HR’s Office of Performance Evaluation (HR/PE) plans to release scorecards from the 2009 promotion cycle on January 13.  Following is some information to help you access, understand, and interpret your scorecard.

What is a “Scorecard”?

Your scorecard is an electronic document that shows the selection board rankings of Foreign Service employees reviewed for promotion in a given year. They are usually updated in late November or December to reflect promotion board deliberations finalized the previous October.  Scorecards also show employees’ tenure record, any period of leave without pay or separation from the Service, time in class (TIC) and time in service (TIS) expiration dates, and language scores. 

Where Can You Access Your Scorecard?

Logon to HROnline, click on “Employee Profile.”  In the upper right-hand of the screen you’ll see a tab for “View TIC/TIS and Scorecard Data.”  Click on that.

How to Read Your Scorecard

Your scorecard is displayed in the form of a grid. The first column is year.  The second column is no longer in use.  The third column is labeled “Class;” it shows how you were ranked in class-wide competition.  The “F BRD” column next to it shows rankings for people who competed for promotion functionally (i.e., with others in the same cone).  The fifth and seventh columns are no longer in use.  The sixth column, “CW Prelim,” depicts the results of preliminary class-wide screening (for FS-02s).

• Class-wide selection boards meet before the functional skill code boards. If you are promoted class-wide, your file is not/not reviewed by the functional board.

In the “Class,” “F BRD” and “CW Prelim” columns, you will find a letter/symbol indicating the following:

• A – Advanced for further review for class-wide promotion
• D – Denied advancement for further class-wide review but will be competed by conal board
• P – Promoted (shows ranking)
• R – Recommended for promotion but not reached (shows ranking)
• S – Mid-ranked (eligible but not recommended for promotion, no numerical ranking)
• L – Low-ranked  
• O – Low-ranked and identified for immediate referral to the Performance Standards Board (PSB)
• X – Ineligible for promotion (less than three years at grade)
• Y – Non-rated (Board unable to judge performance due to insufficient material in file)
• Z – Ineligible (Has not opened window for promotion into the Senior Foreign Service — FO-01s only)

Your scorecard only indicates how many people in your category were recommended for promotion that year; it does not say how many were ultimately promoted. Promotion statistics giving this information are published each year in State magazine.

• Hilton
• Marriott
• Choice Hotels
• Intercontinental Hotels
• Best Western

Wyndham offers the discount as well, but not in the DC area so I’m not including them. I prefer Hilton and Marriott, mostly on the strength of their rewards programs. You can always check FedRooms.com or the list of Hotels at Per Diem, but neither is inclusive and both sites will return all hotels that offer the rate – whether the rate is available for your specified travel dates or not. Kind of defeats the purpose, no? 

For those of you who actually know me, you’ll remember that I was conducting real estate settlements in DC before joining the Foreign Service.  I liked learning the intricacies of real estate law but one thing stuck out at me: active duty military and Foreign Service Officers have a much longer window to sell a house and claim up to $500,000exemption on the capital gains from the home sale. Most people know about the 2 years in 5 rule, by which you can exempt your primary home from capital gains if you lived in it for two out of the five years before you sold it. The exemption is $250k for individual filers and $500k for married couples filing jointly. The special rule for FSOs is that you can suspend your five-year test period for up to 10 years if you’re on assignment away from your home — effectively giving you a 2 year in 15 rule!

For example: say I bought an apartment in DC for $200,000 in January 2001 and lived in it as my main home through July 2004 when I was posted overseas. In the five years since then, say I’ve acquired several children, rugs, and large non-embassy furniture and I need a bigger place. In this fantasy equation, I sell the house for $500,000. Your real estate agent and possibly even your tax preparer may think you’re on the hook for $300k in gains on the house ($45,000 tax liability) because you fail the 2 in 5 tests. Au contraire! The example STILL works if I had lived in the house from 1996-1999 and have been overseas since (the publication actually doesn’t make the distinction that you have to be overseas though it does for members of the intelligence community. I’d rather not have my readers be tests cases, but you could always check with a lawyer to see if it applies while you’re domestic).

