[Music] Welcome to the ALTX Podcast. I'm Cody. I'm your host. It has been a while since I've last recorded a podcast. Life happens, but it is my intent to bring you more content this year on different global security operations, global security matters, high threat and executive protection. And of course, my former career and agency that I am very passionate about, the Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State. And with all of that said, this takes me to my next guest of the podcast, DSS Supervisor Special Agent Kayla Bokerman. Kayla not only served for nearly two decades as a special agent, but also now heads up the DSS Recruiting Office. And while she will tell us a few stories about her career, she's also here to give us some valuable information about the 2022 DSS Special Agent Vacancy announcement that will be opening in the coming weeks and only opens once a year. So listen in if you're interested in pursuing this career. Enjoy. It's your turn. I'm actually going to start off with before I joined DS because I think that's also important for people to hear and know all the different backgrounds that DS is comprised of. And I think that's one of the greatest things I like about DS is just the variety of the people you meet that are agents. And then you start getting into the Foreign Service and the embassies overseas and then your colleagues that you work with overseas. And I love that aspect of it and that's what really drew me to DS. So I started, I grew up in Nebraska. I always tried to throw that out. Go Huskers, right? I then joined Peace Corps at a college. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with myself. And I knew and I thought I wanted to live and work internationally. So I thought this is a great way to go try that. Plus, it was on the government's diet. So that's another nice aspect. So I got I got over there. I was in Zambia, became a volunteer. Then I became a volunteer leader. Then I started doing consulting for Peace Corps. Where I helped set up training sites and part of setting that up was making sure that they were secure and that all of the the volunteers and the staff were secure in our sites. So right there, I'm already starting to get into that security aspect. I figured out that's what I really like to do. I've always loved law enforcement and I always knew I wanted to live and work overseas and now I've got the best of both worlds. I actually go back to the States. I get my masters in finance because I thought at the end of the day, I'm not 100% sure this is what I want to do, but everything revolved around money. If you know how to make a budget, manage a budget, spend the money properly, you're always going to do well. So I went back, got a finance degree, MBA and finance, and then I started working as a senior financial analyst at a bank. It's about as exciting as it sounds right there, right? And I thought after a couple years, I was like, yeah, no, this is killing me. And that's me, right? Other people love it, good for them, but I always knew what I wanted to go back to. And that's when I spent a lot of time doing a lot of research to get into DS. You know, I that was probably 18 years ago. And yes, of course, there was an internet. I'm not bad old, right? But it isn't like now where there are a lot of resources. You have your group. There's lots of different groups. DS and the department are better about, you know, making those connections and helping people out. Good, you know, we want we want diverse good people, right? Diversity comes in a lot of different forms. And that, like I said earlier, as we're talking right before we started the record, I think it's that diversity that helps make us a better bureau and a better department and has been the best, like I said, the best part of this job for me. So finally, I went in. I have the job opening, you know, pops open for a week, like it has been. I literally take time off from work and I put my application in and I was very fortunate to get through. So yeah, I, you know, trying, you know, this application process is can be difficult and I, you know, that I always try to encourage everybody to, you know, if this is really what you want to do, keep at it, right? Sometimes you don't succeed the first time. So so after that, I finally get into DS. So now I'm, I have to go through B-SAC with my class, you know, and we all love our B-SAC classes, right? What class were you? 86. Okay. So go through there, finish up and my first, my first assignment out was the San Francisco field office. I was lucky enough to go with one of my friends from B-SAC, his name's Tim and we're still friends to this day, actually very good friends to this day. And so that's the other part of DS that I truly enjoyed, you know, 18 years later, still really good friends with, with people. So I went and D, sorry, in San Francisco, I was, well, right out, right out, brand new agent, right? Right out the gate, hey, we got a 45 day TDI for you to Haiti. Sounds right. Okay, sure, why not? So I, I go to Haiti for 45 days. And, you know, we were providing protection for the Embassy staff traveling to and from the Embassy. And then when we had to make runs out to the warehouse, we had to coordinate those runs with the UN because they were providing protection for that part of the city. And so it was just a crazy time, right? But, you know, the first, first, right out the gate, like I said, you know, you're literally having people's lives in your hands because you have to make sure that that many bus that is not, you know, it's a soft scan, right? It's not a, it's not armored in any way that we're, you know, we're all getting tuned from our residents into the Embassy and to meetings with no issues. So, but again, great, great experience, but it just really highlights the responsibility that agents are given immediately. You know, I always say that, you know, we don't, we don't, it is a sink or swim, we're not going to let you just sink, but we give you training, but then you are expected to go out and perform. And that's what, you know, that's the qualities that we're looking for, people that are, people are just going to step up. And sometimes you don't always have all the answers. And so you have to figure out what's what's going on. So that's that, you know, when you're looking at this job and you're thinking about applying and you know, you're thinking about narratives to be, to be written, think about that, right? Think about how do you handle stressful situations? How do you think on your feet, you know, and get out there and give us those types of examples? So, all right, so I come back after 45 days. I think I was asked to stay a little bit longer, but so come back 45, 60 days later. I can't remember anymore at this point. And then I'm asked to go sit on the human trafficking, the Bay Area Human Trafficking Task Force. And again, I came as a Peace Corps volunteer and then I was finance. So, you know, what do I know? Well, you know, sitting on that, I quickly became friends with two local PD officers, one from San Francisco, one from San Jose, and they really just took me under their wing. And I learned so much from them, right? I had to put my ego aside and and be, you know, I think sometimes, you know, we would come out and we think we have to know everything and you're not going to know everything, right? So, put my ego aside, I learned so much from them. We end up doing, breaking up a human trafficking ring that was women were coming from Taiwan and being used for purposes of prostitution. Some knew what they were getting into. Some didn't have any idea. I mean, we literally knew that they had been lied to about what was going to happen. We also then offered them opportunities to get out. Some took it, some didn't. You know, so that right there immediately, you know, again, working on a huge case and breaking up a ring operating internationally and helping victims. And we identified over, I think over 600 fraudulently obtained feces. That's how good they were. The document vendor that they were using, this ring particular ring was using was really good. And that's why it took a while to figure it out. So, you know, so that was just one of the cases that we worked in that trafficking, the Bay Area, Kim Traffing Task Force. So, we worked several others. I worked with the FBI on a case, CBP called me in on a couple things. And we really had a very nice and cohesive group. And I think that's also a great thing about DS. I mean, we are small. So, we have to collaborate by nature. Collaborate with different law enforcement agencies, different prosecutors, different, yeah, law enforcement at the local, state and federal level.
