Tradeology, the ITA Blog

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Bill Kutson is an Officer in the International Trade Administration’s U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service

Note: The International Trade Administration plans to hold an assessment in 2015 through which it will hire a new class of Foreign Commercial Service Officers. We’ll publish a series of articles about ITA’s Foreign Commercial Service to answer questions from people who may be interested in this career opportunity.

Schools overseas can help your children make life-long friendships while you serve in the Foreign Service.

Raising happy, well-adjusted kids. Don’t worry – I’m not going to dole out advice on that one…

But one important consideration for anyone considering a career in the Foreign Service is how it will affect your family. My three kids have spent parts of their lives growing up overseas, and I’m here to tell you that the rewards of the experience outweighed any of the challenges we faced as a family.

So here are some observations, in no particular order, to consider about serving abroad with kids:

• As vehemently opposed as kids may be to moving to a new location, they very well may be just as opposed to leaving when your tour is over.
• Living abroad is fascinating. What’s more fascinating is experiencing it with your kids. Part of my sons’ Boy Scout archaeology merit badge was earned through visits to the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora in Athens. We also hiked Mt. Olympus. Yes, it is real. Zeus, however, was on “holiday” (it is Greece after all).
• Your kids will forge life-long friendships with other kids through the Embassy, school, clubs, etc. These are often great springboards for you making new friendships with the kids’ parents.
• On the first day in her new school after returning to the United States, my daughter casually told the teacher she’d been to about a third of the places on the alphabet chart with pictures above the chalkboard. My son’s track and field meet was in a different country. Pretty cool.
• Give your kids time to adjust – both to going overseas and to coming back to the States. But also understand they’ll often adjust to some things more quickly than you.
• The government doesn’t pay for nursery school and it’s usually not cheap. Factor that expense in if you have kids that age.
• Schools are usually good to very good, but not always. Foreign nationals attending the schools can be very wealthy and not always welcoming of “Embassy kids.” Do your homework and learn about your options for schools. One source of info is Tales From a Small Planet, a website on overseas Expat life including schools.
• Keep in mind that no matter where you’re living, there is still homework, grocery shopping (often more frequently than in the United States), taking out the trash, etc. Living overseas won’t magically make your kids want to make their beds or load the dishwasher.
• And finally, take your own plastic bags and paper towels on airplanes. Turbulence and kids don’t’ mix.

The above is certainly not meant to be an exhaustive list on the topic of serving abroad with kids – just some things to think about as you consider a life in the Foreign Service. Everyone is different and has different experiences.

Living abroad while serving your country in the Foreign Service is an amazing experience. It can also be challenging. Kids can sometimes create new challenges, but my wife and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I’ll close with this: if you’re seriously considering the Foreign Commercial Service – do it; it’s an amazing career!

It was just part of the exciting work we do as Commercial Officers, and it’s what you can be a part of if you join the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. Have any questions? Let us know in the comments below. Or you can sign up to receive email updates from our team.

Frank Joseph is an Officer for the International Trade Administration’s U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service.

Note: The International Trade Administration plans to hold an assessment in 2015 through which it will hire a new class of Foreign Commercial Service Officers. We’ll publish a series of articles about ITA’s Foreign Commercial Service to answer questions from people who may be interested in this career opportunity.

If a Marvel movie about a raccoon can make $300 million, why not make one about a Foreign Commercial Service Officer like me? And it’s not just because I have a mammal’s good looks or a plant’s silver tongue. Rather, my superpowers include imperviousness to 90 degree heat and 100 percent humidity and an ability to drink insanely strong coffee. All earned after three years as a Commercial Officer living in Ho Chi Minh City, working to create opportunities for U.S. exporters.

Vietnam wasn’t on my Foreign Service bucket list, but I assure you, I had it wrong.

Professionally, Vietnam was an amazing experience, and I have no regrets. Here you have a country that endeavors to build its very first subways in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, an integrated highway system that some compare to President Eisenhower’s 1950’s American highway initiative, and an international airport from scratch. Add to those scores of hospitals, billions of dollars dedicated to water treatment projects, and major initiatives to meet energy demands. It is a promising market for U.S. exporters and a fantastic opportunity for a Commercial Officer.

