It's is a notable development for a department that traditionally has hired mid-career candidates at low rates. Image: CHRISTOPHER E ZIMMER/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe State Department has launched a “Lateral Entry Pilot Program” of hiring mid-career job candidates into the Foreign Service, “designed to help fulfill the Department’s commitment to close staffing gaps by recruiting and hiring mid-career professionals with the required experience in areas critical to U.S. foreign policy.”
That is a notable development for a department that traditionally has hired mid-career candidates at low rates, given its emphasis on career-long development of Foreign Service personnel beginning with highly specialized educational requirements for initial hiring.
The program will offer placement as a Foreign Service Officer Generalist at middle (PP-03 and FP-02) grades in occupations including cyberspace and emerging technologies; climate, environment and energy; global health security and diplomacy; strategic competition with China; economic statecraft; multilateral diplomacy; and consular management.
Candidates must have at least eight years of experience, depending on educational level, foreign language proficiency and availability for worldwide assignments, plus “professional work of progressively responsible nature that demonstrates that the applicant has acquired and can apply the specific knowledge, skills and abilities appropriate to a Foreign Service Officer,” the announcement says.
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