I think these anecdotal stories of the investigations are super important because a lot of people look at our protection mission or maybe a security mission limit overseas and DS isn't really well known for the most robust investigative capacity or ability or or team. And to hear that, I mean, you can get in the regular passport fraud cases that we get up from the passport office, but cases like this really highlight, you know, the extensive reach that we had, the partnerships that we have. And I think for people that are looking to jump agencies that are already in maybe an 1811 position that still want to have that investigations. And I think that's a portfolio portfolio, for example, these are all helpful. Yeah, I think that's an important aspect that people forget we do investigations as DS agents, we do investigations. We do protection protection of facilities, people and information. And we do a lot of surveys, right? I mean, that's the other aspect of this is that we do a lot of liaison with our counterparts, whether those people are in the states or their overseas, right? We can't get in DS, we just can't get anything done if we're not willing to work with people. So, you know, people forget that that's what's going on, you know, that they're, they're kind of lost my turn to thought, I'm sorry, but there that we have basically four aspects to our job, we have investigations, we have protection, we have security and we have liaison. And this isn't also important to think about when you are applying for the job, right? Especially if you're coming from a background where maybe you've done a lot of security, which I haven't done any investigations. But you might have, you just don't realize it, can I just have to think about your background and what, you know, what is applicable to our job, right? Like, like I said, I was a volunteer, then I volunteer leader, and then, then I went into, sorry, this is, it's been a really long day for me. Well, I went into consulting where I did, I did secure the training sites, right? So, again, I came with a lot of backgrounds, this is what we're looking for, people that have, you've done a lot, people have done more than what they realize is what I guess I'm trying to get at. And, and they have to figure out how best to come up with those stories that articulate their background so that they can get through the process. All right, so back to, back to San Francisco. All right, so I was there, I was in San Francisco for three years, did a lot of primarily San Francisco is a very heavy investigation field office and some protection and in some TDY. So I kind of got the whole gamut, which was nice. I did end up staying three years in the field office instead of two because of the investigation out of Taiwan. And, I just, these are big cases they take time. But I never want to downplay the importance of, you know, just the simple, you know, we call them simple passport or visa fraud cases. At the end of the day, somebody's committed a crime and we need to investigate it and potentially prosecute. And, you know, those, those, these are your cases are what helped lead that groundwork for me to be able to understand and do bigger cases because at the end of the day, it's the who what when where why, right, whether it's a simple case or it's more complex. And, after San Francisco, I then did a tour through our overseas protective operations, which is dealing with local guard forces and or our protective contracts or the whips contracts is a lot of people might know them. I did local guard force contracts for Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. So I was lucky enough to actually go travel to all those countries and I do say lucky enough because. As part of this job, you are worldwide available. And so I had an opportunity to go and we would go and do reviews program reviews of the local guard forces and and where the contracting companies abiding by the contract and, you know, providing the necessary security. You know, so I've been to Kabul. I've been to Baghdad. In Pakistan, I went to Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi. All of those were fascinating and a little bit of nerve-wracking at times. I was in their own right. So, but I learned a ton during that tour. It was not an easy tour. You know, there was a lot of stress. Sometimes people got into trouble on these contracts and then it, you know, we got called up in front of Congress occasionally about it. And so it, it was, it was some long nights sometimes. But I learned so much about DS and what we do. Really on the other side, I'd like to set up and doing investigations. Now I'm doing local guard force contracts. And that experience then took me really help propel me to my next, my next posting, which was in Mozambique. So I went and first I had to learn Portuguese. I always like to say I tortured my professors for about six months. But this, you know, where else, what other job pays you to go learn a language? Sure. That's amazing. So go to finish out language then head to Mozambique. And there, you know, now it's my first ARSO assistant regional security officer. I know everybody knows that, but I'm going to just say it anyway. ARSO tour. And I was really fortunate to have an ARSO that was outstanding. His name is Eric. And he just, he and I again are friends to this day. And he, he really just taught me a lot about what it would take to be successful in the embassy environment. Because when you get over there, it becomes a different beast, right? You're, I was at the field office and I was at headquarters. And now I'm at an embassy. And now you're working truly with all the other foreign service officers and all the different cones or bureaus. We also had USAID and CDC and MCC and we had everybody there in development and Peace Corps as well. And so how does that all function in an embassy and in the country team meetings and things like that? And while Mozambique, you know, we'd call it a mid-sized post, it was still about, you know, there's still 120 official Americans plus all their families. So now you have 120 housing and residences that you're, you're responsible for. And, you know, so it was really the other side of it and how do you secure an embassy that is actually spread among seven buildings and then all the residents. So there's a lot of coordinating and a lot of collaboration because you don't always, you know, you can't just say in a country like that, I'm the ARSO, so what I say goes. So you have to spend your time, you know, thoughtfully putting policies together and then implementing them with everybody at the embassy. Yeah, I think that's a, I've talked to people who've been ARSOs and talk about the job and everything, but we don't often talk about residential security and the time that it takes. You know, to work through a residential security program as one year. Were you the only ARSO? The first year I was and then second year we were thankfully got a second bar. So who, they are so who I'm also really good friends with. Yeah, as well as the. Get to share the duties then at some point because it comes. Pretty cumbersome when you handle all these different security programs, particularly if you have, you know, this many people living off compound, no one on compound or a few on compound. What were your threats in Mozambique? What were you facing over there? So it was very, you know, high crime rates open borders. We really didn't, they really didn't have always a great track on who was coming in and out. You know, it's very much a developing country. You know, they did the best they could. We really enjoyed, you know, I really enjoyed working with Mozambique. I think we all did. But, you know, they, they are an economically poor country and just I believe like probably maybe 15, 20 years prior, they had just come out of a civil war. I mean, they had a whole generation that just kind of got bypassed unfortunately. I had to put it like that. That's a terrible way. I think in putting it. But, you know, when you have a civil war, people aren't going kids aren't going to school, things like that. So, but they, you know, wonderful people. Really nice people. Helpful generous. But they have, you know, they do have they had security issues like that. So, there was, and if you go into the news now, it's not quite as bad anymore, but the north did have some.
