Welcome to Assignment Abroad – an interactive tool which allows users to experience a scenario from the perspective of each of the Foreign Service officer career tracks. Our hope is that this tool will help you better understand the roles of Foreign Service officers and, if your goal is to become a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State, help you select the career track that best matches your interests and background. This tool is part of the general re-launch of our website which has been in development for several months. We’re pleased to present it to you.
As you begin, please know that there are no right or wrong selections in the following scenarios, and that you will not receive a score or a grade. Our objective is to provide you with merely a glimpse of the role played by Foreign Service officers from each career track as members of an embassy or consulate team. As described in the scenario, officers juggle many challenges and responsibilities simultaneously and must make very difficult choices in determining how to address the many priorities they face. In no way does the limited scripting encompass all of the responsibilities and duties of a Foreign Service officer in any given circumstance.
As we prepared to launch this site, we shared the world’s shock as we witnessed the tragic events surrounding the tsunamis in South Asia. As you will see, the scenario for our interactive tool is an earthquake. We had selected an earthquake because of the widespread impact that natural disasters have on both the local and global community, giving us the opportunity to illustrate the different roles of the different members of an embassy. It also gave us the opportunity to show how all of these different elements interact with each other. Recent events have demonstrated this all too clearly, reminding us that this fictional experience is often reality for many Foreign Service officers. We hope that you find it useful in better understanding the roles of the Foreign Service of U.S. Department of State.
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