Career Cheat Code
Welcome to Career Cheat Code, a podcast that explores the stories of everyday people making an impact in the world through their careers and loving every minute of it. Whether you're already on your path or searching for your purpose, this podcast is for you.
Join us every Monday as we uncover the secrets behind successful careers and inspire you to make your own mark. Formerly known as Thank God It's Monday | TGIM, don't forget to subscribe for updates and share with your friends!
Career Cheat Code
066 | Promoting U.S. Agriculture Abroad with Olutayo Akingbe
What does it take to navigate the complex world of international agricultural trade? Join us as we explore the fascinating career of Olutayo Akingbe, a dedicated Foreign Service Officer with the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service. Discover how Olutayo’s role as the eyes and ears of the USDA at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo involves promoting U.S. agricultural exports, conducting market intelligence, and overcoming intricate regulatory challenges, such as facilitating the import of U.S. kosher beef jerky into Israel. Olutayo’s insightful stories offer a behind-the-scenes look at the crucial collaboration between U.S. officers and local staff in achieving these goals.
Ever wondered what it’s like to represent the United States abroad? Olutayo shares her personal and professional journey, from rigorous training in Washington, D.C., to securing overseas assignments in diverse locations like Egypt and Canada. Learn about the complexities of bidding for positions, the necessity of language training, and the extensive preparation required for each role. Olutayo candidly discusses the balance between professional duties and personal life, highlighting both the rewards and challenges of her role.
Curious about a career in international affairs? Olutayo's path from studying at UPenn and Columbia University to discovering the FAS through networking and fellowship opportunities provides valuable insights. Hear about her experiences working with NGOs, the importance of relationships, and the benefits of diverse experiences in shaping a successful international career. Olutayo's passion for mentoring and preparing the next generation of diverse Foreign Service Officers shines through, emphasizing the critical need for diversity and representation in leadership within the Foreign Service. This episode is a must-listen for anyone aspiring to make a global impact.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like, rate, and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you’re using, and share this podcast with your friends and your networks. For more #CareerCheatCode, visit linktr.ee/careercheatcode. Let's make an impact, one episode at a time!
Host - Radhy Miranda
LinkedIn
Instagram
Producer - Gary Batista
LinkedIn
Instagram
To watch on YouTube
Follow us on our YouTube Clips Channel
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on LinkedIn
It is a huge undertaking. It's not for the faint of heart. It's. You are, you know, giving your life and your career to the US government. So people who want to pursue this career, it's very, very, very rewarding professionally, personally, but it's not easy. Like you're basically moving away from your family, from your home base, living overseas.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Career Cheat Code. In this podcast, you'll hear how everyday people impact the world through their careers. Learn about their journey, career hacks and obstacles along the way. Whether you're already having the impact you want or are searching for it, this is the podcast for you. All right, so, tayo, welcome to the show. Thank you, happy to be here. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Let's dive right in. Let's tell the world who you are and what it is you do for a living.
Speaker 1:Okay, sure, my name is Tayua Kingbay. I work for the Foreign Agriculture Service within the Department of Agriculture, usda. So FAS, the Foreign Agriculture Service, it's a small and mighty agency. We're the trade arm pretty much of the US Department of Agriculture, so our job is to promote US agricultural exports to the rest of the world, so we promote trade and global food security. I work there as a foreign service officer and I've been with FAS for about eight years almost nine years and we'll probably get into this but I kind of have two roles right now. So I'm a foreign service officer but I'm also on a DC assignment as a climate advisor for the Foreign Ag Service.
Speaker 2:Great, so let's start with your foreign service officer role. What does that mean? How does one become a one, and what are you actually tasked with doing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so foreign service. So there are actually six agencies that have a foreign service. So State Department is the major one that people know about, usaid, department of Commerce and USDA has one as well, which a lot of people don't know about. So to be a foreign service officer, it's the same thing where you work overseas at a US embassy, but for foreign ag service, we are basically the eyes, hands, ears of USDA at whatever foreign service or whatever embassy that we are posted in. For me, I did one tour at the US embassy in Cairo from 2019 to 2022. And there our job was to promote US exports of agriculture to Egypt and also the region, because my office was a regional post. It was based in Cairo, but we cover Jordan, israel, syria, lebanon and Iraq. So that's it in a nutshell, but it can mean all sorts of things. So we do market intelligence, we do ag reporting, we do capacity building projects. So, depending on where you're posted, we do all sorts of things.
