U.S. Foreign Service Information Session
On February 8th, 2012 I attended the U.S. Foreign Service Information
Session presented by the US Department of State. I was interested in attending this session because in the fall of 2011 I applied for a summer internship opportunity at the US Department of State with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In researching opportunities for my future career, I have found that the mission of that particular Bureau which partners with EducationUSA would seemingly be a great fit for me.
Session presented by the US Department of State. I was interested in attending this session because in the fall of 2011 I applied for a summer internship opportunity at the US Department of State with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In researching opportunities for my future career, I have found that the mission of that particular Bureau which partners with EducationUSA would seemingly be a great fit for me.
The goal of this session was for Foreign Service Officer William Lucas to provide
attendees with information about foreign service careers, internships,
fellowships, and personal experiences as a United States Diplomat. Mr. Lucas
received his BA from UNC-Chapel Hill in English, an MA from Johns Hopkins
University, and an MA in Political Science from Stanford. He has been working
for the DOS for 32 years. He has a wife and three children and speaks French
and Afrikaans.
attendees with information about foreign service careers, internships,
fellowships, and personal experiences as a United States Diplomat. Mr. Lucas
received his BA from UNC-Chapel Hill in English, an MA from Johns Hopkins
University, and an MA in Political Science from Stanford. He has been working
for the DOS for 32 years. He has a wife and three children and speaks French
and Afrikaans.
Mr. Lucas has an extensive and impressive resume of past tours at the U.S. Department of State listed below:
US Embassy Kabul, Rule of Law Planning Team
director; Office of European Union Affairs director; US Mission to the European
Union political officer; US Embassy Manila, Philippines political counselor;
Office of UN Third Committee Human Rights, Labor, and Social Issues director;
Office of Southern African Affairs deputy director; US Embassy Pretoria
political officer (2x); National Security Council director in office of African
affairs; Russia Desk; Denmark/Norway desk officer; Conventional Arms Control in
Europe action officer; NATO and European Security analyst.
Currently Mr. Lucas is serving as the Diplomat in Residence for the Southern-Mid Atlantic
region with his central office being located at Duke University. His responsibilities under this title include providing guidance and advice to students, professionals, and the community about Department careers. One way he provides this service is by hosting informational sessions at universities in his jurisdiction to inform and encourage students, undergraduate, graduate, and
PhD, to consider the U.S. Department of State as a future career path. Mr.Lucas is the Diplomat in Residence for the states of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
region with his central office being located at Duke University. His responsibilities under this title include providing guidance and advice to students, professionals, and the community about Department careers. One way he provides this service is by hosting informational sessions at universities in his jurisdiction to inform and encourage students, undergraduate, graduate, and
PhD, to consider the U.S. Department of State as a future career path. Mr.Lucas is the Diplomat in Residence for the states of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
The opportunities that come with being a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) at the U.S.
Department of State are countless and have both positive and negative aspects
for each. An important point that Mr. Lucas made was that a requirement of a
career FSO is that they must sign a contract at the start stating that they
will alternate a set number of years working in Washington DC and at embassies
abroad throughout their career.
Department of State are countless and have both positive and negative aspects
for each. An important point that Mr. Lucas made was that a requirement of a
career FSO is that they must sign a contract at the start stating that they
will alternate a set number of years working in Washington DC and at embassies
abroad throughout their career.
Placement in desired regions is not guaranteed and is often unknown at
the start of an FSO career. Mr. Lucas gave detailed personal accounts of his
placement processes, negotiations with the DOS, and how his career as an FSO
affected his family. Although FSOs move frequently to posts throughout the
world, the DOS provides family support, proper schooling for children, and many
times employment for spouses while abroad. Mr. Lucas and his family have packed
up all of their belongings and moved a total of 13 times. While the life and
work of an FSO sounds exciting, the instability of family life and possibility
of long separations from them is not something that sounds desirable to me. If
I were to pursue a career with the Department of State I would be interested in
a civil service career that involved working with the international community but
from a stable location in the U.S. I am glad I attended this informational
session because Mr. Lucas provided personal insight to what a FSO career really
entails, in contrast to the DOS website that frames the career in a way which
excludes some of the most challenging realities of the job.
the start of an FSO career. Mr. Lucas gave detailed personal accounts of his
placement processes, negotiations with the DOS, and how his career as an FSO
affected his family. Although FSOs move frequently to posts throughout the
world, the DOS provides family support, proper schooling for children, and many
times employment for spouses while abroad. Mr. Lucas and his family have packed
up all of their belongings and moved a total of 13 times. While the life and
work of an FSO sounds exciting, the instability of family life and possibility
of long separations from them is not something that sounds desirable to me. If
I were to pursue a career with the Department of State I would be interested in
a civil service career that involved working with the international community but
from a stable location in the U.S. I am glad I attended this informational
session because Mr. Lucas provided personal insight to what a FSO career really
entails, in contrast to the DOS website that frames the career in a way which
excludes some of the most challenging realities of the job.
This is a link to the Department of State Website- http://careers.state.gov/engage/dir.html
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