Anonymous wrote:I worked overseas in an embassy filling a specialized post, not part of FS. There are a large number of people who work in embassies who aren't in the FS.

Yes, I agree that many of them are snooty and full of themselves. They often look down on DC and groan about having to do their DC post. Understandable in part because DC is expensive.

But some of them are awesome and are great professionals. It really depends on the individual.

Anonymous wrote:I worked at State for a few years as an appointee. There are truly great FSOs but it is a bureaucracy that is still very much governed by its origins in another era. Very very very clubby and insular - not because of the class background of FSOs but because the primary way to advance in your career involves massive amounts of networking within a closed bureaucracy. Add to that the fact that overseas postings inevitably blur the lines between work and home life - so everyone knows every personal detail about their colleagues.

My complaint about State was not the snobbiness, but the fact that so many of my colleagues spent half their days schmoozing one another.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They tend to come from upper class backgrounds (private school, foreign language fluency, trust fund, strong emphasis on public service).

So that explains a lot of the superiority.

You are thinking of the FSO from decades ago. Back then they recruited from Ivies. Today it is so difficult to get a security clearance that the ranks are much less urbane than in previous decades.

Anonymous wrote:They tend to come from upper class backgrounds (private school, foreign language fluency, trust fund, strong emphasis on public service).

So that explains a lot of the superiority.

Anonymous wrote:I worked overseas in an embassy filling a specialized post, not part of FS. There are a large number of people who work in embassies who aren't in the FS.

Yes, I agree that many of them are snooty and full of themselves. They often look down on DC and groan about having to do their DC post. Understandable in part because DC is expensive.

But some of them are awesome and are great professionals. It really depends on the individual.

Anonymous wrote:They tend to come from upper class backgrounds (private school, foreign language fluency, trust fund, strong emphasis on public service).

So that explains a lot of the superiority.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have several FSOs in our neighborhood and my spouse used to work at State in a support capacity. Yes, they are full of themselves. To be fair, the ones I know are actually smart and educated, but also rude and just not interested in talking about anything besides their jobs. They all hang out together, rent homes from one another, etc -- very insular -- and if you get two in a room they only talk about who else in State they both mutually know.

I'm in the Foreign Service and take offense at many of the characterizations being levied here (I don't think I'm full of myself and have never rented to or from a fellow DOS employee)- but the bit about getting two in a room and it becoming a "who you know" contest is too funny- and true!

Taking offense is a good indicator that you're full of yourself. If you took a look around at the countries we pay to send you to instead of around the room to see who you know, you'd do a better job at what we're paying you to do. Focus. On. The. Job. Signed, your boss, a liberal internationalist taxpayer but tired of paying for out of touch snobs to trot all over the world living out an imaginary lifestyle