Speaker 2:So what does that mean? So you go to Cairo and is your role to represent the dairy industry or the meat industry from New York I mean from the United States in that country.
Speaker 1:Yep, exactly. So we work closely with cooperators based in the US, or some of them have offices overseas but, yeah, we're working for the meat industry, the dairy industry, grains industry US Rice, us Rice, us Grains Council. There's so many different cooperators that represent US agriculture, that represent US farmers and ranchers, so we are, we work, in partnership with them to promote their goods overseas in the markets that we're located so interesting, right, because I think so specifically for me.
Speaker 2:Right, like I'm traveling soon and I'll be in another country, and if you see imports that you're like, oh, this is made in America, like there's someone working to like make that happen, and we just don't even give it much thought.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I'm glad you said that yeah, so look out for.
Speaker 1:US products in markets or grocery stores in different countries. So that is a part of our job and sometimes, you know so, our, you know our job is to promote trade. You know trade is good for the US economy, for the global economy and sometimes there's, you know, there could be barriers to trade and so we're there trying to make sure those barriers are don't inhibit US exports in different countries. So that's, yeah, working on working with the host government to on different trade policies, on different ag policies, but all to represent US farmers and ranchers in the US.
Speaker 2:So, in this particular role, do you have a favorite project that you've worked on that you're like? I'm really proud that we were able to do this in this country.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so there's one that we worked on that was actually pretty monumental, at least from my experience. So in Israel we worked with a US exporter that wanted to export US beef jerky kosher beef jerky to Israel. So there was not a market for importing beef jerky in Israel at all. The way the government works is that there's one agency like, just like the US, we have agencies that work on food safety. We have agencies that work on all the different kind of regulations for food products to end up on the shelves. So in Israel it was like two different agencies or two different ministries that had a hand in beef jerky.
Speaker 1:So you're working on is it a meat product? Is it a processed product? So it's like. So our job really was to kind of get them to work together to figure out, okay, what is the regulation that needs to be put in place so that US beef jerky can get into the country, and so that was like a two to three year project of like working with the industry. So a lot of the stuff that we're working on it's very like slow moving, but once it it, it works, it, it works, and so then we have so now we, you can see US beef, kosher beef jerky in Israel.
Speaker 1:So that's one that I worked on while I was there, that I was pretty proud of, and I do want to say that. So we have US Foreign Service officers who work in the embassies overseas, but we also have a very talented, huge number of local staff that work in the country. So, you know, I was working with our local employees, our Israeli employees, to work on this project. Or if I'm in Egypt, it's, yeah, working with our Egyptian employees. So they're the ones who really, you know, have the contacts, they're the ones who are kind of working within their ministries to make a lot of these things happen.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. So how do you actually get to do this, right? So, like, when you walk in on a Monday, like what is your like week? Look like, how do you actually make these things happen? Because you just told me about an opportunity where you were able to, like, basically help create a market.
Speaker 1:Right, like, that's not Right right, exactly, yeah, so it's a lot of with that. It could be just a lot of phone calls, a lot of meetings, a lot of emails, conversations. So one of the biggest things about being a foreign service officer is that you know you're a diplomat, you're, you are working, you're working, you're diplomatic channels, you're, you are using your diplomatic skills and those kind of social skills to at least for US Foreign Service officers, for the US government. So it's a lot of those intangible conversations that are happening. A lot of phone calls, meetings, things like that. So that could be on a typical day.
Speaker 1:And then also US Department of Agriculture puts out I think it's the Global Agricultural Information Network. Yes, gain, g-a-i-n. You can Google it. It's one of one of our like our bread and butter, of what we put out there. So we're doing reports on the agricultural situation in different countries. So that's something that I'm working on. So, for example, in Egypt, we put out a report on the grape industry, like, okay, what did their harvest look like this year? What are their exports and imports looking like? How much are they processing, how much are they consuming in countries? So these are the reporting that we do for all sorts of commodities and we do this all over the world and it's public information so anyone can look those up. So that's also during like my typical work day, working with the local staff on that.
