LESLIE, FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER, MANAGEMENT CAREER TRACK:
My name is Leslie, and I am a Foreign Service Officer
in the management career track.
I currently work as a policy analyst in Washington.
I was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised both there, as well as in central Ohio.
As I was studying in hotel administration, actually, I was very unaware
of how one came to work in a U.S. embassy overseas.
I've always enjoyed travel and studying other cultures.
I took a number of languages while I was a student,
but it never really occurred to me how you got to be a diplomat.
And in my senior year of college, I was at a career fair,
and one of the Department's recruiters was there.
And when we talked through the different career tracks and the exam process,
it seemed like management was a great fit for my education and my interests.
So I tried it, and it worked out.
I think management-wise, I was honored to be asked
to assist with a presidential visit to Riyadh, which happened to be my first tour.
I find that one of the most compelling things about this job
is not only the foreign contacts— the outside contacts that you meet:
the foreign publics, other diplomats, private sector people in foreign countries—
but the locally employed staff that you get to work with in the posts,
and the incredible diversity there.
I never thought when I joined the Foreign Service, as a first tour officer,
that I was going to be working in our U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
working with a staff of almost 100, exclusively men,
in my section as a General Service Officer... General Services Officer—sorry--who are,
from East Africa, South Asia, countries from all over the Middle East.
And that we were able to easily find common ground
and work together across... in a really multicultural environment,
I found really great and very fascinating.
You know, I did not study international relations.
I did not come from the Washington area.
I just was not aware of how one got to work in this field,
and I wouldn't have expected that I... that there would be a place
for me to work there. But it's such... the issues that we work on,
the environments in which we operate, the people we work with,
the audiences we need to reach are so incredibly diverse
that there's always a combination of circumstances that would fit you.
I've worked in Political. I've done political work.
I've done economic work. I've done public outreach,
speaking to foreign audiences and students. I've been a Consular Officer.
And all of those experiences
not only make me just a better and more well-rounded officer,
but they make me a better management officer,
so that I know better what my customers are dealing with,
what my colleagues are dealing with and how I can change
the processes and circumstances that they face to have a better outcome,
not only foreign policy outcomes, but return for taxpayer dollars.
When people ask me about applying to the Department
and their interest in the career, I think two important things
are to be yourself, because again there is a place for you,
and there's work and perspective. There's work we need you to do,
and there's perspective that you bring that we can't get from anywhere else.
So the more diverse we are, the more perspectives are represented,
the better our service is going to be. And second of all, I think just enjoy it.
It's not scary. It's not mysterious. It is rigorous, but it's not insurmountable.
I like also being...helping to serve as a bridge
between the American people and foreign citizens,
because we need more dialogue than anything, and so, being able to have...
meet people, have those conversations, build connections is really very satisfying.