The full rules for this are explained in IRS Publication 523. If you’re not sure, talk to a tax professional or a lawyer. Another option that requires much more foresight than the previous example would be a “Starker” 1031 exchange, which I can get into at a different time.  It’s useful, though, to point this out to real estate folks in DC because most of them are shocked to know it and wouldn’t be in a position to even advise you on it (though I think I remember the excellent Benny Kass mentions it in one of his WaPo columns.

1. Keep an email file of what you’ve done: This is a rehash of the old advice to keep a paper file to pull out. I’ve found that a bit unwieldy as most kudos are now coming in digitally. I have very few folders in my Outlook (as previously discussed), but one of them is EER. Those things get dropped straight in there for safe-keeping. If you’re really planning ahead you’ll forward the message to yourself for an aide memoire – add on your commentary and what precepts apply so you can fit things in easily come EER time.

2. Do a quarterly assessment: Part of what makes EER time tough is that you’re having to reach back a year on to think what was important some time ago. Try to do a one-hour quarterly assessment, mocking up a quick EER based on your accomplishments from that quarter alone. Doing this has helped me remember key reporting cables that I otherwise would have overlooked and provide unclassified context for them that would have been much more difficult if not fresh. Bonus tip for reporting officers: if your cables are SIPDIS, you can keep permanent links to them on the excellent Net-Centric Diplomacy site. Just email the URL to yourself and keep it until your yearly assessments – it beats scribbling MRNs on little scraps of paper and losing them in a folder.

3. Write a good EER/counseling memo: Your mileage will vary depending on your boss, but I’ve gotten in the habit of writing self-assessment memos that I keep up-to-date (using the quarterly assessment) for counseling sessions and the EER. I always include my last Area for Improvement verbatim, as well as bullets of top accomplishments that are keyed to tenets for promotion.  Then, at EER time, I make another for my reviewer that saves some of the quotes and accomplishments for that tick-box. My most recent boss found it very useful, and it’s a good way to quickly get agreed language for those of us at the 03 or below level.

4. Know the tenets and forms: This is overlooked but so important. Keep a copy of the tenets on hand so you can quickly describe how what you’re doing fits into one of those boxes. Write it up in an email and then forget about it for awhile. But pull out the form you’ll use AND the tenets during your periodic reviews. If you’re not on OpenNet, here are downloadable, Microsoft Word versions of the EER forms:

• DS-1829 EER form for officers at FS-03 or below: 200kb MS Office file
• DS-5055 EER form for officers at FS-02 or above:  DS-5055.doc (212kb MS Office)
• The all-important Tenets for Promotion (aka Core Precepts): DS-1829cp (175kb .pdf)

Remember: the forms do not/not format in the same way (and, indeed, will show up differently from computer to computer). In my experience, you get slightly more space on the eForm version, but expect to tinker. Remember to use CG Times Win 12-point font (and know that when you cut and paste it CAN change the font size, so be careful)!

5. Pass it around and then keep the official version:  I did a poor job this year alerting my “trusted advisors” that I’d be sending an EER their way. It turned out okay – mostly because I was lucky enough to have a very good boss who can write well. I try to keep it small: 3-5 folks at the peer (or slightly higher) level, 1-2 that are 7-10 years further along. Then, after everything’s submitted and you get the notification that it’s in your OPF, DOWNLOAD the document as a PDF and keep it for your personal records. Like all important documents, I keep copies of all my reports on my website so I can access them while traveling.

If you ARE on OpenNet, it’s worth checking out the Diplopedia version of the annual “Playing by EER” document for Department-sponsored tips on how to do the filing and some of the substantive issues.

Here’s a tip to make sure your loyalty-program accounts are always handy if you’re going on TDY or find yourslef making unexpected stops while traveling: put the account information in as an email address in your address book/cell phone. I have all of mine listed in my Mac AddressBook with the surname “ZZ” to make sure they appear last in the list. This syncs with my gMail account via SpanningSync, to my iPod via iTunes, and to my cell phone via iSync. If I’m ever at a ticket counter, I just need to pull out my cell phone to find the account number I need. It’s been great for making sure I get all my miles on those last-minute trips (and has even gotten me a few courtesy upgrades).