Speaker 1:And then, depending on the post, we do like marketing activities, marketing programs, so it could be working at a trade show or something like that, so working with our cooperators there. So we have trade shows all over the world. We have agricultural trade missions. We usually have like a senior level USDA, a senior leader at USDA go and lead a trade mission in a different country. So they're bringing a whole bunch of US businesses to the country. Like, say, recently we had one in Canada. I think there's one going on in Columbia, like next month, one in Vietnam coming up in a couple months. And so we, those of us who are on the ground, we're helping create those business to business meetings, setting up meetings with different buyers. So yeah, that's just to touch on some of the things that we do as ag foreign service officers.
Speaker 2:That's great. So what's your favorite part of your role?
Speaker 1:I would say, I mean it's I like what it's just so interesting. Let's say that, like I think, for me, just as a person who I guess intellectually curious, you know, it's just something that, like, every day it's something new. Food and ag is, you know, fundamental to the world. Like you need food to eat, like it's everyone relies on agriculture. So I think, yeah, I would just say like it's just super interesting. Each day, I think that's what it is, and every day I'm doing something different.
Speaker 1:I work with just stellar employees, like I I mean, in my career, I mean, I've had some really great jobs, but the people I work with at FAS are so dedicated and they're so smart and so on top of their game. That keeps me like very interested every, every day when I do my job. And then, yeah, just working on these very, very important issues supporting US farmers and ranchers yeah, yeah, it's pretty interesting. And then, now that I'm in Washington, I also work on our climate change portfolio. So, working on food, agriculture and climate issues all very important things. So, yeah, I think that's what keeps me going.
Speaker 2:Is that the second, like the dual role that you mentioned, and tell me more about that. Like, what do you actually task with doing there and how does one have two roles basically?
Speaker 1:Exactly yeah. You asked me what you're doing there. How does one have two roles? Basically, exactly yeah. So as a foreign service officer, you know, you, you start at least at FAS. I think each agency does it a little different, but at FAS you come on.
Speaker 1:At least how I started is I came on as a foreign service trainee. You work in Washington for a little bit and then you go on to your, you go overseas after you're trained up and you go overseas and become an attache and then from there you, you do at FAS. It's three to four year tours. After you're done with your tour, you can bid on another country that you want to live in. For me, I bid on to come back to Washington. So I've been in Washington on a yeah, on a domestic tour, is what you call it. Yeah, so as a domestic Foreign Service officer, you're still working on the mission of food and agricultural trade, but in Washington it's like you pick up a role where there's a need, and so here there was a position available to work on FAS and USDA's climate strategy, working on a lot of our climate goals, and so that's how I took on this role. I was coming back from Egypt and I was like okay, this looks good. So then I started that.
Speaker 2:Okay, so as a foreign service officer, you typically are not based here, you're based foreign somewhere. So you represent the United States in another country. So tell me more about the tours that you've done and how that process goes right, because it seems like a big undertaking to leave your house, to leave your family, to leave your friends and say I'm going to go and stay somewhere for a couple of years in a whole nother country that I've never been to.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is a huge undertaking. It's not for the faint of heart. You are giving your life and your career to the US government. So people who want to pursue this career, it's very, very, very rewarding professionally, personally, but it's not easy. You're basically moving away from your family, from your home base, living overseas. For me personally, I've only done one tour, one official tour in Egypt. I did do a short-term detail assignment in Ottawa, canada. That was also very rewarding.
