My name is Chimere, I am a Foreign Service Specialist serving as a Security Engineering
Officer. A Security Engineering Officer, what do we
do? It can run the gamut, oh my goodness gracious, we can repair alarm systems, install alarm
system, install cameras, we can travel as a part of the advanced team for the Secretary
of State, um, we can do inspections overseas, we can inspect the network at various Department
of State embassies overseas. I was recruited directly out of college, out
of Clemson University. And actually I went all the way to the other side of the country
to actually be recruited. I was a member of the National Society of Black Engineers and
we had our 2003 national convention in Anaheim, California and that's where I saw the State
Department table. I knew absolutely nothing about the State Department. I had never heard
of the State Department. I did hear of course of the Secretary of State.
What got me excited about the job was the travel. Granted, I was a little nervous at
first when they told me I'd have to travel overseas and live overseas because I had never
been apart, well, that distance, from my family. I am a country girl from South Carolina so,
you know, I travelled distances maybe two or three states over, stayed for about a week
or so. Never two, two to three years away from my family. That was really nervous, really
made me nervous but I was willing to take that chance. Well, when I served on Secretary's
detail where I served as a part of the advance team for the Secretary of State, I visited
approximately 16 different countries, some of them being Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Mexico
City, Lima, Peru, when I served in Dakar, Senegal I was actually covering seven other
embassies in seven other countries, um, ranging from Mali to Guinea-Conakry to Cape Verde.
So I've seen quite a bit of the world in my short tenure with the Department of State.
Social-wise I made sure that I was involved in a lot of embassy activities. In West Africa
we have WAIST, we have West African Invitational Softball Tournament. So, I ran the concession
stand for that and I found, you know, other little groups that I could join. And tried
to do things actually locally, attend local concerts and things like that. So you can
make a social life for yourself overseas. This is a very educational and challenging
experience for me. It, it gets me out of comfort zone, definitely gets me out of my comfort
zone as well as gives me the opportunity to serve my country, to represent my country
overseas without carrying a gun. So that's what keeps me going, being able to learn a
new skill, being able to learn how to wire up a panel or alarm system by myself, you
know, it really gets me out of comfort zone and it's out of the box and I don't have to
worry about staying in a cube 24/7. There's always something exciting going on.
My advice that I give to a lot of the engineers that I may encounter at career fairs, is granted
you could do a lot with engineering, you can design, you can build. But if you want an
out-of-the-box experience, an out-of-the-box engineering job, I recommend that you go to
careers.state.gov or talk to me some more.