instability. And so we were even seeing it then when I was there in 2010 to 2012 and it kind of really broke out the past couple, past really past year, year and a half. So, you know, we were dealing with situations like that. And then we were dealing with an embassy that was really actually three houses cobbled together. So it wasn't even actually, you know, what you think about when you think about embassy compounds right now, it really wasn't that at all. The road, the main, one of the main roads was only 25 yards from the building. We had no no offset. What what type of government does most of you have? Was it democratic elected or? It it what yeah, it is. It is even now democratically elected. But you know, they like said they hadn't really they'd just come out of a civil war not that long ago. So they're still trying to, you know, get their feet together or get their feet on the ground right. So, sure. But yeah. All right. Anything cool happened there? Well, you know, there's a ton of cool stuff, right? So, um, one, huh? Well, you know, I think with Mozambique, so we unfortunately had a a peace court volunteer who was sexually assaulted and both the RSO myself were like, we're not, you know, and the DCM and the ambassador and the head of peace courts like, nah, that doesn't happen. We're going to go after, you know, we're going to try to go after this person. So the peace court security officer in country, he and I got together, we flew up to the area. We worked with the local police and the prosecutors found the person, got him arrested and then we worked with the victim as well. She came back to provide testimony. Actually, as soon as she walked into the courtroom, he just, he just gave up. You know, that was the end of that. It was over and he got 17 years. So we're very happy about that. Was this a Mozambique national or an American? Yes, it was. No, it was a Mozambique national. And so we got 17 years and that was, you know, that was huge and we were very proud of that. And that also, you know, that was such an amazing case to me because just everybody involved truly cared, not that they don't, you know, I'm trying to make, making judgments anywhere else, but it just everybody truly cared and worked very hard on this. And, you know, I was, when I was up country, the RSO was taking on all the duties, right? Not just TIS, but mine too. The DCM and the ambassador, you know, speaking with people everywhere and officials, government officials everywhere. And, you know, just like we're not letting this go, right? This is something we never let go. So and then the victim herself was, you know, you want to talk about strength that she, she was amazing. She was amazing. So it just, it was, it was, you know, it's not, it's not, you know, you never happy about anything like that, never ever. But just when something does happen to watch a community come together, was truly remarkable to me. The other thing that had happened is the judge of the case had been on one of our international visitor leadership programs. And she, she knew, you know, she's very progressive. She understood where we were coming from and understood that about, you know, taking on women's rights. And it just shows the importance of cross collaboration with our, you know, with our colleagues around the world. Because again, when we're overseas, we don't have any authority to arrest people, right? We can't just, you know, regardless of what the TV shows show. And I know your, your folks on this, this, you know, stuff like this. But, you know, we have to collaborate. You have to be able to, to work well with people from all different types of backgrounds. And that's really important of, of our job and, and, you know, coming when you come in and doing it. To be able to talk to people. Yeah. You mean to tell me, in YPD's SPU unit doesn't go over to Cuba and jump out of Vans and grab these people and then bring them back all of a sudden to New York. Doesn't work that way. No, that's called a rendition. I don't think it works. Yeah. Yeah, I try to tell my wife these things. It's like, it doesn't work. I'm not watching this. It doesn't work that way. And she's, can't you just watch it? But anyway, I'm always like, come on. There's so much paperwork behind that. Yeah, that's another thing to highlight. Maybe you don't want to highlight the paperwork. Yeah, that comes with the job. No, it's your 100% right. It just, it comes with the job. There is paperwork. But it's worth it in the, in the end. You know, the other part about Mozambique is, you know, I also want to stress is how great it was as a post for families, for couples and for singles. And that's, that's something that, you know, you look for when you're, you're bidding, how, what is the post, what is, what is it like there? And schools were amazing. My kids still, this is, hands down. I have two kids. Mozambique was their favorite. And the school is great. The community was great. We did have to travel to South Africa about every four to six weeks to get fresh milk and fresh, fresh meat really. And I mean, let's be real, South Africa. So the wine. Yeah. And, but having said that, we traveled through Kruger National Park. Or to say every four to six weeks, we were traveling. There's a silver lining. I was going to say, these are some of the hardships. And there's your silver lining because I feel like everyone has a, has some silver lining. That's good. So 100%. That's it. And that's it. That's part of the job, right? You know, if you're someone who's expecting to be perfect, it's just that, that's not, it's never going to, no job is perfect. First of all, spoiler alert. And second of all, you know, they're, you have to know how to make the best of everything because some things work, some things don't. I mean, Eric and I were sometimes scratching our head, how to figure out how to, you know, fix a delta barrier when that's not our specialty, right? Or how do we even get the parts? Or, you know, the SCO and the SES or sitting in, in South Africa and can't get up to us for a couple of weeks. We're still needed barriers at work. So it's, it's figuring out what to do. Under really sometimes unusual circumstances. Using those critical and sometimes creative thinking skills will, yeah, then some spit and grit. Yeah. Sure. Well, cool. What was next? All right. After that, I went to Baghdad. Actually, funny enough, Eric also went to Baghdad. So about six months later, I followed him. So it kind of looks like I'm following him, but I'm just, what years, what years were there? I was there. I got there 2013, like January 2013. And then I left in April of 2014. You just missed each other. I left in 12. What's a whole city in 2012? Yeah. Nice. Nice. All right. Just missed each other. So, so that, so I was in Baghdad for just over a year. That was only company. So of course, that's a hard to, and it was hard. Right. I mean, it's hard for many reasons, but also very rewarding in its own right. I met a lot of people. I was one thing, right? There's just a ton of people there, right? On the camp on the camp on the compound. And then I got moved. When I first got there was they weren't quite sure what I was going to do. I'll be honest, I kept, I didn't keep it secret that I had done local guard force. Contracts, but I wasn't looking to do that again. Yeah. I heard you. So I was like, so I didn't, I didn't highlight that. However, I quickly got put into, I guess, they didn't know what else to call it, so they called it special projects. I just kind of fixed things that needed to be fixed or took on projects. Nobody else was willing to take on. And then very quickly, I got moved into to be one of the special assistants to the senior RSOs, the senior RSO and then a deputy senior RSO. And so just dealing with the RSO program in a high-threat environment like that at, I always like to say that the senior RSOs were at the 100,000 foot level. I was more like at the 50,000 foot level. And just all the different issues that came up, whether it was, you know, our canines out at the checkpoints of the IZ to they wanted to implement a biometric type system to issue IZ badges and relating now. We're not putting our fingerprints down. To, you know, dealing with, unfortunately, we had a couple of deaths on compound of some contractors. And so then we had to deal with the Iraqi government on getting death certificates and getting consular section out to
