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FSOonthego

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  1. A couple of extra points, first, be 100% up front with your investigator. It's far better to admit something up front than to conceal it and let an investigator find something of concern. A lot of things can be discussed and worked through, but concealing something really hurts your credibility. Second, it is possible to be granted a security clearance with the Dept of State but then be precluded from serving in a particular country because of especially strong ties to that country, ties to government officials, etc. All of that is adjudicated on a case by case basis and there's no way to know how it will shake out until you get your clearance at the earliest, but possibly not until you're considered for a specific assignment later in your career. I've known a few people who have been assigned to a place but had the assignment broken when Diplomatic Security reviewed them for that specific assignment.
  2. First of all, no one can tell you for sure whether you're going to get a security clearance until you've actually been investigated and adjudicated through the security clearance process. While each situation is different, I know many first and second generation immigrants who have been able to obtain security clearances without any major problems. Diplomatic Security will look at the big picture of your circumstances and use all the info available to them to adjudicate your security clearance. They will look at your ties to the USA vs ties to other countries, your criminal history, your credit and financial history, and look to see if there are any vulnerabilities that would make you more likely to divulge classified information. Your travel history may require additional information and it may require additional time to resolve, but many, many FSO applicants have spent significant time overseas and the Dept of State is used to dealing with this. For example, I had to sign a form allowing the Dept of State to request the equivalent of an FBI criminal record check on me in a country where I had previously lived. It didn't add too much time to the request, but did require me to look up some additional info. Whether or not you speak a Critical Needs Language or not will have no bearing whatsoever on your security clearance. Diplomatic Security does not care that you speak a language, they just care whether or not you can be trusted with classified information. Hope this helps a bit. Unfortunately, it's impossible to say whether or not anyone will get a clearance or not with any degree of certainty until that person is actually investigated and all of the facts are examined.
  3. I think that it's entirely possible to make the transition from film to IR. It might not be easy, and depending on your current salary you might have to take a pay cut. However, it's doable. Despite what a couple of other posters have said, late 20s is certainly not too old to be starting an MA in IR or similar degree. A lot of those programs have average ages of 25-27 for new students, so a few years older is certainly not a problem and depending on how you define late 20s, you might even be in the average range. Certainly, you are not out of the range for most entry level jobs with an MA. The average age for new FSOs, for example, is somewhere around 32-34, and there was a guy in my A-100 training class that was 57 and just starting as an entry level FSO after teaching English, working for an airline, and then working for state government. The FSO hiring process is different than a lot of federal, private sector, and NGO hiring processes, but I've met people working in a lot of different jobs that have changed direction at some point in their lives. I completed an MPP before becoming a FSO and I had classmates in their late 20s and early 30s who were hired by DOD and IC agencies. For example, one person from my degree program hired by DOD in her early 30s was a teacher before getting her MPP, so did not have a ton of prior IR/IC/military/etc experience. Again, there might be more of a tradeoff salary-wise and your film experience might not help you get a better paid or more senior position, but it's certainly not impossible. There are tons of freshly minted MA IR (and similar degrees) running around and many of them have relatively interchangeable skills. However, not every MA IR grad will have a film background. That won't help for all jobs, but there are probably some employers who will see that as an advantage and it could open some extra doors. I've known FSOs who have been teachers, publicists, firefighters, lawyers, insurance salespeople, investment bankers and journalists before becoming FSOs, and some who were hired right after undergrad. I've also worked with people from other USG agencies both in DC and overseas and while I don't conduct a full background check on everyone I work with, I've been impressed by the variety of backgrounds they have when the topic does come up. One thing that I've observed both in the Foreign Service and in life in general is that there are many paths from point A to point B. Some might be more difficult, but there are many paths, nonetheless. So, best of luck with whichever path you choose.
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