Speaker 1:So basically, when you apply to the Foreign Service, you work in Washington, at least for Foreign Ag Service. You work in Washington for a bit and then each fall there's what they call a bid list and they have all the different countries where there's positions available and then you bid on it like any type of job application. So if you see a position in Tokyo or in New Delhi or Seoul or Bogota, like you, just you see whatever position, what cities are available, you rank them, which ones that you want to do most, and it's kind of like a matchmaking. So their senior leadership takes a look at who are the officers, where are they bidding and where would be the best fit, and then within I think, like within a couple months or less than they make their decision, and then you're off within the next year, or two years, depending on if it's a hard language post. So for me, I was in Cairo. I had to spend a year learning Arabic before I could go overseas, so that was also fun. So that's also a perk of the job.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely. I mean, it's a perk but it's also a lot of responsibility, right. So, like I remember, when we first met, it was at the International Career Advancement Program, so ICAP, and there were a good. It was during the fall, so there were a good number of folks going through that process in that moment and folks were because you're talking to people throughout the world, right, like some people had calls at like midnight because they're talking to someone in Tokyo or something right, and it's like that matchmaking process is intense, it's condensed and it's very much you positioning yourself to rank the way that I understood it. You rank the placements that you would prefer and then they tell you where you rank for them as well, so you're able to have that conversation, but it's an intense process.
Speaker 1:It is very intense. It's a lot of conversations. I remember when I did it no-transcript.
Speaker 1:Is it a country where your partner can have a position there too? Can they continue their career there? If you have children, okay. Is it a country where they have good schools for your kids? So it's like it's not only matchmaking for okay, this, I want to work in this country because they're working on these issues and I'm interested in that. But it's like, okay, is it a place where I can live, where I can thrive, where my family can thrive? So it's a lot to take into consideration.
Speaker 2:Absolutely and, as you said, right, just you know, I've never had a job where I had to do some homework for a year before I got it. So, like you just said, you have to learn Arabic for a year before you went out there. That's never going to happen in my career, so it's just fascinating that that's part of it. But you need that if you're going to go and represent the United States properly, and you need to do a lot of homework on the country and on the industries and on what's happening on the ground before you get there. You can't just get there and learn it on the fly because you're representing the United States, so it makes sense. It's just something that, in my career path, is not something that's common.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I did not know what I was getting myself into when I joined the foreign service. But you kind of learn as you go and it can be an exciting time, but it does mean you need to be flexible and, yeah, just understand what comes with it. So, like I had to learn Arabic for a year. It actually was. Yeah, like you said, it's like what other career would you have where you're getting paid to learn a language, to sit and learn a language for a year to a point where you can be conversational and, yeah, like, have those conversations with counterparts?
Speaker 1:Some people, like, depending on where you go and the people's schedules and their time commitment, some people end up not taking language and just going out there and, just like, you know what, I'll figure it out. I don't recommend that route because, even if you don't become fluent in the language, showing that you actually took the time to learn a person or a country's language, their culture, like I said, like diplomacy is like the heart of what we do, like that just pays dividends, you know so, even so, for me, egyptians are like the warmest people in the world and Even, like, I'll say my little bit of Arabic and they'll be like oh my gosh, you speak so well. I've never heard such Arabic. You know like, ok, I just counted to 10, you know. So it's just. I think they appreciate it. They know that Arabic is a very hard language, very hard on so many levels, but the fact that you know I took time to just try to learn, yeah, it just opened so many doors and people appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Got it. So how did you become a foreign service officer, Like, is this what you always wanted to do for a living? Or how does how does one stumble upon now having diplomatic responsibilities?
Speaker 1:Exactly Like. How did this happen? So I would say it wasn't a very straight path I so I studied international affairs in undergrad and grad school and I knew I wanted to go into an international field. I didn't know what exactly. So it wasn't until like my last year in grad school, where I did a project on the cashew industry in Mozambique and I was like, oh okay, this is what I want to do Agriculture, this is so fun and so interesting. So that's how I kind of fell into agriculture and then I kind of ended up in development for a little bit and I was working for some, I guess you would say, like NGOs or USAID contractors, but I knew I wanted to live overseas. I knew that I wanted that to be part of my career, part of my life, because I was born and raised in Maryland, the DC area, and I just wanted that experience and I was looking at different avenues.