Helping drive American jobs by accessing these sorts of sales opportunities gets my blood pumping. It’s why I joined the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. I worked with an outstanding team of locally hired staff led by some of this organization’s best Commercial Officers. As a team, we positioned our companies in front of key decision makers, set up sales networks and advised on market “nuances” among other duties.

Nuances – that’s where the rubber hits the road. Almost daily we coached companies how to:

• Find further clarity to handle un-transparent regulations;
• Sell to cash strapped buyers who make financing the beginning and ending of conversations;
• Bid on government projects that involve foreign government “tied” aid – meaning that the country that provides funding support requires Vietnam to purchase its country’s products;
• Convince Vietnamese buyers not to buy the least expensive solution;
• Understand state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that make up 35 percent of GDP. SOE decision-making can be political as much as it is profit-driven; and,
• Avoid corruption — an unfortunate fact of life in Vietnam. Many locals accept it as a necessary part of business. Our firms need to raise this and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act first thing when interviewing local partners.

And that coaching helped create success for U.S. companies. Our promotion effort to secure a $90 million sale of wind turbines is a great example of the work we do. In this case, we did that by facilitating communications between the U.S. supplier, the local Vietnamese buyer and the various Vietnamese government agencies that regulated the sale. We also helped introduce the Export-Import Bank to finance the deal as competing foreign governments introduced favorable financing to support their companies. Then, we offered up a signing ceremony witnessed by a U.S. Secretary to demonstrate how important the sale was to the U.S. government.

It was just part of the exciting work we do as Commercial Officers, and it’s what you can be a part of if you join the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. Have any questions? Let us know in the comments below. Or you can sign up to receive email updates from our team.

Barbara Farrar is the Assignments Officer for the International Trade Administration’s U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service.

Note: The International Trade Administration plans to hold an assessment in 2015 through which it will hire a new class of Foreign Commercial Service Officers. We’ll publish a series of articles about ITA’s foreign commercial service to answer questions from people who may be interested in this career opportunity.

Barbara Farrar is the Assignments Officer for the International Trade Administration’s U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service.

Some of the first questions Foreign Commercial Service Officer candidates ask are about the assignments process.

How does it work? Do I get to choose where I go? What options are there? What if I don’t like where I am sent?

The first thing that needs to be said is that when you become a Foreign Service Officer with any foreign service agency, you are signing up for worldwide assignment.  (If that phrase makes you smile and your heart beat a little faster, you may be the right kind of person for this job).

Technically, you can be sent just about anywhere. The Commercial Service has 75 offices around the globe, with the largest number of officers in the countries where U.S. companies do the most business and face the greatest challenges: China, India, and Brazil to name a few.

We are also present in many smaller markets, and we recently opened five new offices in Africa and Asia. Our ideal candidate is someone who will not be reluctant to serve in these new emerging markets. 

First Assignments: New officers come into the Foreign Commercial Service through a six-week New Commercial Officer Training program held in Washington, DC. At the outset of the program, we give officers a list of vacancies and an opportunity to express preferences based on their qualifications, language skills, and other considerations. All Foreign Commercial Service Officers are encouraged to serve in a domestic U.S. position for their first or second tours. During the training program, we hold a Flag Day ceremony when officers learn where they will serve their first assignment.

Other Assignments and Bidding: Following that first direct assignment, officers are able to bid on the jobs they want during an open assignments cycle that starts in the fall of each year. Using our electronic bidding system, we announce the vacancies that will open the following year. Many of these will include up to a year of language training prior to the assignment. Officers must bid on four positions at their grade, and are also allowed to bid on some positions above or below their grade.

Assignments Process: In the fall through the winter of each year, a panel meets four to five times to assign officers to their next assignment. The panel starts with the highest ranking officer and works its way through the team, carefully considering the candidates interested in each position and making assignments based on qualifications, experience, language skills, and additional considerations (family circumstances, medical clearance, etc.).

As the assignments officer, I have the fun job of working with the officers to help them realize their career development aspirations, and the important task of keeping the trains running on time, metaphorically, during our assignments process. 

Do you have further questions about our assignments process? Let us know in the comments section below!