@Dreadfulit's not true . The postings are decided by foreign service board . Once vacancies arises in Indian missions then the vacancies are circulated among the officers, and you need to indicate preference ( I think Max 5 pref are allowed ) , mostly people get the countries of their preference . If the vacancies include countries from middle East and you don't wanna serve there , just don't apply in that Vacancy circular , wait for the right vacancies to arise . If you want a country or region of your preference , you might have to serve a little longer at headquarters . Counties are classified into categories A+ to Hard C . The postings are generally by rotations and evens out eventually over the period of the whole service . You might get European country first and your batchmate Africa, but after few years the scenario will be reverse .
And one more thing the middle income countries are even more desirable as you can afford a lavish lifestyle there. Just imagine a person getting 5000 dollar tax free in new Delhi and same in washington . Where he has more purchasing power and live more lavishly . ?
@pranay3962129it's based on un cost of living index . And the minimum you get is 3500 dollar even in the cheapest country + indian basic salary (58k = 800$) . So even in Nepal you get 4300$. This is for third secretary who is just 2-3 year into service . As you become second sec, first sec , counsellor , ambassador . It goes on increasing .
And for Uganda and difficult countries you get hard allowance ( which is upto 50% of Foreign allowance ) . For counties like Uganda it would be around 20% . So you get even more than 5000$ in Uganda .
I know that in Kabul the FA is 50% extra . And a officer of the level of second secretary ( 4 year into service ) draws a total tax free amount of 7000$+ in Kabul .
@pranay3962129highest FA is in singapore around 4500 USD . and minimum in poland around 3300 USD . for every other country on the globe it lies between 3300-4500 USD for a new joinee . even in nepal its north of 3500 USD per month + indian basic salary . the pay scale of IFS is comparable to sillicon valley employees if you include free housing , free medical , free children education in international schools where yearly fee is 25000 USD and tax free income and the added respect of being a diplomat . and quality of life of IFS is far superior to other services . as they mostly live in capital cities and that too in posh colonies . if you want to compare then in delhi IAS officers live in govt colonies and get around 1.25 lakh per month . and diplomats of even pakistan live in chanakyapuri in posh houses and get 3-4 lakh per month tax free and free education , medical etc .
the downside of IFS is not perks . its the liability to serve all over the world and changing countries every 3 years might be hard for someone . and some might get homesick there . otherwise the perks are of world standards unmatchable to any home based service .
@LeoMessieven an ASO in MEA (selected through ssc cgl ) makes more money and lives a better life than the bottom services (IIS,ICLS ) someone gets through upsc . The fact is that people are not aware about IFS .
@Hermione_Granger CFL does not determine foreign postings . They are given by rotation . Your CFL does not give any significant advantage or disadvantage regarding to your foreign postings .
While giving foreign posting the main things which matter are
The countries which you served in previously , your own skills as perceived by FSB , preference indicated by you etc . CFL comes the last when they decide .
@STit's right . Nothing can beat IAS . IAS provides the best of both worlds . As IAS officers too go on foreign postings as trade representatives are generally only IAS and many other positions at some International bodies are reserved for IAS . Every other service is part of a department of govt , like IRS income tax Dept , IPS - Police dept etc . But IAS itself is the govt , not part of any department .
But IFS is second only to IAS .
@Hermione_Granger it determines the first posting as you have to learn the language . If you get Chinese , you will go to Beijing for sure . And at most the 2nd posting . After that rotation comes into play . If you got class A countries in the first 2, now is your turn to serve in C countries and vice versa .
If you get into IFS , obviously you are not there for a few years and will probably serve 30+ years and in your whole career CFL will not have any impact , but your skills , personality , expertise will be the only thing which will decide how successful you are , and if you got more good countries on average than your peers . And one more thing as other people are claiming about 1st Gen , 2nd Gen IFS . MEA is the most professional of all organizations , and this kind of nepotism is more prevalent in home based services , it has no place in the IFS .
@STEWS cut off will be low in cse 2019 only , in cse 2020 the cut off will normalize due to awareness . and petitioners want to reap the rich dividends which are only available this year .
and OBC/SC cant apply in EWS , EWS is only for unreserved candidates . if you are in any other reserved category u cant claim EWS quota even if u meet criteria . this is also one more ground on which EWS Bill is challenged as it takes the caste criteria too though the purpose is economic criteria .
first mains with anthro . couldnt clear it , despite putting efforts . i feel i took anthro without proper research and may be i am not much competent in it . i am getting doubts about my optional , dont know if it is temporary or it will eventually lead me to change my optional just after first mains .
i am hearing from peers that anthro performed poor this year , so also getting underconfident for next attempt with anthro .
last 2 year was full time preparation , but financial pressure forced me to take up a 4600gp post through ssc cgl and next attempt will be with job . anyone any suggestions on changing the optional ?