Speaker 1:And it was actually through the ICAP network, even though I wasn't an ICAP alum at that point. There used to be like a joint list served with this other fellowship that I was part of called the Institute for International Public Policy, through the Department of Education. Unfortunately it doesn't exist anymore, but it was a wonderful organization. That was a fellowship that I was part of, but IIPP and ICAP used to have like kind of like a sisterhood. So, long story short, I was on the ICAP listserv and an FAS ICAP alum put out into the listserv hey, they're hiring for the foreign service at FAS, you know, apply. And so I'd known about FAS.
Speaker 1:I was interested in the agency itself, but I didn't know that they had a foreign service. And so I reached out to that person, who is still a dear friend and colleague to this day, and I was like tell me about this, what is this? And so, yeah, so that's kind of how I fell into it. I wouldn't have been able to tell you at the beginning of my career that this is where I'd end up, but it was just a matter of getting the right information at the right time. I was looking to make a move. I knew I wanted to live overseas, I knew I wanted to do ag. So it was kind of the perfect, yeah, opportunity at the perfect time. And so that's how I ended up here.
Speaker 2:That makes sense. And you know it sounded like especially if you went to get your undergrad and grad school degree in international affairs, right Like you had some sense that you wanted to do something generally in this space, but then the exposure to ag kind of just narrowed it down for you, right. Tell me more about where did you end up going to grad school and do you feel like you got what you needed out of it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I went to Columbia University School of International Public Affairs.
Speaker 2:I know, I know Me too. I just wanted you to say it.
Speaker 1:Wait, I didn't know. You went to SIPA. Oh what? Yes, yes, no-transcript. Diversify the field of international affairs and leaders in that field. But they start you young at, like your sophomore year of college. So that's how I became. I came into the fellowship and part of the fellowship was to. You know, they finance an internship overseas, they finance a language immersion program, which I did in France after grad school, but they also pay for your grad school. They pay for grad school, yeah, they pay for the fees for school. So because I knew I had this fellowship, I knew I was going to go to grad school. I just went straight through. So I applied to Columbia my senior year of college and then went straight through. So I graduated. And then to grad school I just went straight through. So I applied to Columbia my senior year of college and then went straight through. So I graduated and then started grad school.
Speaker 1:I do not recommend that for people, even though I feel like my career has ended up pretty wonderful. I mean, I'm very satisfied with my career, but I could have gotten more out of my grad school experience if I had a little bit of work experience before starting grad school. So I was, you know like 21, 22 years old, with people who have lived overseas, who've worked in these agencies and worked all over the world, and all I had was, yeah, my undergrad degree, and I kind of treated grad school as an extension of undergrad, instead of realizing like, oh, you know, there's so many like intangible benefits of being in grad school, like the connections that you make. You know that you're different, there's different students that you're interacting with, but I was like, so focused on like, oh, you know, I need to, you know your exams and all that is very important, but I think I put too much emphasis on getting good grades instead of like, hey, this person, you know, like these people I'm working with, there's a lot I can get out of that as well.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I hear you, I definitely. You know. I think grad school for those that are considering it, sure grades matter. More importantly is you know what you actually functionally take from that, and then also the network, for sure. So I think by the time I went because I was a few years removed from school I was able to like make sure that I was really intentional around networking, going to the happy hours after classes, connecting with people. You know you build relationships that like afterwards like I've been to some of these folks, like weddings and maybe showers, and you know from like, just from like relationships that we build in grad school, but like those relationships matter, right? Yeah, so you went from your undergrad in an Ivy League at UPenn right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, upenn, yep, yep, upenn, Quakers.
Speaker 2:To then SIPA at Columbia University and then you're graduating from there, and at the time, what did you actually think you were going to be able to do?
Speaker 1:So from there I was still yeah, I think I was still figuring things out, I would say before I discovered international affairs. I went into college as like a poli-sci major, completely thinking I was going into law, like I was going to go get a law degree, like that's, you know what you do. Yeah, particularly as as a Nigerian American I don't know if you've heard those, you know especially like immigrant families it's like, okay, you, doctor, lawyer, like you know, there's very set paths for us. So I thought I would do law. So I actually thought that's kind of where I would end. I was like, oh, maybe I can do like international law or something like that.