to places to doctors and getting signatures and things like that. So it was really crazy to me the amount of issues that could be dealt with in a compound like that. Not to mention all of just the problems that you put thousands of people together, just problems happen, right? Let's put it that way. I know about them. Yeah, I mean that many people together in an environment where you can't really leave. I mean, you can leave for if you're doing work, you're in the protective ops or whatever, but you're there. You're pretty much stuck there. Most people are in the pressure of the environment, the pressure of the work. You work pretty much every day. That'll add up. It does. It does and people. I think it's hard to truly understand that until you get into it. I think if you have an idea of what you're going into that helps. But until you're there, it is difficult. And then like you said, working all the time. And even when you might have a day off, somehow you're still, you no matter what you're always thinking about it. I do remember one time realizing that perhaps my Olympic dream for running wasn't completely over when the duck and cover went off. And we were sitting out after work one day and we're out out there. And you know, just enjoying ourselves. Maybe a couple drinks, maybe one. And the duck and cover went off. And I pretty much out ran everybody. I didn't matter what shape they were in or anything else. I still managed to out run them. So, you know, my sprinting career at that point maybe still had some life. But yeah, so I truly appreciated. At first, it is kind of difficult to get into that environment. But by the end, I truly appreciated. Not that I wasn't ready to go. I was. But I truly appreciated. You know, the relationships I had developed. The people I had gotten to know and all the work I had gotten to do was to me. Very rewarding during my career. And so I don't want anybody to think, oh, yeah, I mean, it is tough, but it's also very rewarding. Yeah, I would argue that many, maybe most of my followers would be interested in that story and high threat protection going out to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. I don't know, I don't know if I can't stand anymore. But, but, you know, those those environments are at least many of the followers I have that's what they're looking to get into and as part of it, they understand, you know, the whole thing. But, um, and so you went to Costa Rica next. Right, you know, just real quick to follow up on that. You know, that. And that's. That's great. If that's what they want to do. I would just also, you know. You know, just say, hey, look, don't don't forget about the other aspects that we do. I didn't think I was ever going to get into investigations the way I did. And in fact, a lot of my career has been actually spent in investigations. I thought I would be more on the security side with the embassy and I've done that. Don't get me wrong. I did that. But I really, I really enjoyed the investigations. And that's where I found I've done quite well. So they should, you know, it's great that that's what you want to do. And there's lots of opportunities, right? Either between the hardship tours and MSD. And even some TD wise, but always, you know, keep in mind, we also want well-rounded agents. And so the other part is is like, you know, the other part I really liked about. And I think that's what I really liked about it. And I think that's what I liked about it. It is a great experience. Yeah. And to your point, I was probably one of those that I'm talking about. I wanted to get in. I was thinking I was a former. Right. So I was thinking MSD. I was going to do high threat. And I learned when I got in. I didn't want to go MSD. I wanted to do a traditional post. I liked back at. I had a good time there. And I really did back that because I wanted to catapult me to another traditional post. Same reason I went to her bill. I wanted another good assignment. So, you know, you have this mindset of what you really want to do. But when you start understanding, like you said, all the different, different jobs out there. And you're, you're, it oftentimes changes your path of what you think is most important. And that could happen with whether it's because it changes in your family life or personal life, you name it. But for me was just. I just saw what we're doing everywhere, everywhere else. And I wanted to do that. I want to, I like to traditional assignments. You know, so things change. And it does. It does. It changes. And that's, that's great. Right. I mean, it is always surprising when you come in thinking one way. And then you're like, wait a second. I really like, really like traditional. I really like investigations. So that's awesome. And that's a great again. You know, I don't have to sell DS on your, on your folks. But that is, that is a great aspect of it. So yeah, after, after Baghdad. I hope this isn't actually. Video, because my chair keeps going down. After Baghdad, I went to Costa Rica. And I became what we call the air so I so the investigator. And that is part of the overseas criminal investigations program that we have. And right now that program. Very near and dear to my heart spent five years in that program. So they have, I believe about 134 agents overseas. 134 positions for sure. I'm not sure all of them are, you know, not maybe not be particularly filled at this moment near their waiting for something or things happen. So 134 positions. And I was lucky enough to score Costa Rica. So back I went to language. And get to torture the Spanish teachers now for nine months actually. So that was awesome. I'm sure they would say the same thing. But then I went out there and that was a three year assignment. So, you know, I was thinking, you know, Baghdad, I'm tired. I worked all the time. Costa Rica is going to be so great. I mean, language, I'm tired. Costa Rica is going to be a nice break, you know, and I was so busy. So, you know, I stepped in. I was a second agent in in there. So the program was still relatively new. I still had a lot of contacts to make. And we, you know, Costa Ricans, I just can't say enough wonderful things about Costa Ricans. They truly are amazing, well educated, kind, funny. And so, you know, just getting to work with some of them. It's truly been a highlight. And that's the other thing about this job is you know, you're working with people at the top of their game. I mean, I'm working with one, you know, I worked with one of the top prosecutors on several cases. Now I did, I did write about one of my cases where we broke up an international child pornography ring. And I've done other podcasts on this. I'm not going to spend a ton of time on that. But we can, we can still talk about that, of course, because it is, you know, it's a big case and it's important. And, but really the prosecutor and trehoes. Truly just amazing and working not just that case, working multiple human trafficking and human smuggling cases. Where we dealt with at one point early on when I first got there to 2015 Cubans that were flying into Ecuador, then making their way up through the southern route. And because of her connections and my connections, we were able to collaborate with Arizona's in Ecuador Columbia, sorry, I should say Arizona's and the prosecutors in Ecuador Columbia. Guatemala and Mexico on that case as well. And we didn't just, you know, of course we could take down our portion of the route, but what good does that do if everybody else is still working. And so that was important to collaborate. And so that we shared information so that, you know, the air so eyes and their, their prosecutors as well then took down sections of that route. And so that was a great case. So, you know, just the people that you get to work with. Truly remarkable. But then we also I worked with another colleague who was in Costa Rica, his name was Sergio. And he and our so good friends this day. And we were we worked on returning fugitives that were wanted in the United States. Most of them were American, but occasionally there would be some other country nationals that we would get back. And I was collaborating very closely with my office and I were collaborating closely with postal inspectors regarding the call center scam rings, right. And I was working out of it be Americans actually that come down to Costa Rica set up these call centers to then scam primarily elderly people out of money. So he would make the case on the on the post inspector that I work with. He would make the case on the US side.
And then we would go, and then we all worked together on the extradition papers. And then Sergio and I would go out and find these people and get them sent back. So that was a great case. And in total, we probably sent back about 15 people for that. And then you just have other random fugitives that would be down there. Other agencies would hit us up for to find their folks or we'd come across them. There were a variety of different ways and get them sent back either through extradition, the extradition process. Or if they were out of status in Costa Rica, then we could get them on immigration charges and sent back. And in total, we sent back about 75 people during the three years I was there. So just a lot of work and a lot of different cases. It wasn't just your simple passport fraud or simple visa fraud. It was very complex cases in different ways. Yeah, that's awesome. Impactful cases that matter. It is. And you know, but I had to-- again, I didn't do it on my own. It really took a combined effort of my CFI, the consular section, our great relations with Costa Rican federal agents and prosecutors and then also immigration officials. But you know, the embassy itself, we had great relations all up and down the line, ambassador, political section, INL, international, American law enforcement. They had great relationships. And so DEA was there. We had a great relationship with them. So I purposely saying this over and over because that's what it's about, right? Working together to get things done. Because that's what you have to do all the time in this job. There is definitely the tactical side. And there's the knowledge side. But it's also the people. Yeah, every podcast, I find a way to work this in because I've set it on my YouTube videos, but it relationships matter. And that is very important, particularly when you go to a post and you're not working with just DS agents. You're not working with just law