MinnesotaMel

Promotions are good!

More than 4.5 years with State, and I am finally going to get a pay raise that has nothing to do with moving to a war zone. Yippee! Last week, when I arrived at the office, I was greeted by my office mate Mike with a hearty "Congratulations!"

"Congratulations? For what?" I asked.

"The promotion list is out, and you are on it." he replied.

I screamed happily and did a little dance and started to celebrate becoming an 03.

The promotion process at State is sort of odd compared to many other places. At State you start out as either an 04, 05 or 06. I started out as an 04. When you get promoted, you move to lower numbers, until you reach an 01. You must be at a level for three years before you get considered for promotion to the next level. Each level has a maximum number of years that you can remain at that level. It is an "up or out" system. If you do not get promoted before you reach the maximum number of years, you are kicked out of the service.

After three years as an 01, you have the chance to "open your window" to be considered for promotion into the Senior Foreign Service. You don't have to open your window immediately at three years, and there is a lot of strategy that goes into deciding when to "open your window." But that is a story for a later date, many years from now.

Happily, many of my friends and colleagues from my A100 orientation class were also on the promotion list. My office mate Mike also got promoted. Congratulations to everyone!

posted by MinnesotaMel @ 10:59 AM