Speaker 1:So after I graduated, I mean I knew I needed a break from school and I ended up, yeah, like I mentioned, doing that senior thesis or that grad thesis on the value chain assessment of cashews in Mozambique, did that, and I think I just ended up moving back home to the DC area and I was like you know what? This is a great place to start being, you know, at the seat of government, washingtonc. And yeah, I just started applying to different jobs in agriculture and international affairs and development was just kind of just applying because, even though I had my graduate degree, I had my Ivy League degree. It was like I had no experience. So, you know, I had to start somewhere.
Speaker 1:So my first job was with this organization called ACDI Boca, which was phenomenal, like a great place for me to land as starting off my career and they do agricultural development, and that was my first job, but it was like as a very entry level position. So I definitely had to like humble myself and, like you know, I have these Ivy League degrees or whatever. But, yeah, I was making copies and, you know, getting people's mail, so that was how I started. And then I think I just kind of ended up just building from there and knowing that, yeah, it's just going to be a process, you know, just getting the experience and you know, leveraging that to more responsibility. And then, yeah, then years later, this is kind of how I, how I ended up. I think that answered your question.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. So what advice would you have for people considering going into foreign service or agriculture? Specifically, what advice do you think you know would have been helpful to you when you were younger, in your career?
Speaker 1:I would say I don't think I knew what the breadth of career paths that were available in international affairs when I was younger, so, but now I mean, this is a different time. I don't know if LinkedIn was around when I started my career, but maybe it was and maybe it wasn't as big as it is now. But just yeah, just the fact that you have so many resources to kind of figure out, like, what path do I want to take in international affairs? But if you're specifically interested in the foreign service, definitely looking into the different agencies that do foreign service. So there's State Department, which is more your traditional route. You can be a consular officer working public affairs, working on political and economic analysis, or you can work in commerce, which is just like Department of Commerce, and that's trade. You could work at USAID, which is development. You could work at foreign ag services, where I work and work on agriculture and agricultural trade.
Speaker 1:Just knowing the different avenues to the foreign service that you don't have to take the traditional State Department route, there are many ways to enter the foreign service. So, yeah, so I wish I'd known that earlier in my career. And how to prepare, I think just for me I would say, what helped me a lot was talking to people. So that ICAP colleague who told me about the foreign service she put me in touch with so many people who could guide me into because once you apply, you have to do the foreign service assessment, which is its own thing, so it's like an oral assessment or written exam.
Speaker 1:It's a lot. That's probably a whole other conversation, but I'm happy to talk to any listeners if they have any questions about that. So talking to people who've done the assessment and could kind of guide you through these are the best practices. This is what you should try to do. This is what to expect. There's also a lot of online guides that can help you walk you through that process. But definitely I mean I just can't say it enough but like relationships, relationship, relationships, networking networking.
Speaker 2:Networking is huge for this field. For sure that makes sense.
Speaker 1:What's the most challenging part of your role? That's a good question, I would say, for as a foreign service officer, the professionally it's very rewarding. I would say personally it can be. You really have to think through like, ok, is this the life for you? So I would say it's. It's. It's challenging and yeah, like what we talked about before uprooting yourself, being in a different country. Me, I'm very close to my family. I don't think I realized how close I am to them until I was away from them. I was like this is hard, but I was like time zones away. That was very hard for me. But definitely, making the most of my experience, it was wonderful, but that was a challenge for me.
Speaker 1:The Foreign Service can also be very competitive. So you're not only competing for which countries you're going to and then you can see, oh, I wanted to go to this country, my colleague got it instead. So it was like but you're still colleagues, so should I be happy for them? But I'm also a little bitter. So there's that part kind of managing those relationships. And then so there's the bidding part and then the promotion part is also very competitive because the Foreign Service is designed after the military, so it's like up or out, so you only have a certain amount of time to get promoted before you can be asked to exit the foreign service. So there's a lot of pressure to make sure your write-ups are good and make sure that you're.
Speaker 1:You know you're doing the best at your job so that it can be reflected in your packet when the board meets to evaluate everyone, and so you can be so excellent at your job. But you're also competing again with your colleagues and then you're, you're ranked against them. So it's not you aren't, you know, being evaluated just on what you do. It's on what you do compared to your colleagues. So I helped to open a market in Israel, but you know someone else was like did something even greater, you know. So then I couldn't. You know you can be. Depending on that, you could be ranked lower. So it's, it's super competitive. That can be very delicate trying to navigate that.
