Canadian Foreign Service Problems

When your HoM gets frustrated that the program managers don’t share his/her innovative ideas

When your HoM thinks that he/she should get more credit for a successful high-level visit

When your staff are spending all of their time working on social media

When your HoM still doesn’t understand how social media works

When an interview board is obviously favouring a specific candidate for promotion

When you leave on pre-approved vacation in the middle of a high-level visit

When your summer intern has never worked in a professional office before

When you learn that summer day camp isn’t part of the host country culture

When you try to impress the instructor during hostile environment training

When you are consistently ranked as the #2 choice by hiring divisions during the HQ rotation

When a visiting senior official and his/her counterpart have a “frank exchange of views”

When you’re in an FS-04 position and HR decides to convert it to EX-01 after they see your OT claims

When an FS-02 is screened out of the FS-03 competition but then becomes an EX-01 at another Department

When someone from HQ randomly shows up at the mission without notice

When senior management explains its new approach to promotion processes

When your HoM asks you to be acting in his/her absence and then says that there’s no money for acting pay

When you arrive at post and get issued a Blackberry 6