enforcement. But relationships matter. And relationships are oftentimes how you get done, get things done, or the efficiency of which you get things done. So that matters. But yeah, that's awesome. So after that, I actually came back to DC. So I've been out-- my family had been out for about eight years. So I came back to DC into overseas criminal investigation program. I was acting branch T for operations, which then gave the operational support to all the agents in the field. I did that for almost two years. Also did some special projects there. Just things that need to be done, right? And that was, again, a great time to then see it from DC side and headquarters side to understand what was going on policy-wise that we need to do-- budget-wise that we need to do-- to better support our agents out in the field. And I know that sounds very wonky. And it kind of is. I admit I like to be more operational than I like to be the wonky. But it matters. It matters that we have a budget that can properly support all of our investigators. All of our agents overseas, right? These things matter. Getting our name out there and what we're doing and the different things we are doing. That it's unfortunately sometimes we make the news when something goes wrong at an embassy. Security isn't what it should be. Or something happens. And it's very obvious that there was something wrong. So we try to-- but there's always the flip side. For every one of those stories, we have to remember there's 270 embassies and consulates around the world. If one, just because something's bad that happens at one, that means there's 269 that are still going, OK. And so that was-- I truly actually enjoyed. It is funny to say you enjoyed a headquarters tour. But I then truly, I did truly enjoy the headquarters tour. And then providing that support to the agents and just all the amazing things that agents are doing overseas that never do make the news, right? The different trainings they were giving, the different-- we basically-- again, people don't know this. I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't have the latest stats for OCI. I should have-- I guess I shouldn't have done that. But basically, we're returning about a fugitive a day, so 365 fugitives a year. So-- and a lot of people don't realize that. They watch TV and they think it's-- other, they think it's the FBI. They think it's HSI or something. And they do return their own fugitives. Don't get me wrong. But if it's not their fugitive, then it actually gets turned over to us and we deal with it. So lots of times I was on the phone with a local PD. I feel like, hey, your fugitive just walked in. What do you want me to do with it? And they'd be like, what can we do? And so there's a variety of ways. Sometimes it was through the extradition route, the official extradition route with all the paperwork. And sometimes it was they were out of status in Costa Rica. So Costa Rica would send them back on immigration charges. So it just depends on what's going on. But we have agents doing that all over the world. And it always was amazing. And just the number of human trafficking cases they were doing, human smuggling, and then the document-frived cases. And the entire time, we also have all the agents securing the embassies in a lot of-- well, obviously every post. But even when I was in Costa Rica, there was three other agents there that were doing all the traditional air-to-work. And so just kind of unsung in my opinion, unsung heroes throughout the world. Yeah. That's awesome. That's a great assignment. Not just Costa Rica, because that is as well. Well, there was the beaches as well. You didn't talk about that. You talked about the job and how the lifestyle was there. I hear it's-- well, I've been a couple times. I hear it's a good assignment. It's a good place. I actually, in my current job, I cover Costa Rica. And for COVID, I'd have been there. By now, hopefully I get to go out this year. Oh, yeah. It's-- like I said, the Costa Rikens are really just wonderful people, great partners in a lot of different aspects. And they care about the country, they care about each other. And so it's a very natural fit. Yeah. So-- And yes, the beaches are fantastic. I'm not going to lie. Yeah, and then they have the mountains and volcanoes and hot springs and zip lining. Yeah, OK. So you just relevant it in, because it's-- and I don't want to put a damper on this, but it's very competitive to get to Costa Rica. [LAUGHTER] Chances, I don't know. I know I've been on it a couple times. I don't think it was the eye gig. But out of Baghdad, I'm certain I've been on it. And not even a second look. So they didn't want me there. Yeah, no. I'm very fortunate, very fortunate to get there. So yeah, so there was that. But yeah, that's-- and that's a part that-- I also want to just talk about all of my assignments the countries have lived in-- is just the travel that you get to do, whether that's in country or neighboring countries. It's a nice perk of the job, right? When you are able to have that weekend off, and then you're able to go with your family, or with your spouse, or by yourself, even if-- to just go and see places you just never thought you'd get to see. Yeah. Yeah, that's-- That certainly is a perk. It is. Speaking of beaches, if you get a chance to go to Mozambique, they have some very, very nice beaches as well. So don't pass that up. See, that's good intel, though, because I mean, people think Africa-- they don't think beaches necessarily that they're beautiful beaches. I mean, there's a lot out there. Even-- I mean, I've traveled just as you-- 40, 40 plus countries, probably. And there's places that I never thought would be so beautiful or so enjoyable, whether it's culture, cuisine, people you name it, and they're out there. There are a lot of gyms that people don't know about. That's just it. People would think, why did-- quick story. When I was bidding at that time, I was looking at Mozambique and I was looking at Turkey. I ultimately decided to go to Mozambique. And people thought I was crazy. And I thought, well, if I learn Portuguese, I have a chance to go to Brazil. I have a chance to go to Portugal, hopefully. I even had Gola, right? But if I learned--
Turkish, right, can go Turkey again. And that's great. There's nothing wrong with that, but I just thought, looking forward, I thought, you know, I think it'd rather than Portuguese. And I always liked Africa. So it's like, okay, let's Southern Central Africa. Let's go there again. So, and it really turned out to be a hidden gem, just like you said. - That's some good forward thinking with the language and planning. I mean, it happens. And this is a way you can get some of these nice posts in these now positions. If you're for our listeners, if there's a now position, meaning they need to fill it now for whatever reason, someone didn't show up, they resigned, whatever reasons there are. If you have that language, you're gonna be competitive because they need it now. - Yes. - So that's good. And I know a couple guys that did that. They got the language and sure enough, they got a new spot because they have it now. - Right, we're not creative in how we call things now. They're to now positions. - Yes. (laughs) But that's 100% right. So that is what I did there. So, and I'm happy to talk all day about my different assignments, but also right now, so after OCI, I was asked to take over and head up recruitment for the Bureau of Divnex Curity. So I recruit and my team and I, I have a great team. We recruit for the four foreign service positions that we have, the agents, the security engineer officers, the security technical specialists, and then our diplomatic careers. Right now, of course, we're making a push because the special agent announcement, vacancy announcement will open on or about January 26th. We've actually been cleared to give it date. So that's nice. It will only be open for one week, like it normally is. So, this is why we wanna get people thinking about it now and ready now. So that when that vacancy announcement opens, you have a week and you're not trying to rush right at the end to get things in because that's when mistakes are happened, that's when something will be overlooked and then your application won't go forward. So, you know, it's, it is a very competitive process. We'd get thousands of applications. So you wanna make sure that you stand out and that you do it right. And I'm gonna be honest, a fair number of people, I don't have exact metrics, but a fair number of people wash out of the application process because they didn't submit their transcript. They didn't submit their transcript with their name, the school's name, the date they graduated, the things that are required from the vacancy announcement, right? So make sure that when the vac, there's two things, make sure that when the vacancy opens that first day, you go in there and you read it and you read it, I would suggest reading it three, four, five times, like, so you get everything. Nothing is missed. You know exactly what's needed. The vacancy announcements don't change much year to year, but they do change a little bit. And so you wanna make sure that you don't overlook something and that you forgot something that is now required, right? I can go through and I can tell you everything, you know, that's needed, you know, on your transcripts, right? You need your name, you need the school's name, you need