The Foreign Service Journal, May 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2015 45 TIPS FROMTHE BELLY OF THE PYTHON M any of us in the mid-level ranks of the Foreign Service at the State Department face a pro- fessional challenge. Admitted to the corps during the hiring surge, we are now suffering the fate of “the pig in the python.” Our large numbers have overwhelmed the Foreign Service promotion pathways, slowing movement through them to a crawl. John Fer joined the Foreign Service in 2009, and has served in New Delhi as a consular officer, in Managua as cultural attaché and in International Information Programs at the State Department as a regional policy officer. Presently, he covers Russia as a public diplomacy desk officer at State. How can we optimize our own professional development and strengthen the Foreign Service while negotiating a challenging mid-level passage? Here are some suggestions. BY JOHN F ER We are tenured and we’re no longer wide-eyed, but we prob- ably don’t have much more responsibility than we did as junior officers. Moreover, we can expect to spend a significantly longer time at the FS-3 and FS-2 levels than has traditionally been the case. If, like me, you are looking at the next decade as an abnor- mally long series of lateral moves until promotion, I’d like to offer a few tips, things that we can do ourselves to optimize our own professional development and at the same time help strengthen the Foreign Service. Recognize the Unsung Heroes As a band of Type-A overachievers, we know how important it is to be recognized for our efforts, but how much time do we put into keeping an eye out for the quiet, less visible contributions to the mission? While there is a wealth of information on general employee recognition, finding the unsung heroes can require FS KNOW-HOW