Speaker 1:And it can be very frustrating where you think I should have gotten promoted and you don't. You know so, knowing that is an aspect of it, and you know again, if you, this is the career that you want to get into this this is part of the things you have to deal with.
Speaker 2:That makes sense and you know, I, honestly, in some ways it's reassuring that it is a difficult process, right? Because you do want the best of the best, representing the United States all over the world, so we kind of have a brand to uphold. So you know, I do appreciate that it is competitive and that it is, you know, challenging in that way so that we have the best out there in the world for us 100% Yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'm a big believer that you can do good and do well. So, as a foreign service officer, what can folks expect to make throughout their careers?
Speaker 1:So what I love about the foreign service and working in the government in general is that it's very transparent, like what your pay is. So these are things you can find online on OPM's Office of Personnel Management's website is the Foreign Service Scale and the General GS Scale. I think it's General Services Scale. So as a Foreign Service Officer, we go on an FS Scale, foreign Service Scale.
Speaker 1:So when you start for an ag service, once you get on the plane and you're going overseas, you start off as in what they call a class four. So it goes four, three, two, one and then you go into senior foreign service. So for class four, I want to say the last time I checked it was like the high 80s, so like 87 to like 120. So it's a range. So you can see the whole range completely transparent online. So that's where you start and then, yeah, as you get promoted, you go, you know, from class three to class two and then it gets higher from there. And then also I, you know, can't leave out some of the perks of being in the foreign service is, you know, you get your housing paid for. If you're in a hardship post, they give you rest and relaxation benefit so you can come home or go to another country to relax.
Speaker 1:I guess you could say so you get that benefit, you get what I mean. It's like a lot of technical words like post differential COLA, like there's a lot of different financial incentives, I mean. And then depending on where you're going like the harder the country it is or I would, yeah, try not to use that word hard, but like how different I guess the country is from the United States then you have like different financial benefits as an incentive for you to work in that country. So you know, if you're working in Paris versus Islamabad, like there's different pay scale that's on top of your salary. So those are the things you can consider as a foreign service officer.
Speaker 2:I love that everything is transparent and also that you mentioned some of the perks of you know you may be making $87,000 or $90,000, but you're also not paying for housing, right. So you can actually pocket a lot of the funds and, like you know, if you're financially savvy and careful, you can actually make a good living doing this. That's great. Are there any forms of media books, podcasts, things that you have consumed that you think have helped you personally or professionally?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say okay. So I guess the last few years, particularly being in Egypt and being away from my family and all of that like mental health and self-care, has been a very like just kind of top of mind for me, not as much as it had before in my career. So I think, being cause also as a foreign service officer, I think it's across the board in any country you're working a lot. It's it's a lot because you're representing the U? S government, so there kind of sometimes can might not be an off button. So sometimes you're working during the weekends. If you have like a, a major visitor come, like we had, like had like Secretary of State Blinken, come to our country. So it's like you know it's all hands on deck so it's a lot of, it could be a lot of work. So I've been kind of working personally a lot on my own personal like boundaries with work and self-care.
Speaker 1:So I would say one podcast I love is called Therapy for Black Girls. I don't know if you've heard about this. I know this. It says Therapy for Black Girls. I don't know if you've heard about this. I know it says therapy for Black girls, but anyone can listen to it, but it does come from that perspective of the particular challenges that Black women face in the world and careers and everything. Love that podcast. I share it with all my girlfriends, but, yeah, anyone can listen to it and I know anyone could get a lot out of it. So that's a weekly podcast. A book that I've read recently it's called Self-Compassion.
Speaker 1:Sorry, oh my gosh, I was like I'm thinking of the word self-compassion by Dr Kristen Neff, about how to be kind to yourself and just giving yourself grace. So those two, I would say, help me personally, which does have ramifications for professionally as well. So therapy for Black girls and self-compassion, I would say, yeah, those would be my recommendations for folks and that's what's gotten me. I've gotten a lot out of those.