the degree and you need the date awarded. If one of those four things is missing, that ends your application, right? Is that tough yet? Is kind of tough and I agree it's tough, but it matters doing things correct, right? When you're talking about security of an embassy, you're talking about big cases, you're talking about a small case, it matters that you do things correctly, right? So kind of look at it as this is your first four way for A into those things, right? Some things matter. Some things don't matter as much, but this matters. So make sure you have what's needed. The other thing is obviously you have to be a US citizen, you do have to have your undergraduate degree. And it has to be awarded before the last day of that vacancy announcement. So if it opens on the 26th, it's gonna close on February 1st, basically. If your degree says you graduate, it was given to you on February 2nd, then you do not have your degree, okay? Don't apply. You will not meet the minimum qualifications and if you don't meet the minimum qualifications, it's over. Your application for that time around is over. And we do get people that will apply thinking that, "Oh, well, I'm gonna graduate in May, so it's fine." I mean, they won't even get to it till then. You don't, it doesn't go any further. And then you have to wait 52 weeks before you can apply again. And so we just really, I really wanna highlight that and stress that. Make sure you read those minimum qualifications and that you meet them, right? So a US citizen, your worldwide available, you have to be at least 20 to apply and not more than 36, 37 really, 37 is that cutoff by the time you're appointed. Now, there are veterans preference exemptions. I can't go into every exact actual exemption. You'll have to go in and read. And there's a link there that takes you to where you can go and figure out what exactly are those exemptions. And if you have any questions, there will be an email address in the application that you can write to. All right, you do have to pass a pre-employment physical readiness test. And that is in there. It was actually, it's still actually in last vacancy announcement that's still up on the careers website. So at careers.state.gov/ds, you go to the bottom of the page. You'll find a special agent. You'll find all the categories on the different forms of specials, specials positions. Click on the link for special agent. And in there, at the very top, you'll see a little link about the physical readiness test. Make sure that you know what it is. You know how we do pushups, how we do sit-ups. I mean, you have to be able to pass the 1.5 mile run. I'm not gonna judge you on your running style. Unless it's really crazy, then we might say some. But we're not judged here on that. But you know, it was terrible. I actually proctored the physical readiness test for someone who passed the whole process. This is all this person had to do was now come in and do the physical readiness test. And had never watched the video, didn't know how we did pushups and where our hands needed to be for sit-ups and couldn't do the sit-ups. So that's like, oh, don't be that person, right? So that's a tough story. But make sure you know how we do it. It doesn't matter what you did previously, it doesn't matter who you're with previously, how we do it. You also have to get your med clearance top secret. You gotta be able to get your top secret clearance with SCI. Pass a favorable suitability review. And this is important because what happens is, is in that minimum qualification checklist, it's gonna say, are you a U.S. citizen? Yes, do you have an undergrad degree? Yes. Are you the right age? Yes. Foreign service medical, yes, blah, blah, blah. And then it's gonna say, have you ever failed a suitability review panel? And guess how many people put, yes. Our number of people put, yes. And my guess is a lot of people haven't actually had to ever go through a suitability review panel. So you have never even had the chance to fail it. But as soon as you say yes, you failed it, you're out for two years. Well, so, and then finally, you do have to be able to testify in court, right? If you can't testify in court, you can't be an agent. So if there's something in your background that precludes you from ever being able to testify in a case, sorry, I have to find something else. So those are those minimum requirements. Please make sure everybody, just make sure you read them because the testifying in court actually came into existence last year. So they could add another one that they actually haven't told me about. So make sure that's what I'm saying. You have to be able to, you know, you have to make sure you've carefully read everything. Those are kind of the pitfalls when applying. The other thing I would say that we talk about recruitment is make sure that you go on to the website and you read about the 12 dimensions. And printed out, of course I can't remember all 12, right? That's a lot of dimensions. But you want to go onto careers.state.gov and the search put 12 dimensions. And it pulls up, and this is what the State Department has determined makes a good foreign service specialist. All right, first one is composure. Okay, but it's not just composure. Don't just read the very top, you know, top line. Make sure you go in and the great thing is, is the State Department then goes in and defines what they mean by composure. You know, the next thing is cultural, the second dimension is cultural adaptability. All right, but we actually tell you what does cultural adaptability mean to the State Department? So read that. It's extremely important.
that you're reading these 12 dimensions, because this is what we hire to. And when I first started this job, I used to tell people, you know, make sure you come up with a good story. Having set the Bex panel a few times, I'm like, make sure you come up with a great to outstanding story. - Sure. (laughing) - Because you know, you're trying to show how you are going to be a benefit to the State Department, you're coming in, you have these skills and these skills you then can succeed and be successful in the State Department and the environments that we have to work. So go in there, make sure that you, like I said, not just reading, oh, okay, composer, cultural adaptability, experience and motivation, no, that you're reading what is required. And then think about your life. And think about all aspects of your life, right? Your professional, your personal, your academic, and then come up with a few examples for each dimension. So that way, when you have to write about in the online assessment, you're gonna have to give us some personal narratives about five or six. You already have it ready to go, right? You've already thought about it. Yeah, this will be a great example for, for, you know, how to be innovative and leadership qualities, right? You know, you want to demonstrate how you're going to be value added that you come in with the skills required to be successful. Of course, we're going to train you. That's not, you know, there's no argument there, but, you know, you do have to have the basic skills to get in. Do you have any questions, comments, observations, your own observations? You made it through. Yeah, no, I tell them some of the same things, not directly from the source like you, but particularly the stories and how they can relate those 12 dimensions and think of your personal life, think of your career. And, and I will tell them like don't, don't overembellish, but don't underembellish. Like, find a time when you were in charge and you did this for your leadership and find a time when you had to adapt to a co- you don't have to have traveled. Maybe there's someone from a different culture that works in your current department, or, and, you know, and get people thinking in advance that this may be a topic, or this will be a topic that could come up, particularly if you get past the first portion, the online portion. It's going to come up at that point. And, you know, that's one of the things we cover for people that did pass the test, whatever I mentor folks. But otherwise, we ask you this for the writing portion at the beginning. I have people that are concerned about the writing portion and, you know, and I'm not saying, I don't know if you can give tips, but what might be, what is being looked for, I guess? I mean, I always say, listen, clear and concise, introduction, body, conclusion, that's what we're looking for. But I don't know if I'm right. I think I'm right. You tell me. - I think you're right, too. No, 100% clear and concise. You, you, and 100% you don't want to underembellish. I like the way you put that, you know. That's, I see too many people underselling themselves when they have done truly remarkable things and they don't come out and talk about, talk about it. They don't know how to expand upon it. Or they take a very narrow view, but they don't bring in other aspects of what it was involved. So the writing has to be impactful and clear and concise as best you can get it, right? Make sure you're not using the same word in one sentence, right? You know, I've definitely read paragraphs like that where they're trying to make the point and next thing you know, they've used the same word three times in the sentence. And, you know, the source, right? Just use it. It's okay. So, you know, and the other thing is is the job, vacancy announcement doesn't open for another couple