Job Search Program: Counselor Professional Services

The George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center of the Department of State is the federal government's primary training facility for personnel of the foreign affairs community. The Foreign Service Institute(FSI) is the Department bureau that provides training for employees of the Department of State and other agencies at the Shultz Center.

FSI's Transition Center's (TC)Career Transition Center (TC/CTC) offers three major programs to help employees plan for the future and prepare for retirement: The Early/MidCareer Retirement Planning Seminar (EMCRPS), the Retirement Planning Seminar (RPS) and the Job Search Program (JSP). The professional services of a Counselor are needed to help with the transition of the JSP participants from widely varied areas of the Foreign Service and Civil Service in the Department of State and other Foreign Affairs agencies, and include employees who are being voluntarily and involuntarily separated from service with the government. Each participant is beginning a transition to a new life outside the institutional structure they have known. They vary in expertise, rank, race, gender and age, with most being in the range from late 40s to late 60s. Their post retirement plans are diverse, and their geographic targets include overseas as well as US locations. Some are seeking employment in the private sector; others are interested in not-for-profit organizations or related areas of government service, or educational sectors, and/or part-time or volunteer employment. Some are uncertain of their next steps, and are using the JSP to help them formulate their plans for the future.

The Job Search Program helps employees clarify career goals, assess interests, skills, and values, prepare a resume, build a network of people who can help in finding a job, sharpen interviewing skills,and negotiate salary and benefits. JSP class sizes range from 55 to over 120. The program is offered three times each year in March, August and October.