Speaker 2:What do you strive for in this type of career? And I say that because I think where we were in our fellowship together, there were folks that very much had their eyes on like at some point, I would like to be an ambassador At some point, I would like to be this had their eyes on like, at some point, I would like to be an ambassador At some point, I would like to be this like what are some of the things to look forward to in this type of career that you can grow into? And you know, depending on what agency, what path you choose. But just so we have a sense of what what folks can actually work towards.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's exactly it Like. So, within for the foreign service, yeah, hopefully, if you have a successful career, you keep getting promotions and then you get into the Senior Foreign Service, which is where you're one of the leaders in your agency for the Foreign Service You're helping to set vision and strategy for the Foreign Service, for the agency in and of itself, and then from there, so mostly to become ambassador. I think it's mostly State Department who go that route, but other agencies are able to become ambassadors. So for foreign service, for foreign ag service, we've had quite a number of people who've reached that rank of ambassador. I think like three or four, if not more, have reached that rank of ambassador. So that's where you can go in your career.
Speaker 1:And I will say also for foreign service, because it is kind of structured after the military and it's up and out, you are required to retire by age 65. So the month of the year that you turn 65, you are, you're out, you're retired, you're retired from the foreign service and so you want to make the most out of your career before you reach that stage. And then most people because 65 is still pretty young, like you know, if you're still able-bodied, and you know most people decide to start a second career at that point. You know you have so much experience and particularly working with US farmers and ranchers and those cooperators, you can work, as I've seen a lot of people who've worked as consultants for these industries and still have their hand in food and ag after they retire, after they finish their foreign service career.
Speaker 1:So, I would say those are ways or paths you can do once you're in the foreign service and you want to move up.
Speaker 2:That makes sense. So leadership within the agency and then so what is an ambassador? What do you get to do as an ambassador? That's different from a foreign service officer.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, it's a lot of responsibility, but you are the president's representative in that country, so you are the leader of the embassy. You're a leader of the mission, so you are the highest ranking official in the embassy in that country. So you are meeting with the heads of the host government of the country that you're in. So you're making the decisions for the mission or on behalf of the US government. It's pretty prestigious to become an ambassador. Yeah, you're setting the tone. And then also, I would say, because each embassy is like a microcosm of the US government, so you have all the different agencies. So, for example, in Cairo, you know, we had representatives of DOD, of agriculture, of commerce, of all the different government agencies. So you, as the ambassador, are the head of all of that, of just how all these different areas or sections are achieving their mission and making sure that is within the overall US embassy's mission as well in that country. So it's a pretty cool gig if you make it to that level.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, is there anything else we haven't discussed today that the world should know about you? Oh, that's a good question.
Speaker 1:I mean, as you can see, like I am passionate about my career, or this career that I'm in in foreign service, in agriculture. I'm also pretty passionate like how we met in ICAP, which is preparing particularly people of color and diversifying leadership within international affairs. I'm very passionate about that as well. Yeah, I'm passionate about making sure the Foreign Service reflects the diversity of the United States. So we and we're not there yet, we are definitely not there as far as women, representation of Black representation, latino representation, like it's. It's not there yet. And so I'm very, I'm very passionate about that and making sure that people who may not be aware that this is a career path will know that this is an option, and, um, and mentoring other people to make sure that they know that this is an option, to prepare them for it, to make sure that they thrive in this career. So, yeah, definitely a huge, yeah, huge passion of mine.
Speaker 2:Awesome, great, and I think you did a great job being a steward of the industry today and letting folks know that this is a career path, that is an option and that folks should actually just consider and just do some research on and, you know, hopefully get into this field as well. So thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no problem, thank you, and I reiterate if people have any questions or want to know more about this career, definitely very happy to share that.
Speaker 2:Okay, thank you. Well, thanks for joining us today. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2:I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did and believe on the mission we're on, please like, rate and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're using, and share this podcast with your friends and your networks. Make sure you follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at career cheat code and tell us people or careers you would like to see highlighted. See you next week with some more cheat codes. Peace.