weeks, right? About two weeks. You know, I've just told you the 12 dimensions are on there. Come up with that great story. Write about it, right? Take some time and just write about it. It'll help you get it in your head better. It'll help you lay it out. And then, okay, get your loved ones who are gonna be as, you know, usually the harshest critics, right? The harshest critics are those that supposedly love us, right? But, you know, get your friends, get your family, people that you trust, people that you know are good writers, and ask them, "Hey, what do you think about this paragraph? "Is this a good one? "Does it have everything it needs? "Does it get the point across?" It's okay, right? There is going to be a time that you're gonna have to write your own pair, you know, your own essay on your own. Nobody's gonna be there to help you. But there's nothing wrong with asking somebody to read what you've written. If you are worried about the written part, well, then practice it, right? Take it, you know, you should know about what's going on in the world anyway, go in there and talk about Kazakhstan, right? You know, go into an article and say, "Okay, Kazakhstan, what's going on there?" Well, I'm gonna write just a quick summary of what's going on, right? Based on, you know, I'm not saying you have to go out and write three, ten different articles, if you want to, I don't care. But just write something about it, right? Practice getting it down, have somebody read that, to, you know, read that. And then say, "Yeah, this is good." Or, you know, what, you could be, you could say it a different way, this is tighter. You know, so that when the time comes, that you have to write these personal narratives, it'll go a little bit faster. And then also, hopefully when you get to the back, and you do have to write an essay that, you know, you get a certain, you get set amount of time, 45, it's just like 45 minutes. Write an essay on a topic, you were on your own, right? So now you've, but the thing if it is, is you're not walking in their cold, you've been doing this the entire time. Does that make sense? - Yeah, no, that's a good tip. I'd also add, this is more logistical, but you can't apply this on a whim. You can't just sit down and say, "Oh, but I'm knocking out 30 minutes "and there's people, you know, family cooking "in the background, you need to set aside some time." Where's quiet, where you have your computer, with some good internet, and take your time and focus. This is not, not to say it's competitive, right? So the exam, I never thought any of that was hard, but compared to others, you wanna do your best. You don't wanna just pass, you don't wanna make the minimum requirements, you wanna do your best. And I think people need to focus. I've had people, you know, following me for a while, and they said, "I've been following you," and I went and I applied and, and man, I didn't make it. I didn't pass the first round. I said, "Well, how long did it take you?" "I about 37 minutes." "Whoa, no, no, no, no." You didn't need to, you know, it's not, you don't just apply on a whim. This is not like, you know, click, attach, resume, and send on a USA jobs. And those are, are complicated in themselves, but this is really detailed, you know, a really detailed application process, and with a lot of nuance to it. And so I think that's important to people prepare. - 100% prepare and practice. You know, your statement of interest, why do you want to be a DSS agent and why do you want to join the US State Department at being a foreign service officer, really, and be a diplomat? Why do you want to do that? And I've been doing this now for about a year and a half, and you wouldn't be surprised how many people I've talked to just personally. And, you know, I'll ask them that question, and they stumble through the answer. And you can't. Unfortunately, you can't. You have to have thought that out. And the statement of interest, you're gonna write it. You know, and if you get through the BEX panel, in some former fashion, like all job interviews, why do you want this job? And you're gonna be sitting in front of a panel, and the first time you sit in front of a panel, you know, shouldn't be the first time you're sitting in front of us. Go out and practice this. Ask your friends to sit down, ask your family, put your dog in there. I don't care who it is, but no, you know, go in there and practice, so that when questions are asked, you give good, clear, concise answers. You only have, at the BEX panel, you only have an hour, and it's partly on you to help manage that time. If you're rambling, then you're gonna run out of time, and then you don't get those points. So we wanna make sure, you know, you've said it, clear, concise, impactful. - Yeah, I think there's a good bit of listeners that have made it past the online portion, and they're waiting on their BEX, and I think it's delayed now, right? It's not going on at the moment. - For the next month. - Next month, okay. And some guidance I always give is pretty much what you're saying. Speak out loud, right? Talk out loud if you're gonna practice. Do it out loud, listen to yourself, say it, 'cause you'll hear things like, oh, I don't wanna say that. You can't just internalize it. And I do that for presentations, and I found it helps me so much. I didn't do that. My first couple times applying to DS. I did for my third time, which, you know, three strikes, I made it on the third one. But I learned that as through life, that if I speak out loud, I will be more prepared, and I will speak more eloquently, and more clear and concise, you know, so. Um, well, good.
Anything else? Any tips? We just went over tips, but like anything else. I'm just trying to look through, you know, like I said, I just don't want people to make simple mistakes that then they don't even get past that that first online assessment, right? So, you know, when you do the online assessment, the first you're going to have to do the checklist, the pre-qualification, or I guess it's called the prescreening of minimum qualifications. Like I said, don't click that you're not world, look, if you're not worldwide available, you might wonder why you might have to assess why you're doing why you're applying, but you need to be worldwide available, you need to agree to that. No, you've probably never failed the suitability review. If you have, then you need to be honest, right? If we find out later, then you're done. So, you know, make sure that you're reading every single word and sentence, and truly having a correct understanding of it. Then you're going to get to the second stage, which is you're going to have to write an essay. You get 20 minutes to write it. And this is kind of, I guess, where I was thinking about more about practice, too. Right? You have to do it in the online assessment website. So, make sure you can't cut and paste, right? But there will be a spell check, there will be a word count. You know, make sure you hit 200, 200 words minimum. If you do not, then you automatically fail. It's an automatic fail. Alright, after that, you're going to have to go to the third stage, which is 40 to 45 questions. And these are just kind of general knowledge questions, some are general knowledge, some are more about security. You know, basic stuff. It's not hard, but you do have to have an understanding of what's what's going on in the world and, you know, just, yeah, what's going on in the world really. If you get to that, if you pass the second and third stage, the written and then the exam, then you go on to that, that fourth stage, which is where this is where you're going to give us your personal narratives and your statement of interest. And upload all of your documents that they can see announcement asks for. You know, check, double check, triple check, make sure you have everything, make sure you've uploaded the correct documents. Don't upload your rent agreement. We're not interested in what you're paying for rent. Do care about your transcripts. So, you know, don't don't don't self select that is basically what I'm trying to say. You know, we want we want good people coming in and good people can make simple mistakes. So just don't don't make that simple mistake. I think this might be a question. Can you if you don't have all your documents available in PDF format or on whatever computer using. Can you go back is there is a portal that you can log back into and upload your documents later or you need to have everything prepared to submit. So I would say, you know, when that vacancy announcement drops, you know, on or about the 26 right, it could only slide just a little bit. But on or about the 26. You know, I would have I would look at last year's announcement. You know, I would have all the documentation that they've asked for their habit ready to go. They could always ask for something else. I can't promise you it's always going to be the same, but they could ask for something else. But you know, you need your transcripts, right? You need and we will take unofficial transcripts. But again, name, degree, the university and the date it was awarded, right? Those four things. So, you know, make sure you have those. So what happens is is when you hit. So the second and third stage, I'm sorry, the that second stage where you're doing, yeah, the second and third stage where you're doing the timed essay for 20 minutes and then the exam, a 40 to 45 questions, those are