1. A Good Home Media Center

My current tour has been a bit rough: we didn’t have internet for six months and the city doesn’t offer much in the way of entertainment (no movies, few restaurants, and no cultural anything). With our UAB taking 2 months and our HHE 5, boy was I glad that I had all of my movies on a hard drive. I used MacTheRipper and HandBrake to rip my DVDs to .mkv files (at about 1.5GB a piece) and threw those onto a Maxtor 1TeraByte Drive that came with me on the plane. I’ve just added a new Mac Mini to the mix that will serve those movies, my iTunes, and all of my photos and I bought an ElGato eyeTV so I can “Tivo” AFN shows. Best part is that you can bring it all with you in your carry on when you PCS – so you have lots of entertainment the moment you arrive at post.

2. Man’s best friend: A Hammer Drill

I’m convinced that the U.S. is the only country in the world where balloon-frame housing is the norm. Everywhere else, you’re looking at masonry, which makes it tough to hang things up. GSO has limited time and I like things done just so. Enter my plug-in Dewalt hammer drill. It’s plug-in and 110V, but it works fine with a GSO-supplied 2000W transformer. Grab some nice carbide bits and work gloves and you’re good to go.

3. A decent point-and-shoot camera

I like photography, and I’ve definitely drooled over some of the nicer DSLRs out there, but let’s face it – carrying around a big camera reduces the number of pictures you take of everyday situations. After a lot of research, I decided on a Panasonic Lumix. It’s small enough to fit in your pocket but still takes some great pictures and has a 10x optical zoom (with a nice Leica lens). The two negatives are that you can’t control the f-stop or the ISO. Other than that, we get some great photos – both in normal situations and in places like Giza or Leptis Magna. Bonus? The photos are super high resolution so you can take a picture of receipts and travel documents while you’re traveling so you don’t have to bring a scanner along. I’ve also taken pictures of maps so I could consult them by zooming in on the photo rather than pulling out a big sheet of paper.

4. Home brewing supplies

I’m currently posted to the Middle East with no alcohol on the local market and no commissary – meaning home brewing is necessary to stay sane. Frankly, if you’re in to variety, it probably pays to learn some home brewing for most posts (save some places in EUR). I’d recommend visiting Midwest Brewing Supplies for the basics (get a few EZ-bottles, a Better Bottle Carboy, and a wort cooler after decide you don’t mind brewing). I’ve gotten into it just to taste my favorite beers from back home. The book Beer Captured gives pretty good approximations of some of my favorite beers and is a good place to start.

5. GrandCentral, now Google Voice

A lot of people like Skype. As much as I love my computer, I like to move around when I’m on the phone. We’ve had good luck with Vonage, but I started getting in to GrandCentral a year or two ago. It’s useful: a permanent number that let’s me screen calls and redirect them to whatever number I have when I’m in the US – so it rings my cell phone or home phone (and office phone, if you like). Now that Google has taken over, voicemails get transcribed and emailed to you within minutes. So far, it doesn’t link to foreign numbers, but it’s been nice to put on calling cards and the like. You can send SMS messages from your computer, sync your phone book, and have custom voice messages for each caller. Using it with Vonage has been perfect and it looks to be getting better with the change in management.

What do you use that makes life easier?

With over 15 million users, you’ve probably been invited by at least a dozen folks to be their friend on Facebook. It’s an easy, fun way to keep in touch and spread news quickly…but it can also be an easy way to lose a good measure of privacy and mix your personal and professional lives a little more than you might like. Used correctly, Facebook is a powerful professional tool with lots of good PD uses regardless of your position. While some of this is geared to FSO-types, any professional would do well to take on a few of these. In this post, I’m going to focus on securing your profile to separate your friends from professional contacts, extensions for Foreign Service folks, professional Facebook etiquette, and social networking alternatives. Read on after the jump:

Securing your profile – Make an “Inner Circle”

As a lot of my friends are tired of hearing, I’m a long-time Facebook user. U.Va. was one of the first schools The Facebook (as it was then known) expanded to, and you needed a virginia.edu email address to get invited. Given that everyone on the network was a college friend (and, likely, was still in college), you could post those photos from the parties that went too late and make snide or ironic comments to your heart’s content. Several times over the years, I’ve been stung by Facebook’s ever widening pool of users (to the amusement of some of the friends who found pictures or interests intended for my college cadre). Fortunately, Facebook has more or less grown up as I have, and you can now exercise a fair amount of control over who can see what and still show your true friends the real you.

