I am a Foreign Service Officer, working at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development. I have worked here since September 2000.
Currently I work as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Eastern Europe Division, covering Canada's bilateral political relations with the Western Balkan countries, the Southern Caucasus, and the Central Asian Republics (16 countries in all). The other half of our division covers only three countries: Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus -- but right now two of those three countries are generating more work than the 16 my colleagues and I cover. In a nutshell, our division covers all of the countries of Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR that have not yet joined the European Union.
To date I have had three overseas assignments: Vice-Consul and Trade Commissioner at the Consulate of Canada in Düsseldorf, Germany; Political Counsellor and Consul at the Embassy of Canada in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina; and Political Counsellor at the Emabssy of Canada in Belgrade, Serbia, with cross-accreditation to Macedonia and Montenegro.
In August 2013 I was supposed to begin a 2-3 year assignment as the Advisor for Arctic Issues at the Embassy of Canada in Moscow, Russia, but due to medical reasons, that assignment was cancelled.
I cannot see myself ever leaving the Department. This career has allowed me to live in three other countries, learn two additional languages (Russian and Serbian -- I already spoke German and French when I was hired nearly 14 years ago), and work on the kinds of issues that wind up on the evening news. Even working at HQ in Ottawa, we are expected to change position every 2-4 years, so while you always have a secure position, you can change your job before it gets boring.
