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This is an interesting question. I'd be interested to hear more about it, if you find anything!
This is an interesting question. I'd be interested to hear more about it, if you find anything!
Question. Does a career as a Foreign Service Officer (Economic or Political tracks) in the U.S. State Department have a high expected value? Does anyone have the context to judge its merits for EAs?
Motivation. I ask because although 80K Hours rates 'Government and policy in an area relevant to a top problem' as their second highest-impact career category and, moreover, they consider executive branch careers (including in the State Department) as particularly promising, they don't yet have a career review for it.
From a career capital standpoint, it's a good way to learn how to research and write memos and how to navigate the U.S. government. Learning those skills, obtaining a security clearance, developing cross-cultural competence, and gaining visibility into a variety of selective government career tracks in a few years is hard to beat. Even if one were to be assigned to a country or two of relatively low strategic priority rather than one (say, China) of very high priority from an EA perspective, I'd bet it's a good career to explore for an EA. Depending on the quality of assignments staying in the FS can become a very high impact track for a decade or more. Here is an example of a high-impact FS career in the '00s-'10s.