Note: throughout this post I’ll use “friend” to mean a real, trusted friend. “Public” will mean anyone you’ve given access to your profile, which Facebook refers to as a friend.

First, you’ll need to decide what your “default profile” should be: for your real friends or the general public. It’s safer and easier to make your default the general public view. Likely information on that page would be a nice photo of you, your current location and job, maybe some benign information like your favorite bands or movies. Nothing you wouldn’t put in a public biography (which is exactly what Facebook is).

Next, you’ll want to set up a “friend list”. Here’s the step-by-step:

1. Click on the “Friends” tab at the top of any Facebook page.
2. On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a header for “Friend lists”. Choose to add a new one, naming it something easy like “close friends” or “full access”.
3. A box will come up asking you to add friends to the list. Click the link that says, “add multiple friends,” which will show a little photo of each friend. Click each person you’d like added to the list, making sure to check the multiple screens you’re likely to have. When you’re done, save.
4. Ta-da! You have your first friend list. Now it’s time to set privacy options. On any Facebook screen, put your mouse over (but don’t click) “Settings” at the upper-right of your screen. A menu will drop down where you’ll select “Privacy Settings”.
5. Go ahead and start out with “Profile,” where most of your data is anyway. On each subsection of your profile, there’s a drop-down menu that lets you choose who can see that portion of your profile. For things in your “public” view, go ahead and select “only friends.” For things you only want close friends to see, select “Custom” and a box will pop up. Type in the name of the friend list you created before and you’re set!

Make enough lists to suit your needs

The Economist ran an interesting article updating the 20-year-old “core network” theory to the facebook era. The result? While the average facebooker has aorund 120 friends, most people have a core group of 5-10 people with whom they interact. (The original study says that it is difficult for us to manage real-life social networks of more than 150 – but my guess is that FSOs need to be outliers in this to be successful in our jobs). I currently have 612 “friends” on facebook, and managing that number requires a bit of time investment. It can be awkward to “deny” a friend request, so I have four levels of privacy: a “whitelist” for full access, a “blacklist” for purely professional contacts, and two others in between where I can control what parts people see – a key place is my status upgrade because I don’t always think before I type…I don’t need the whole world to see that I really enjoyed my pizza and beer last night and other comments may be more embarrasing or personal (announcing a family birth or death, for example) than you want to broadcast. I also have a bunch of lists for easy messaging or searching: high school friends (so I can see more updates around reunion times), local friends at a particular post (so I can send batch messages without having to manually enter them each time), and my A-100 classmates. People can belong to more than one list – make sure you only set your privacy settings based on your three- or four-tiered system so you don’t get confused.

The blog AllFacebook has an excellent post on scrubbing up the last bits. For FSOs, finding the balance between easy searching to facilitate PD efforts and contact work and keeping facebook private enough for you to use in your close relationships means carefully grooming your privacy settings – but after that initial work each new contact can be sorted when you request or confirm the connection. It’s well worth the time to set it up and do a periodic review to keep FB an effective tool for communicating with friends and family back home while presenting a good face to business contacts.

States (except New York, sigh) don’t charge sales tax on internet orders if the company shipping doesn’t do business in the state to which its being shipped. That said, convincing a Virginia company that Dulles, Virginia isn’t located in-state might be more trouble than it’s worth. If the company has a comments/instructions box on the order page, it might be worth directing them to the ruling from the Virginia Tax Commissioner outlining that the Dulles, VA 20189 address is exempt from state sales tax due to the final destination being overseas:

http://www.policylibrary.tax.virginia.gov/OTP/Policy.nsf/ccd0d2ea93db9ba485256968006a39ed/3b3de555cc6c794485256e7f0053d72f?OpenDocument

Sadly, Apple Computer will charge you sales tax regardless. Sigh.