timed. And once you started, you need to stop, right? So don't don't have someone like you said, cooking in the background. Don't let your dog come in or you cat tip over you drink on your computer. Being in closed room where you can focus and whatever it takes to focus that you focus and you get it done. Those are timed. Once it starts, you only have set time. Now, when you get to that four stage and you're uploading your personal narratives, your statement of interest, your documents, that is you have to have everything in by the last day of the vacancy announcement. So if it closes on February 1st at midnight, that portal closes, there is no more uploading, right? You have to have everything in and that's important. You can't go back and say, oh, I just got my transcripts. Sorry. When the portal closes for that particular vacancy announcement, it's done. But you do have that that week to get it in, right? So if you go, but if you go on the, I say week, you know, if you go on the first day, then you have a week to get the rest of the stuff in, right? If you wait till that last day, whatever that last day is, I'm just going to. So if you wait till that last day and you're thinking, oh, I got two hours, I got this. I probably don't. Right? Like you said, so you can't, so you can't apply, say, day one, and then you don't have everything as in it's on another computer. It's not the PDF because you got it melty on day three, you can go back into your online portion and upload that to finalize it. You just need to finalize it with all the documents before they enter the closing date. Right. Eastern Standard Time. Right. Okay. Whenever it hits Eastern Standard Time. Midnight at Eastern Standard Time on that last day, that's when it closes. It doesn't matter where you are in the world. Doesn't matter if you're sitting in California, lucky you. I'm freezing right now. You know, it doesn't matter if you're sitting in California and you're like, wait, I said till midnight. Now it's. Yeah, midnight Eastern Standard Time. You got till nine. So, you know, make sure, like I said, that's where reading it very closely becomes important. But yes, that's the nice thing. So if you do the the first part that's timed at the very beginning, then you have days to get everything together. Double check it, right? You may upload everything and you're thinking, alright, I'm good to go. And you're like, you know what? I'm just going to give myself another day because I have it, right? And then you come back the next day and you're like, oh, I forgot my transcript. Oh, I forgot my degree. Whatever it is, right? We want you to, you know, it gives you that time. I want you to have that time too. So that. You know, when we're rushing is when mistakes are usually going to happen. Sure. Well, some people have some work cut out for them. That's doable, right? I mean, let's be real. You made it. I made it. A lot of, you know, 2,100 so folks made it. It's a great job. You know, it is. You know, and I really appreciate that you do this. This is great. And I think it's a lot of good information. The only other thing I would say is if you have questions, you know, please don't, you know, please don't hesitate to reach out to the recruitment unit. And then we're going to send us at DS RECU at state.gov. Okay. We're there to help you, right? I mean, we really are. There are right now, 3 agents and an SEO plus a program manager and a data analyst. And the whole time job right now is to go out and find great people and talk to you, you know, talk to you folks that follow you. You know, to help you out, however we can. And we go on different podcasts. We go on different social media live events. We do different information sessions. We do small group information sessions. We do one-on-one, one-on-ones for people as well. So, you know, please don't, don't hesitate. We're here for you. That's what we want. Well, this has been some great intel for folks not only about the career, but about, you know, the candidate experience and recruitment process. Any closing thoughts? No, the only thing I would say is if this is really what you want to do and the, you know, you don't make it through, you really do want to do it. Don't give up, right? I know a lot of really great agents and foreign service officers that had to take this a couple times. It is competitive. And when you don't make it, it doesn't mean that you're not a good person. You're not good enough. It just means go out and get some more experience and come back to us. The average age is of an agent right now is somewhere around 3132. Foreign service officers are starting to push up into 34, 35. You know, you need some experience. I shouldn't say that's the average, right? But you need, you need experience, experience helps. But being able to articulate is the most important aspect of this. But don't give up, honestly, don't give up. This is really what you want to do. Don't give up. Agreed. Awesome. Well, awesome. Have a new year. Thank you for sharing your story and providing some guidance for us. Yeah, let's. Let's get there and sit tight. I'm going to stop recording and then which I'm going to go. Right. Thank you. So there it is. Straight from the source. Those of you applying listen to Kayla.
guidance and instructions, then listen to it again. Read the announcement multiple times and understand the nuance to every single requirement. Small details matter. So listen, hey, wishing you all the best. As always, I'm here to support you and your special age career endeavors. You can contact me a number of ways through my social media on Instagram at off the x_inc or through my email
[email protected]. But I have developed a few resources for you. If you haven't, it is the first time you have heard the podcast. I do have a few resources. So I will start with that I'm not a member of the government or DSS any longer. The information I provide is from experience and the Intel I garnered from friends or agents and those who I've supported that have gone through the process. So first resource Facebook group becoming a DSS agent where former retired and active DS agents of all levels interact. They ask and answer questions and you can ask just about anything. We had someone ask the other day, hey, can I bring my pets overseas? Well, you know, there's answers to that. There's a lot of good questions that come out of it. So if you're interested, go ahead and look it up on Facebook. Just fill out the questions. I need to know who you are. I need to know your interest and I want to make sure you know the right people are in the group. Second resource YouTube channel. I have a YouTube channel where you can just type in my name, Cody Barron and I answer questions about lifestyle as an agent, the job, the travel, working with marine security guards, leadership, and I touch on a couple other things. So second resource, go ahead and check out the YouTube channel. Third is my social media. I'm primarily as mentioned on Instagram off the X_inc. I share global security knowledge events. Sometimes I share, you know, really events and do like these, what would you do scenarios? Right? If you're the R or so, if you're the regional security officer, the DS agent in charge, R, if you're just a security professional overseas, you know, managing in the corporate side, and what would you do in these scenarios? Right? And then I ping people. They write me, hey, here's what I would do. I tell them, yes, maybe good. Consider this. And it might help you. It might prove useful. Just saying, finally, the only one of these that is not free, all the others are free. Go check them out. But you can also buy my book, Agents Unknown, True Stories of Life is a special agent in the Divomite Security Service, where several reviews have said it prepared them well for the DS interview. So I'm not saying for the DS application, the beginning, but towards the end, it might help you. What I do there is I tell stories. What my mindset was behind these different events and I kind of walk you through it. So check it out, book can be purchased on my website codepound.com where I throw a little something extra on Amazon on Barnes and Noble Online, Kindle, I books and other places. I also have an audio version available. It's unaudible. It's on I books. It's probably a couple of spots too, but those are the main ones. And if you think any of this is valuable, you can feel free to support me by going to my website. I have online sales, I have some shirts. I have a couple high-through protection hoodies. And I'm soon coming out with a hat. I'm in the development process. I've probably promised you guys this at least on YouTube, you know, months ago. But I'm actually in the stage. I spent some money on getting this developed. So the hats are going to be pretty cool. When those come out, you can check those out if you want to support me. But mainly I do this for free. I am appreciative of the support. And I hope you all feel that I'm supporting you. I know how it feels to be in that situation. I understand the anxiety and the desire to want to succeed. And like Kayla said, don't give up. If this is something you want, don't get up. Cool. All right. The more support we get, the more info, more, I can give the more motivated I am. And, you know, the more we can get together and learn about my security service. So nice again, y'all. I appreciate the support.
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