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Originally Posted by Unregistered
This is accurate. The previous poster only saw or heard the glam. Where there really isn't any. At least not until yous reach a rather high rank. Even scholars do such menial task as booking hotels and planning itinerary. And setting up tables for meals.
And the starting pay shared above is accurate for non-scholars.
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I feel this is simplifying FSOs responsibilities too much. I worked for a rather high profile agency which MFA has to work with when there are official visits. A lot of planning and decisions depended on the officer's sense of the political climate, countries' relationship, etc. to design a cohérent visit programme to engineer deeper G2G relations or develop collaborations. This also means working closely with other ministries/agencies with their inputs and recommend a suitable visit programme.
Table setting and meal planning concern protocol where one has to be trained and understand the proper order of proceedings. Agree with the above poster, it is whether you find meaning in doing what you do as an FSO. I personally learned a lot from the FSOs I worked with previously and have respect for them. The granularity of details FSOs can spot or drill down into are not what any other Gov setup can offer.
Try it, if it's not your cup of tea, leave. And you definitely leave with value add in your CV.