in which case not even a 5/5 will help themwith me.) Stretch Bids—For the Most Part, Don’t Bother Stretch bids are allowed because they give the department flexibility to fill jobs that might otherwise sit empty. But when it comes to hotly contested jobs, your stretch bid gambit will almost certainly fail. Unless you have a high- level patron or get clear assurances from the deciders that they want you and only you for the job, your stretch bid is a waste of time. Stretches are a dicey proposition for everyone involved because they don’t go to panel until stretch season, which usually takes place months after bid season closes (unless you have bid- ding privileges—see below). By then, everyone else on the short list will be long gone, so if the stretch doesn’t get approved by Human Resources, the decider has no Plan B. For this reason, few deciders or assignments officers are willing to go through the risk and extra effort required to push through stretch bids when so many other qualified, at-grade bidders are vying for the same job. A Note on Bidding Privileges “Bidding privileges” can give you an advantage in some circumstances, but on heavily bid jobs they don’t count for much. If I’m serious about a stretch bid- der for a position, I’m more likely to take a risk on someone with bidding privi- leges, because getting that assignment through panel is easier. But simply having bidding privileges doesn’t change the fact that you prob- ably have less relevant experience than most of the other people vying for the same job. So unless you have assurances from the deciders that they are strongly interested in you, don’t expect much help from that quarter. Fear of Commitment Lots of bidders hurt their chances because they refuse to commit to one bid as their top choice. They think being coy will keep them in the running for multiple posts at once, and fear that clearly identifying a number-one bid will ruin their chances with everyone else. Ranking top choices is a bidding minefield. Telling me that Riga is your second or third choice in fact could hurt your chances, because I don’t want to put someone at the top of my list unless I’m certain he or she will accept an offer. But the next time you make a short list and are dancing around a decider, with neither side willing to say “you’re num- ber one,” ask the decider this: “If I were to commit to X as my top bid, would that make a difference in where I am on your short list?” Sometimes it won’t matter. If you’re number three on my list, but my number one and two have already said Riga is their top choice, I probably won’t move you up. But deciders often face a short list full of people unwilling to commit. I try to be transparent and honest with bidders, and I appreciate the same from them. Let me know where I am on your list, and let me know if you change your mind. I’ll never think ill of a bidder who calls back and tells me Riga has moved up